Queen and Duke of Edinburgh Attend VE Day Service
Sunday, 10th May 2015
Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh attended a Service of Thanksgiving Marking the 70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe at Westminster Abbey on Sunday 10th May 2015.
They were accompanied by Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall; His Royal Highness The Duke of York; His Royal Highness The Earl of Wessex; and His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent.
The Prime Minister, the Right Honourable David Cameron MP, also attended.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who said in his Bidding: 'On Victory in Europe Day seventy years ago, 25,000 people came to services of thanksgiving held throughout the day and evening here in Westminster Abbey. We today share the spirit of that day of rejoicing.
We give thanks for the valour and bravery of the sailors, soldiers, airmen, and civilians who gave all they had, and for the determination and skill of their leaders. We pray that the peace they won through victory over cruelty and oppression may be a blessing in our day for Europe and for the whole world.
Humbly, we remember the sacrifice of those who gave their lives.
Her Majesty The Queen laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
The Address was given by the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach KCB CBE ADC DL, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, read Isaiah 58: 6-9a, 11-12 and the Prime Minister read Romans 8: 31-39.
Simon Russell Beale CBE, actor, read an extract from the VE Day Speech of His Majesty King George VI.