
The King and Queen will host a tea party for Second World War veterans as part of celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Buckingham Palace said.
Charles and Camilla will also watch a military procession and flypast with the veterans and attend a celebratory concert for the occasion, which marks the end of the Second World War in Europe.
The engagements will get under way on May 5 when the royals will observe military units passing down the Mall from Whitehall to honour those who served in the conflict.
They will watch the procession on the Queen Victoria Memorial, outside Buckingham Palace, and will be joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of Kent and Prime Minster Sir Keir Starmer, as well as veterans from the Royal British Legion.
Members of the royal family also took up position on the memorial for the late Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.
After the procession, the royals will return to Buckingham Palace before appearing on the balcony to watch the flypast.
The flypast will include current and historic military aircraft including the Red Arrows, the Government previously said.
Sir Keir will watch the spectacle with veterans and other senior guests from the palace garden.
Later that day, Charles and Camilla will host a tea party reception for around 50 veterans and members of the Second World War generation at the palace.
This will include British and Commonwealth Armed Forces veterans and women’s Royal Navy Wrens, as well as the same royal family members and Sir Keir.
The palace’s Marble Corridor will be decorated in bunting made from recycled fabrics.
On May 6, the Queen will visit a new display of almost 30,000 ceramic poppies at the Tower of London.
The poppies, which were used in a previous art installation for the First World War in 2014, will resemble a “wound” to reflect the long-lasting sacrifices made during the Second World War.
A service of thanksgiving will then be attended by the King and Queen, accompanied by the same royal family members plus the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, at Westminster Abbey on May 8.
There will be a national two-minute silence of reflection and remembrance and a reading from Sir Keir before Charles and Camilla meet veterans forming part of the congregation.
Horse Guards Parade will then hold a live celebratory concert to round off the commemorations.
The King and Queen will join thousands of members of the public to watch the event, which will be hosted by Zoe Ball and include veterans’ stories from the war and performances of music from the era.
The busy schedule comes after the King spent a brief period in hospital last month following temporary side effects from his cancer treatment.
Other royals will attend separate liberation celebrations overseas on behalf of the King. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will travel to Denmark on May 4 while Anne and Sir Tim will visit the Channel Islands on May 9 and 10.
A variety of other events are scheduled to take place around the UK to mark the 80th anniversary.
Historic landmarks across the country will be lit up in the evening on May 6 while a VE Day Anniversary Concert will be held by the Parliament Choir at the Palace of Westminster the following day.
The Royal British Legion will hold its own anniversary tea party and service of remembrance on VE Day in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and street parties are expected to be held in towns and cities nationwide.
Thousands expected to line streets of London as Government reveals VE Day plans
UK risks missing out on £200bn boost from slow take-up of AI, warns Google
Tech firms and bosses face large fines for failing to remove knife crime content
Urine from London Marathon runners to be turned into fertiliser