Royals at the Commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day: June 6, 2024

[An Ard Ri]

Here's a video from the Franco-British memorial Service at Notre Dame de Bayeux
The Princess Royal and Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence in attendance.

 

[Izzie]

Hvad er det, Frederik? Her er den afslørende detalje

Under markeringen af 80-året for D-dag dukkede kong Frederik op med en detalje, vi ikke har set før. Nu bekræftes dens betydning.

www.billedbladet.dk

I had been wondering what the pin was that King Frederik wore on his lapel. Well now Billed Bladet has gotten the answer. So it is a VIP pin giving him access to certain areas that others may not be allowed to be in.

"Now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms to BILLED-BLADET that the red-black pin is a form of VIP pin that reveals which guests have a certain status. And e.g. must have access to different areas and certain rows of chairs.

Instead of name tags, large square access cards and the likes, the organizers had therefore chosen to use the discreet detail to "keep track" of all the guests."

You can see him wearing the pin in this photo with President and Mrs. Macron when he arrived: https://imgix.billedbladet.dk/2024-06-07/20240606-214123-5-7676x5117ma.jpg
He received a very lovely welcome from the President and First Lady including warm hugs from both!

I also saw some comments as to why King Frederik was not in uniform. Billed Bladet has provided a response to that too. I think he looked great!

Kong Frederik vækker undren: Derfor har han ikke uniform på under markeringen af D-dag

Mens både britiske kong Charles og norske kronprins Haakon var trukket i uniformen, dukkede kong Frederik op i jakkesæt. Her er forklaringen.

www.billedbladet.dk

For King Frederik just adhered to the dress code that had been laid out prior to the event. It was about business and formula, which is why he wore a suit. In addition, the day offered a number of events of different nature, which were both more or less ceremonial.

 

[Muhler]

What a deeply moving couple of days it has been… I’ve often been tearing up myself here at home in front of my phone and computer…

We are forever in debt to that generation who went to war against the Nazi-Tyranny, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones ever again, and if they did, in what condition they would be…. Many of them were barely 18 or hadn’t even reached 18… To see the still living survivours being just under or just above 100 years of age still breaking down in tears and crying hard when they describe their memories, and talking about their friends who died, sometimes dying in their arms, always gets to me….

There will obviously be celebrations next year as well, celebrating the 80:th anniversary of the VE Day in May and VJ Day in September, but if there will be veterans present, only time will tell… We are sadly starting to approach the time when WW2 will pass out of living memory…. I hope the last living british WW2 veteran whoever God decides it will be, will be given the same funeral honours that WW1 veteran Harry Patch was given with full military honours and both royal and governmental presence (and for the last living US veteran a presidential presence) … Because that won’t just be a funeral… It will be an extremly sad goodbye to the greatest generation that has ever walked on earth.

It wasn't too long ago that the last survivor of the USS Arizona died. He was 107, I believe. That's why it's important to talk to veterans while they're still with us to learn their stories and understand what they did and why they did it. After they're gone, all we'll have left are the history books.

Indeed, lest we forget...

And we are forgetting, it seems.

Way too many are attracted to a "strong man" taking over. Some 20-20 % in Germany IIRC, according to a recent survey. And I'm under no illusion that such figures are pretty universal.
Many, at least in the Western world, have been free for so long that we have forgotten how it is to lose it.

On a less somber note:
Yes, King Frederik speaks fluent German. Some 15 years ago during a visit to a German kindergarten he told the children in a kindergarten story about a dragon that lives under the stairs in one of the palaces, but he reassured the children that it was a nice dragon. That was totally improvised.

 

[Izzie]

@Muhler - there wouldn't be a video of Frederik telling that story would there? lol - And also he's fluent in French. I heard a story that he charmed the Tour de France officials by speaking in French..lol.

 

[Hans-Rickard]

Indeed, lest we forget...

And we are forgetting, it seems.

Way too many are attracted to a "strong man" taking over. Some 20-20 % in Germany IIRC, according to a recent survey. And I'm under no illusion that such figures are pretty universal.
Many, at least in the Western world, have been free for so long that we have forgotten how it is to lose it.

Indeed 100 %

I will leave my political feelings for a non-royal forum, but i will say that i am not surprised that many of the still living WW2 veterans on both sides of the pond says that that they are worried for what has become of their home countries, and worried that they will quickly be forgotten after their death….

As you say we have been free in western europe for so long now that we no longer knows that freedom doesn’t come for free…. We are still of the attitude that if we don’t talk about it and if we don’t think about it - we can always pretend that it doesn’t exist

 

[Muhler]

@Muhler - there wouldn't be a video of Frederik telling that story would there? lol - And also he's fluent in French. I heard a story that he charmed the Tour de France officials by speaking in French..lol.

It was in a video covering the event, what media it was, I can't remember. But it might be on YouTube somewhere. It took place within the first first years after he and Queen Mary got married,

 

[Izzie]

It was in a video covering the event, what media it was, I can't remember. But it might be on YouTube somewhere. It took place within the first first years after he and Queen Mary got married,

Thanks! I will do a search and see if I can find it.

 

[Muhler]

Indeed 100 %

I will leave my political feelings for a non-royal forum, but i will say that i am not surprised that many of the still living WW2 veterans on both sides of the pond says that that they are worried for what has become of their home countries, and worried that they will quickly be forgotten after their death….

As you say we have been free in western europe for so long now that we no longer knows that freedom doesn’t come for free…. We are still of the attitude that if we don’t talk about it and if we don’t think about it - we can always pretend that it doesn’t exist

So true!
And that's the danger. When we finally want to speak out, it's too late.
Martin Niemöller's words are still worth repeating:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller

And the brown shirts are marching the streets again, not necessarily wearing brown shirts, but it's the same people: Angry, disappointed, intolerant, nostalgic for a past that was never there and yearning for a strong man to obey and worship.
In some places they appear on the streets armed to the teeth.
Ironically these very same people usually express the deepest respect for those who fought and died during WWII, never realizing that they are similar to the ones the D-Day veterans stormed the beaches to fight.
- Führer befehl, wir folgen!

Not that certain segment of the political correct left is any better. They wish to impose a totalitarian system as well, where it is forbidden to offend anyone - except for those they don't like of course. Including reinventig the past. A system not unlike 1984 in fact.
Remove freedom of speech and you remove freedom, period!

 

[Mbruno]

It is nice to romanticize how the Western democracies ( basically the Anglosphere countries) defeated fascism in WW2, but the truth is that the Western allies probably would not have prevailed against Germany if they had not been allied with another equally brutal dictator, namely Stalin. Although they were supported with equipment and aid from the Western allies, especially the United States, the Soviets did most of the heavy fight against Germany during the war.

Of course that doesn’t diminish the merit of the American, British, or Canadian veterans. I am just emphasizing that winning the war was a munch broader collective effort that also involved nations that were not so nice or even democratic.

 

[Hans-Rickard]

It is nice to romanticize how the Western democracies ( basically the Anglosphere countries) defeated fascism in WW2, but the truth is that the Western allies probably would not have prevailed against Germany if they had not been allied with another equally brutal dictator, namely Stalin. Although they were supported with equipment and aid from the Western allies, especially the United States, the Soviets did most of the heavy fight against Germany during the war.

Of course that doesn’t diminish the merit of the American, British, or Canadian veterans. I am just emphasizing that winning the war was a munch broader collective effort that also involved nations that were not so nice or even democratic.

Absolutely. Hadn’t Soviet invaded the Nazi-Regime from the other direction it’s not at all given that the war would have ended in 1945….

And for many people the war may have formally ended in 1945, but their everyday-life over the following years changed little as they had only gone from one brutal occupation to another…

In an ideal world the russian president could have been invited too to celebrate the anniversary of the formal end of the war, but sadly as we all know, that’s no longer possible as they have taken a different direction…

 

[Hallo girl]

Absolutely. Hadn’t Soviet invaded the Nazi-Regime from the other direction it’s not at all given that the war would have ended in 1945….

And for many people the war may have formally ended in 1945, but their everyday-life over the following years changed little as they had only gone from one brutal occupation to another…

In an ideal world the russian president could have been invited too to celebrate the anniversary of the formal end of the war, but sadly as we all know, that’s no longer possible as they have taken a different direction…

I think he was at the one 10 years ago if IRC> how things have changed.
Historians do say that if Hitler had not turned his attentions to the East when he did, the whole outcome could/ would have been different. It gave the West time.

 

[Blog Real]

The Prince of Wales commemorates D-Day 80th anniversary in Normandy

 

[Moonmaiden23]

D-Day commemorations always fill me with emotion. Reading about what was at stake and seeing footage of the heroism of those men landing on that beach is almost too much. They knew they would likely die and they charged anyway. It's just...overwhelming to watch.

I appreciate the huge presence of world leaders- Royalty, entertainment, the President of the USA and the Macrons who bestowed the long overdo Legion of Honor on the survivors before it was too late.