Prince of Wales says ‘it’s all about veterans’, as he meets group in Normandy

The Prince of Wales told a group of British veterans how “moving” the commemorations have been, as he made a surprise stop in Arromanches on the D-Day 80th anniversary.

William spent time at the D-Day museum in the town overlooking Gold Beach, before meeting four veterans of the Gloucestershire Regiment in the Army, in front of waving crowds.

Veteran Julian Heal, 52, from Bristol, said: “He [told us] ‘it’s all about the veterans’, and people are getting older, and there’s not many left on that, and he just said about how moving it was, especially the new monument on top of the hill.”

Mr Heal, who served in Northern Ireland, added: “As a veteran it’s really good because he gets us, we have a good laugh, real approachable guy.”

Fellow veteran Stephen Hall, 52, who served in Afghanistan and Kosovo, said the group talked to William about helping the younger generations learn and remember the history of D-Day, as being at the historic site was a “different kettle of fish”.

Mr Hall, from Chester, said: “He said he was going to go back and see if he can find some funding or a pot or where, because we’ve mentioned like, the Air Cadets came out here and paid nearly £500, which is a lot of money for a family at the moment.

“He was like, yeah, totally agree, now you’ve put something in my head. He said, ‘I’d like to have a look into it, and then hopefully they could bring each year cadets over here or young adults’.

“The big thing is getting these people the identity and things like this actually given an identity, a purpose.”

William greeted British and French visitors in the crowd.

He attended the Canadian commemoration service on Thursday and will attend the international ceremony with world leaders later.