LONDON
\nA military parade, fly-past and balcony appearance by the royal family on Monday kicked off four days of UK celebrations marking 80 years since the end of World War II.
\nKing Charles III saluted as around 1,000 members of the UK armed forces, joined by NATO colleagues from the US, France and Germany, along with 11 soldiers from Ukraine waving their country\u2019s flag reached the end of the procession in front of Buckingham Palace.
\nTens of thousands defied the damp weather on the Union Jack-lined Mall to watch the parade, which began with Winston Churchill\u2019s 1945 victory speech, voiced by actor Timothy Spall.
\n\u201cDo not yield to violence and tyranny, march straight forward and die if need be, unconquered,\u201d bellowed Spall, standing in front of Churchill\u2019s statue in Parliament Square.
\nThe procession culminated in a fly past featuring aerobatic team The Red Arrows and 23 current and historic military aircraft, which the 76-year-old monarch watched from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
\nCharles and Queen Camilla were joined by Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Prince William and his wife Catherine along with their children George, Charlotte and Louis.
\nAs European countries gear up to celebrate Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8, the war in Ukraine is a reminder \u201cthat peace is never to be taken for granted,\u201d Charles told the Italian parliament last month.
\n\u201cToday, sadly, the echoes of those times \u2014 which we fervently hoped had been consigned to history \u2014 reverberate across our continent,\u201d the king said.
\nIt was from the same balcony on May 8, 1945, that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth \u2014 alongside daughters princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and then-prime minister Churchill \u2014 greeted tens of thousands of Londoners celebrating what Churchill declared the \u201cday of victory in Europe.\u201d
\nThat night, the two princesses, then 19 and 14, were allowed to leave the palace and join the jubilant crowds incognito.
\nSome 40 years later, Elizabeth, by then queen, described the night as \u201cone of the most memorable\u201d of her life.
\nThis year\u2019s commemorations will take on extra poignancy given the fading of the \u201cGreatest Generation.\u201d
\nYounger generations are increasingly disconnected from the conflict that shook the continent from 1939 to 1945.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember some of the poor devils who didn\u2019t make it like I did,\u201d 99-year-old Royal Air Force veteran Dennis Bishop told AFP.
\nBuckingham Palace will later host a reception celebrating veterans and people of the WWII generation.
\nThe first act on a chilly Monday morning in London was the draping of two huge Union Jack flags on the Cenotaph war memorial.
\nHundreds of people set up camp outside Buckingham Palace with chairs and rugs.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s so emotional to be here today. Eighty years of peace and peace of mind. Where would we be without them?\u201d asked Patrick Beacon, 76, who arrived with his wife at around 7:00 am (0600 GMT) to get the \u201cbest view.\u201d
\nTourists included 52-year-old Ludivine Batthelot from southern France.
\n\u201cWe came out of curiosity because it\u2019s the kind of celebration that the English do so well,\u201d she told AFP. \u201cIt\u2019s folklore, we wanted to be in the mood and live the experience.\u201d
\nAmong other events, there was to be a party on HMS Belfast \u2014 one of the few surviving British warships from WWII \u2014 which is moored on the banks of the Thames.
\nAnd people were invited to take part in hundreds of other parties, 1940s dress-up events, picnics, installations and commemorations that take place across the country through the week until VE Day on Thursday.
\nOn Tuesday, Queen Camilla will visit an art installation of around 30,000 ceramic red poppies \u2014 symbols of remembrance for the war dead \u2014 at the iconic Tower of London.
\nCelebrations will draw to a close on Thursday with a two-minute national silence at government buildings.
\nCharles, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer, will attend a service at Westminster Abbey, followed by a concert at London\u2019s Horse Guards Parade.
\nThe royal family was hoping \u201cnothing will detract or distract\u201d from the celebrations after Prince Harry, Charles\u2019 youngest son, gave a bombshell interview on Friday, according to UK media.
\nPubs across the country have been allowed to stay open two hours later as part of the celebrations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON A military parade, fly-past and balcony appearance by the royal family on Monday kicked off four days of UK celebrations marking 80 years since the end of World War II. King Charles III saluted as around 1,000 members of the UK armed forces, joined by NATO colleagues from the US, France and Germany, along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476664,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-476640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n