HM Queen Beatrix and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh yesterday commemorated the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Dutch city of Nijmegen from German occupation during World War II. The city was the first Dutch city to fall to German hands in 1940.

Click to see the image at Koninklijkhuis

The royal pair inspected the customary guard of honour, before laying wreaths at the Resistance Monument at Traianus Square. Speeches were made by both Dutch, British and American parties, including the Dutch Defence Minister, the Mayor of Nijmegen, former NATO chief Lord Carrington (who served in the liberation of Nijmegen) on behalf of the British Guards Armoured Division and Major Moffitt Burris for the 82nd Airborne Division (who also served in the liberation in 1944).

A parade of historical vehicles concluded the official ceremony, with HM and HRH then given the opportunity to speak with veterans at the Nijmegen Town Hall.

The Duke of Edinburgh was selected as the British representative at the event as he is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards, a regiment which was instrumental in the liberation of Nijmegen, which began on September 17 when the Allied Forces landed in the south of the country.

According to royalblog.nl, there has been some criticism in Britain by the press over HRH the Prince of Wales’ non-attendance at the anniversary. Prince Charles is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment, which also played a large part in the Battle of Arnhem and the liberation of Nijmegen. A large group of 100 paratroopers were dropped on the city on Saturday as part of the commemoration festivities, and some veterans are “disgusted” that the Prince was not in Holland to mark the anniversary.

Click here to view the thread for the anniversary.

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The Battle of Britain (the “Eagle Day”) began on August 13, 1940 with the Luftwaffe launching a series of attacks on British fighter bases and radar installations.

The Queen, Churchill, the King on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on VE-Day

Shortly before the Battle was to commence, Winston Churchill gave one of his most famous morale-boosting speeches (during the Battle of France) where he braced the nation for the war, saying: “…that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’. “
The name of the battle derives from another famous speech of Churchill’s, given in the House of Commons, where he stated that “…the Battle of France is over. I expect the Battle of Britain is about to begin…”

Following the French surrender and evacuation of British soldiers from Dunkirk, Hitler thought that the British, alone and without allies, would either have to surrender or negotiate an armistice. The failure to destroy Britain’s air defences and launch a full-scale invasion is considered Germany’s first major defeat in the World War II and a turning point in the course of the entire war.
At the height of the Battle of Britain, on August 20, 1940, Churchill gave arguably his most famous speech, during which he highlighted the bravery of British troops: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few…”

An important factor in keeping the public morale high was the refusal of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother) to leave London: they stayed in the city throughout the war, even after the Buckingham Palace was repeatedly bombarded. During one of the hits, the Royal Couple were mere 80 yards from where the bombs burst. When the Cabinet advised the King and Queen to send their daughters to Canada, Queen Elizabeth famously said: “The children won’t go without me. I won’t leave the King. And the King will never leave”.
Queen Elizabeth’s resolution, moral support to the British public and her role as propaganda tool made Hitler call her ‘the most dangerous woman in Europe’.

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Click to see the image at the Daily Telegraph

 After several months of finger-pointing by the press and the governments involved, it was decided that the Queen would not attend the 65th-anniversary commemoration of D-Day in France, but that the Prince of Wales would represent her (see this blog). President Obama, President Sarkozy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown also attended.

As reportedly planned by President Sarkozy, the commemoration was largely a Franco-American affair, with the contributions of the British and Canadian troops downplayed.

At the official commemoration at the Normandy American cemetary near Colleville-sur-Mer (Omaha Beach), speeches were made by Presidents Sarkozy and Obama and Prime Ministers Brown and Harper, but not by the Prince, whose only official action was to lay a wreath.

Earlier, the Prince had visited Arromanches, where many of the British troops landed on D-Day, and met with the veterans at the Commonwealth Cemetary. He also attended a memorial service arranged by the Royal British Legion at Bayeux Cathedral. Some of the veterans reportedly wanted to know why the Queen was not there, but they seemed pleased that a member of the royal family had travelled to France to join them in commemorating their fallen comrades.

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Click here to read the article from ctv.ca

During day 2 of her Canadian visit, Sophie Rhys-Jones, the Countess of Wessex, visited with World War II veterans at the an event honoring the 65th anniversary of D-Day at the Military Museum in Calgary.

The Countess is currently visiting Canada with her husband, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex. She has been busy with engagements of her own, including today’s event at the museum, which was attended by over 600 people, according to CTV.ca.

Despite stating that she has only recently learned of Canada’s role in D-Day, the Countess said that “Canada’s role in the invasion will never be forgotten”. In addition to the D-Day ceremony, the Countess also participated in a ceremony honoring the expansion of the museum, which now honors Canada’s military participation in Afghanistan. According to an article in the Calgary Sun, the Countess was visibly moved by the ceremony, and further stated that “commemorations just as these remind us of just how small our world really is-while we recall the important events of the past, I find my mind turn to the present where we are standing shoulder to shoulder once again in an effort to secure peace and stability in troubled places”.

Immediately after the ceremony, the guests and the Countess were invited to a royal tea.

To read about and discuss the Countess of Wessex, please visit the forum.

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Click to see the photo at the Daily Mail

 There has been a circus surrounding the preparations for the D-Day 65th anniversary this weekend, as no member of the British Royal Family was invited; and the situation has received media coverage globally. The anniversary will be attended by Presidents Sarkozy and Obama, but questions were raised when no member of the British Royal Family was announced as attending. The royal household initially stated that no royal was attending as none had been invited; the response from the French was that the British had been invited, but it was up to them to decide exactly who would represent them. Gordon Brown’s attendance had previously been confirmed.

Rumours that the anniversary was intended to be low-key in Britain are swirling, and the suggestion that this is why the Prime Minister accepted the invitation followed.

Click to see the article at the Daily Mail

White House spokesmanRobert Gibbs stated on camera that President Obama felt that the Queen should receive an official invitation, and suggested that Obama had communicated this. It is unclear whether he was referring to France or Britain here, however media reports suggest that Clarence House had no knowledge of this.

The resolution to the matter has recently been announced, with The Prince of Wales attending, representing his mother the Queen. This comes following an invitation from the French Ambassador in London.

The irony of this resolution however, is that it appears that there was never any suggestion that the Queen would attend the anniversary, but the intention was always that Charles would go! HM has only attended the 50th and 60th anniversaries to date, not the 55th…

It is expected that the Queen will spend Saturday at the Epsom Derby, as is her tradition. She is the head of Britain’s Armed Forces.

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Click the image to view the photo at Hello!

 HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh visited Portsmouth on April 30 to mark the 25th anniversary of the city’s D-Day Museum.

One of the exhibits that the couple viewed at the museum was an embroidered wall hanging that charts the events of June 6, 1944.  The Queen was said to have paid special attention to the section of the embroidery that featured her father, King George VI, and Winston Churchill.

The Queen also visited the Guildhall in Portsmouth’s city center, where the newly-restored Pompey Chimes rang for the first time in six years.

The royal couple attended two receptions while in the city: one to honor members of the Portsmouth Normandy Veterans Association and members of the Women’s Land Army, and the other to honor military men and women who have recently returned from overseas operations.

For more on The Queen and Prince Philip, please visit this thread.

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The Prince of Wales is set to recall his other, often-overlooked, grandmother, the late Princess Andrew of Greece, born Princess Alice of Battenberg. In royal photographs Princess Andrew is the mysterious lady seen wearing a somber nun’s habit, as she did at the coronation of her daughter-in-law in 1953.

The Prince will appear in a film, The Rescuers: Heroes of the Holocaust, that will tell the stories of 12 people who helped save Jews from the Nazis. These people are estimated to have helped save 200,000 European Jews.

Princess Andrew, mother of the Duke of Edinburgh, hid Jewish friends in the royal palace in Athens and she was interrogated by German officials. Family relationships probably drew extra German attention, both negative and positive, to this princess; she was the sister of Lord Louis Mountbatten and the Crown Princess of Sweden (later Queen Louise), as well as being the mother-in-law of several German princes prominent in the German military or the Nazi Party. Her cousin, Prince Victor zu Erbach-Schönberg, had served as the German ambassador to Greece until the occupation of Athens in April 1941. It seems that German officials assumed that she would be supportive of the Nazi regime.

Although most of the Greek royal family fled when World War II came to Greece, Princess Andrew and her sister-in-law, Princess Nicholas (mother of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent) stayed in Athens. She assisted the Red Cross, helped run a soup kitchen, and brought medical supplies in from Sweden after visits to her sister, the Crown Princess. She also organized shelters for orphaned children. Read more…

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