Prince Charles And Camilla Leave Quarantine To Honor WWII Veterans For VE Day
(Photo : Amy Muir/Pool via REUTERS)
(Photo : Amy Muir/Pool via REUTERS)
Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, temporarily left their quarantine home in Birkhall to head to a war memorial in the same Balmoral estate. The royal pair had a two-minute moment of silence and simple rites, without the crowd, to honor the veterans of the Second World War for the 75th year of VE Day (Victory in Europe Day).
According to reports, Prince Charles and Camilla laid floral tributes to the fallen heroes, which were handpicked by the Duchess of Cornwall. She also left a handwritten letter for her father, Major Bruce Shand, who was a decorated war hero. Shand died in 2006 at the age of 89.
The royal pair wore military outfits as they walked together from their Birkhall home to the war memorial. It's the first time that the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have been out of isolation since the middle of March, and since Prince Charles was positive for coronavirus in early April.
According to CNN, VE Day celebrations are different this year since most of Europe are under a coronavirus lockdown. But it's still crucial to mark the end of WWII, where millions lost their lives, amid this pandemic.
Elsewhere in the U.K., VE Day was celebrated without a large scale gathering to curb the spread of the virus. But the Red Arrows did a spectacular and colorful flypast over a quiet London to also mark the special event.
Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, gave her pre-recorded VE Day address on television in the evening. The monarch is still staying in isolation at Windsor Castle and will likely not leave the estate until the end of May.
"Our streets are not empty, they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other," the Queen said in her address. "When I look at our country today and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognize and admire."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also gave a statement to mark VE Day. He said that their gratitude for the war veterans is eternal. He also said that though they cannot have parades and street celebrations, as in the past, it won't diminish the value of the generation that won Wold War II against Adolf Hitler.