PRINCE William has arrived to meet the last surviving D-Day veterans on the Normandy beaches.
The Prince of Wales, 41, is set to lay a wreath and make a speech at Juno Beach where 14,000 Canadians stormed 80 years ago today.
He was greeted by Prime minister Justin Trudeau and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who shook the prince's hand before they walked towards their seats.
They will meet with Canadian D-Day and Second World War Veterans, as well as Canadian Armed Forces personnel, cadets, and wider youth representatives.
Mr Trudeau and French PM Gabriel Attal joined His Royal Highness at the Canadian cemetery in Courseulles-sur-Mer, France.
Canadian paratroopers performed at the service commemorating the courage of those who fought against Nazi Germany before a two minutes silence was held.
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William is set to make a speech this morning to remember the courageous.
King Charles and Camilla earlier arrived at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, France.
In Charles' first overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer, he saluted veterans as the Queen wiped a tear from her eye.
Some veterans were helped from their wheelchairs to stand when the King and Queen arrived.
They were greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, his wife Akshata Murty and Lord Peter Ricketts.
The audience in Ver-sur-Mer heard the experiences of Joe Mines, 99, from Hornchurch in London.
Camilla dabbed her eye before smiling with the King as Mr Mines waved his arms in the air.
French President Emmanuel Macron took his seat next to the King and was seen smiling as he talked to Charles for several minutes.
Normandy fell silent in solemn scenes this morning as a lone piper played at the exact moment of the beach landings 80 years ago.
The lament of a military piper rang out on Gold Beach in Arromanches to mark the anniversary of the D-Day beach invasions.
Major Trevor Macey-Lillie stood tall as he paid tribute to fallen veterans.
He was playing for those who led the biggest seaborne invasion in military history - and performed Highland Laddie as he came ashore.
The sun was shining as attendees began taking their seats and dozens of coaches and buses lined the surrounding roads.
The British Normandy Memorial is where the names of the 22,442 servicemen and women under British command who fell on D-Day are etched.
The Prime Minister arrived with his wife Akshata Murty at the Memorial Entrance.
He addressed an audience gathered to mark the 80th anniversary of the invasion later in the morning.
Wills tells heroes Kate 'would love to be here'
By Matt Wilkinson & Jane Matthews
PRINCE William offered an update on Princess Kate's health as he chatted warmly to veterans after today's D-Day commemorations.
The Heir joined his father, Queen Camilla and other leaders alongside war heroes in a moving anniversary event in Portsmouth.
King Charles and William both took to the stage to pay tribute to the veterans and their families.
Afterwards, William revealed Kate was feeling "better", adding: "She would've loved to be here today."
In a sweet clip that showed Prince William bending down to chat with a 95-year-old veteran he was asked: "I was going to ask you is your wife getting any better?"
William revealed she was well, before adding: "I was reminding everyone her grandmother used to work at Bletchley Park.
"She had a lot in common with some of the ladies here who never spoke about anything until the very end."
William spoke to a Bletchley Park codebreaker about Princess Kate's grandma Valerie, who also helped to break the Enigma code.
He said: “My wife’s grandmother did the same sort of thing as you. Catherine only found out at the end of her life.”
The Prince spoke to other veterans, too - thanking them for their service and telling them how special it had been.
He said: "I found it very moving, all the stories and letters, even now 80 years later."
When one hero said "thank you", the Prince of Wales replied: “No, we are here to thank you.”
William said: “We are here to say a big thank you and to all your colleagues and friends who didn’t make it back.”
The PM said: "Each of you who contributed that day - sailor, soldier, aviator, civilian - whether you fought on the beaches, or parachuted from the skies, or flew fighters or gliders, whether you were an engineer or a radio operator or an intelligence officer, your actions freed a continent and built a better world.
"You risked everything and we owe you everything.
"We cannot possibly hope to repay that debt but we can and we must pledge never to forget.
He said veterans had "taught generations of young people about the horrors of war".
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He added: "Yet with each passing year, it falls now to those of us who listened in awe to your stories to pass them on to our own children and grandchildren.
"Because only by remembering can we make certain that the cause you fought for, that so many of your friends and colleagues died for, that great cause of freedom, peace and democracy, will never be taken for granted."
PM's tribute to veterans
By Martina Bet, Political Correspondent
RISHI Sunak has paid tribute to the “courage and sacrifice” of D-Day soldiers as he vowed they will never be forgotten.
He also insisted Britain must become a country where all veterans are treated “as the heroes they are”.
At the remembrance event in Portsmouth this morning, the PM said about the WW2 vets: "We gather to honour their courage and sacrifice.
"We must never forget how much we owe them. In their memory, we must create a country where all our veterans are treated as the heroes they are.
"And we must dedicate ourselves again to the moral cause for which they fought and died 80 years ago - the cause of freedom and democracy."
Mr Sunak also read an address by Field Marshal Montgomery, which was delivered to the troops ahead of the D-Day landings.
The address read: “To us is given the honour of striking a blow for freedom which will live in history; and in the better days that lie ahead men will speak with pride of our doings. We have a great and a righteous cause.”
Over the course of two days, the PM, the King and a slew of dignitaries and vets will come together to remember the battle that became the turning point towards an Allied victory.
It will mean election campaigning is currently paused as the remembrance events take centre stage.
