Eighty years after King George VI marked Victory in Europe Day without adorning his uniform with medals, his grandson, King Charles III, followed suit.
At Monday’s VE Day parade in central London, the King opted for a similar display of understated commemoration.
Donning his naval No.1 dress uniform, he observed the military procession and flypast, commencing four days of national celebration.
May 8, 1945 marked the official end of the war in Europe and the Allied forces’ over the Nazis. King George stepped onto the balcony of Buckingham Palace, alongside his wife Queen Elizabeth and daughters Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret to wave to the crowds.
Princess Elizabeth wore the uniform of the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the balcony appearances.
Queen Camilla, also present for the event on Monday, paid tribute to her family’s military history.
She wore a sapphire blue wool crepe dress and coat, accented by a brooch of the 12th Royal Lancers, her father's regiment.
Her father, Major Bruce Shand, served with the 12th Lancers during the Second World War and was awarded the Military Cross in 1940 during the retreat to Dunkirk, and again in 1942 for his efforts in North Africa.
He was later wounded and taken prisoner while fighting in the same region.
He died in June 2006, aged 89.
On Monday, the Princess of Wales also wore a brooch fit for the occasion – an RAF wings pin.
Kate’s grandfather served in the RAF as a fighter pilot during the Second World War.
The Princess Royal wore the uniform of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps), emulating what the late Queen wore when she was a princess appearing on the Palace balcony on VE Day in 1945.
The Prince of Wales was dressed in the RAF No.1 uniform.
Members of the royal family watched the parade on Monday from a specially built platform on the Queen Victoria Memorial before making their way to Buckingham Palace’s balcony to watch the flypast overhead against a soundtrack of cheering crowds.
