D-Day 80th Anniversary Special: A royal war
From an ambulance-driving Princess Elizabeth, to a traitorous Duke of Windsor, what the royal family did in World War II
This week, there will be many families remembering loved ones who did their bit during the Second World War, and it will be no different for the Royal Family. From bravery under fire to killed on active service, many royals did not flinch from their public duty or escape the tragedy of war.
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
The King and Queen helped Britain get through its darkest days, especially during the Blitz, from September 1940 to May 1941. Their popularity was sealed by their refusal to leave Buckingham Palace (which was bombed nine times) and visiting people in bomb-damaged areas, factories and bases across the country.
George and Elizabeth gave the nation such a morale boost that Hitler called her ‘the most dangerous woman in Europe’. When the Palace took a direct hit in September 1940, Elizabeth said they could now ‘look the East End in the face’. In 1940, the King instituted the George Cross and George Medal, awarded to citizens for acts of bravery. Ten days after D-Day, he visited troops in Normandy.
Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
Dismissing all secret evacuation plans to remove the family to safety overseas, Queen Elizabeth famously said, ‘The children will not leave without me. And I will not leave the King. The King will stay, come what may.’
Instead, Elizabeth and Margaret spent the war at Windsor Castle. On 13 October 1940, Elizabeth made her first public speech, a radio broadcast to the children (many of them evacuees) of Britain and the Commonwealth. Margaret joined in at the end.
When Elizabeth turned 18 in 1944, she insisted upon joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women’s branch of the British Army. By April 1945, she had qualified as a driver and mechanic. She was called Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor and within five months was a Junior Commander. Elizabeth was the first royal female to become a full-time active member of the armed services.
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark
The late great Duke joined the Royal Navy in 1939, serving as Lt Philip Mountbatten.
Graduating as the best cadet in his class from Dartmouth’s Royal Naval College, Philip was appointed a midshipman in January 1940.
He was involved in the Battle of Crete and his bravery under fire was mentioned in dispatches during the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. At 21, Philip became one of the Navy’s youngest first lieutenants (second in command) in 1942. Philip was posted to the Pacific in 1944 and saw the Japanese surrender in September 1945.
He later said, ‘We did what we were told to do, to the very best of our ability, and kept on doing it.’
Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina
Tragedy hit when the fourth son of George V, the popular, charming and urbane brother of George VI died in a military plane crash in Scotland in August 1942. As a RAF group captain he was en route to Iceland to visit troops. George was 39, and his wife, Princess Marina of Greece had only given birth to their third child, Prince Michael of Kent, seven weeks previously. He was the first royal in more than 450 years to die while on active service. Marina trained as a nurse for three months under the pseudonym ‘Sister Kay’ and joined the civil nurse reserve.
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice
He was the shy third son of George V and Queen Mary, during the first year of the war he served as a liaison officer in France. For the rest of the war he performed military and diplomatic duties. He was slightly wounded in 1940 when his car was attacked from the air. His wife, Alice, worked with the Red Cross and the Order of St John. She became head of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1939 and by August 1944 she was director.
Duke and Duchess of Windsor
During the war, Edward and Wallis escaped from Paris, where they had been living in exile since their 1937 wedding. After briefly staying in Spain and Portugal, the Duke and Duchess reluctantly followed orders given by Churchill and saw out the war on the Bahamas, where Edward was appointed Governor. The pair hated it. But not half as much as the Royal Family hated the couple taking tea with Hitler in 1937 and the couple’s alleged pro-Nazi sympathies. Were the Duke and Duchess traitors and collaborators? Buy Andrew Lownie’s damning book, here.
D-DAY EVENTS THIS WEEK
More than 150,000 soldiers stormed five Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944, in what was the largest amphibious invasion ever mounted. As the sun set on that historic day, Allied deaths were 4,414, with German casualties estimated up to 9,000.
Paying tribute to the lives lost, Charles, Camilla and William will attend a commemorative event in Portsmouth on Wednesday 5 June, while the Princess Royal and husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, will be in Normandy, France.
On Thursday 6 June, the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, King Charles and Queen Camilla will be at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer. William will attend two events: a Canadian ceremony at Juno Beach Centre, followed by the international ceremony at Omaha Beach, Saint Laurent sur Mer, joining 25 Heads of State and veterans from across the world. Meanwhile, Edward and Sophie will be in the UK attending a Service of Remembrance at Staffordshire’s National Memorial Arboretum.
Catherine to miss ceremony
The Princess of Wales continues her recovery at home and the Palace confirmed she will not be present at her first Colonel’s Review on Saturday June 8. The military event would have been Kate’s first as Colonel in Chief of the Irish Guards. Meanwhile, the King will be in attendance at the Trooping the Colour on June 15, but instead of riding, like last year, will be in a carriage.
Charles and Camilla get dramatic
The King and Queen helped celebrate the 120th birthday of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on Wednesday. The King is the new patron of RADA, taking over from the late Queen, and is a keen supporter of the arts. Along with Camilla, he toured the school, meeting staff, students and graduates, as well as president, actor and director, David Harewood and VP, actor and singer, Cynthia Erivo. The pair watched a short production and were spotted beaming with enjoyment. And there will be more drama, at the Queen’s second Reading Room Festival at Hampton Court – last minute tickets for the event on Saturday, can be found here.
Happy birthday Princess Lilibet
Over in Montecito, Harry and Meghan will laying on fun and festivities this Tuesday as Lili celebrates her third birthday. We bet big brother Archie will help blow out the candles on her birthday cake.
King regrows the Sycamore Gap tree
Finally, after the cruel felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap, last September, there is some good news. This week it was announced the National Trust has given the King, who is their patron, the first seedling grown from seeds collected from the tree, which stood by Hadrian’s Wall. It will be planted in Windsor Great Park, where it’s hoped it will seed more trees. “Part of the power of trees to move and console us lies in the continuity and hope they represent: the sense that, rooted in the past and flourishing in the present, their seeds will be carried into an as yet unimaginable future,” the Palace wrote on Instagram. We couldn’t have said it better.