A further 21 veterans have registered to attend the charity’s service at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Philippa Rawlinson, RBL director of remembrance, said: “These incredibly moving and poignant commemorations will be our last opportunity to host a significant number of Normandy veterans.
“We invite world leaders and the nation to pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifices they made 80 years ago. The legacy left by Second World War veterans lives on in the freedom and democracy we have today.”
The King, patron of the RBL, is understood to have been determined to attend the event, having recently returned to public duties as he continues his cancer treatment.
The Princess Royal
On June 5 in Normandy, the Princess Royal, Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Regina Rifles, accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, will unveil a statue of a Second World War Canadian Royal Regina Rifleman and attend a reception with members of the regiment.
The couple will then join Normandy veterans at the Bayeux War Cemetery for a RBL service of commemoration.
The service will be attended by around 1,000 people, including D-Day veterans, descendants of those who fought, relatives of veterans, and members of the public.
It will focus on veterans’ testimony and will culminate in an act of remembrance and wreath-laying, supported by the British Army Band Catterick.
Veterans will be invited to an earlier tea, where they can share stories at a venue they hold dear to their hearts.
Bayeux War Cemetery
Bayeux has hosted the Normandy veterans for their Remembrance for many years, and the Bayeux War Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France.
Later, the Princess, as president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, will attend an annual service of remembrance at Bayeux Cathedral.
This will be followed by a service and vigil later that evening where she will give a speech in remembrance of those who lost their lives during the operation.
On June 6, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans and their families at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire for the RBL service of remembrance.
Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will attend “D-Day 80: Remembering the Normandy Landings”, an evening of music-led, multi-generational storytelling, reflecting on the Second World War at the Royal Albert Hall.
