{"id":76907,"date":"2025-05-05T16:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/76907\/"},"modified":"2025-05-05T16:35:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:35:17","slug":"william-tells-of-georges-interest-in-war-veterans-at-palace-tea-party-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/76907\/","title":{"rendered":"William tells of George\u2019s interest in war veterans at Palace tea party \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Prince of Wales told of his son\u2019s interest in learning about the Second World War and a centenarian performed a magic trick for the Queen, as veterans attended a Buckingham Palace tea party.<\/p>\n

A 98-year-old former prisoner of war, a 99-year-old who served with the Desert Rats and took part in the D-Day landings, and a 100-year-old woman who worked in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), known as Churchill\u2019s Secret Army, were among 30 veteran guests of honour, according to the Royal British Legion (RBL) which helped organise the event.<\/p>\n

The King told one veteran: \u201cIt\u2019s so special to get you here on this sort of occasion. It\u2019s the least we could do for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe King speaks to Second World War veteran Joe Mines (Yui Mok\/PA) <\/p>\n

Prince George, 11, joined William and his mother the Princess of Wales, along with the King and Queen and other members of the royal family, to meet the veterans on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"Direct<\/a><\/p>\n

The Prince of Wales told 101-year-old Alfred Littlefield, from Portchester, near Portsmouth, that George is \u201cinterested\u201d in learning about those who served in the war, the veteran\u2019s granddaughter said.<\/p>\n

Samantha Davidson, 58, from Denmead in Hampshire, told the PA news agency: \u201cThe prince said George is very interested in finding out about the veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge even asked my grandfather how old he was during his service.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Mr Littlefield was very happy that George had taken an interest in the past.<\/p>\n

Royal Engineers veteran Mr Littlefield said: \u201cI\u2019m very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WilliamWilliam and George join Second World War veterans at the tea party (Jordan Pettitt\/PA) <\/p>\n

William smiled as he shook hands with veterans and said it was \u201cvery important\u201d for George and the \u201cnext generation\u201d to hear the stories from those who fought in the war.<\/p>\n

He told Douglas Hyde, who joined the Merchant Navy aged 18 in 1944, that his son was \u201cvery keen\u201d to ask the former serviceman some questions.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kate asked for a copy of a book written by a Second World War evacuee, the author said.<\/p>\n

Margaret Wood was evacuated from Chingford in east London at the start of the war to the Midlands, where she remained until May 23 1945.<\/p>\n

She said the princess had asked for the book during their conversation at the Palace tea party.<\/p>\n

Ms Wood said: \u201cI have written a book about my time as an evacuee and it was published. She asked for a copy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother also wrote about it and it was her reaction to sending her children away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KateKate chats with a war veteran (Jordan Pettitt\/PA) <\/p>\n

Ms Wood said of Kate: \u201cShe is just an ordinary lady, just a mum.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she chatted with veterans, Kate joked of her son: \u201cHe\u2019s going to have to practise his shooting like you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norman Trickett, 101, said he performed a magic trick to the Queen while talking to her.<\/p>\n

The trick involved tying string on Camilla\u2019s finger before whipping it off.<\/p>\n

She laughed as the trick was performed.<\/p>\n

Mr Trickett said: \u201cI was dared to show the magic trick to the Queen, so I did it.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved it, so I\u2019m glad, I\u2019m chuffed to be here, very proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CharlesCharles speaks to Joy Trew during the military procession (Ben Birchall\/PA) <\/p>\n

Joy Trew, who signed up to join the war effort aged 17 and served in the Women\u2019s Auxiliary Air Force, said Charles tucked her blanket into her wheelchair during Monday\u2019s military parade in London to prevent her from getting chilly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe bent down and tucked me in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Of the procession, Ms Trew, who grew up in Bristol but now lives in Wells in Somerset, said: \u201cI said to him (the King) a lot of the women look formidable and he said \u2018yes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 98-year-old said she discussed parenting with Charles and told him she had tried to be a strict mother to her children.<\/p>\n

Robert Piper, 99, from Southwater in West Sussex, said of the King: \u201cHe is a very interesting person and he seems very understanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke for a while about my service and the memories I have of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Piper said he has \u201clots of memories\u201d of the war, which come back to him at night.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe men I served with gave it their all for this country, it\u2019s right they\u2019re still remembered and I hope the young generations keep remembering them.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday has been superb but very overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CamillaCamilla with Henry Ducker (Yui Mok\/PA) <\/p>\n

Henry Ducker, 104, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, said Camilla spoke with him about her father.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt was an honour to talk with her, she was quite funny, very humorous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had quite a laugh, she is a lovely woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camilla\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Veterans enjoyed sandwiches, scotch eggs and scones at the tea party.<\/p>\n

Also on the menu were potted shrimps with brown bread and butter, egg and bacon quiche, vegetable pasties and sausage rolls, along with lemon and carrot cake, chocolate cake, treacle tarts and strawberries and cream.<\/p>\n

They dined on large tables in the Marble Hall which was decorated in bunting made from fabrics recycled from the royal estate.<\/p>\n

The veterans had a prime spot on the Buckingham Palace garden steps as a flypast went over.<\/p>\n

Many looked up and smiled and applauded, while Army veteran Joe Mines, 100, waved as the planes went over.<\/p>\n

Among them was Ruth Barnwell, 100, who joined the Women\u2019s Royal Naval Service aged 17 when her brother\u2019s friend was killed on HMS Hood, which was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck during the Battle of the Denmark Strait on May 24 1941.<\/p>\n

Regarding the commemoration, she told PA: \u201cIt was great. Really great. Today has been wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politicians including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, London mayor Sadiq Khan, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch were also there.<\/p>\n

They were joined by actor Timothy Spall and were serenaded by a brass band as they waited for the aircraft.<\/p>\n

RBL director general Mark Atkinson said the charity was \u201cproud\u201d to take a place \u201cat the heart of these national celebrations and commemorations as this really will be one of our last opportunities as a nation to pay tribute to those veterans still with us today\u201d.<\/p>\n

British and Commonwealth armed forces veterans from the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force, plus Wrens, SOE members, D-Day veterans and Desert Rats were among those attending the tea party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Prince of Wales told of his son\u2019s interest in learning about the Second World War and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[7709,7714,7713,37808,533,37807,2832,532,2831,5105,7710,519,29367,28908,16,7711,24938,7712],"class_list":{"0":"post-76907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-british-royal-family","9":"tag-catherine","10":"tag-catherine-middleton","11":"tag-george","12":"tag-kate-middleton","13":"tag-memorial","14":"tag-prince-of-wales","15":"tag-prince-william","16":"tag-princess-of-wales","17":"tag-royal","18":"tag-royal-families","19":"tag-royal-family","20":"tag-south-east","21":"tag-south-west","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-uk-royal-family","24":"tag-ve-day","25":"tag-william"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114456201463943173","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}