Prince Charles has paid tribute to the British servicemen and women today who died in the D-Day landings at the unveiling of a war memorial in Normandy.
The British Normandy Memorial was opened after 77 years to honour thousands of troops killed as they landed on the Nazi-occupied shore.
In a video message to mark the occasion, the Prince of Wales told of the “enormous regard, and admiration” he had for the veterans and “debt of gratitude” he felt.
He said the new memorial is “long overdue”.
Prince Charles added: "Despite having to watch via satellite link, this in no way obscures the enormous regard, and admiration, in which we hold our veterans or diminishes our debt of gratitude to the more than 22,000 men and women whose names are now permanently inscribed in stone in this place of honour above Gold Beach."
The Memorial in the French village of Ver-sur-Mer, was designed by British architect Liam O'Connor, and records the names of the 22,442 service people under British command who fell on D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
It was officially opened on the 77th anniversary of the landings.
But veterans unable to travel to Normandy because of Covid-19 travel restrictions were able to watch the unveiling from the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire via video link.
Charles, patron of the Normandy Memorial Trust, said he had wished to travel to France and spoke of his pride at opening the "remarkable" memorial.
"I particularly wanted to address my first remarks directly to those whose presence today, either in person or online, really matters the most,” he added.
"I know just how much our incomparable veterans had hoped to be in Normandy today to see their Memorial for themselves.”
The memorial, which cost almost £30 million and was funded by the British Government and private benefactors, stands on a hillside overlooking Gold Beach.
The beach was one of three where British forces landed on the morning of June 6, 1944 to begin the liberation of Western Europe.
It features the D-Day Sculpture by British sculptor David Williams-Ellis, the D-Day Wall featuring the names of those who fell on D-Day itself and, on 160 stone columns, the names of those others who lost their lives between D-Day and the Liberation of Paris at the end of August 1944.
The site also includes a French memorial dedicated to the memory of French civilians who died during the period.
Unveiling the memorial virtually from London, Charles added: "As I said when I first became aware of the plans for this long overdue British memorial, it has for many years been a concern to me that the memory of these remarkable individuals should be preserved for future generations as an example of personal courage and sacrifice, for the benefit of the wider national and, indeed, international community.
"May God bless our veterans, the families and all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice as a result of the operations around D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy."
