They had sworn their loyalty to her father. They risked their necks in his name, too. There was only one guest of honour they all really wanted to see yesterday. And her bow to them and to their fallen comrades said it all.
If the protocol and the crowd control fell short (to be honest, at times it fell apart), it certainly didn’t bother the Queen as she was thronged by her father’s men yesterday.
And after a day of emotion, frantic diplomacy – enlivened by the presence of both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders – and some delightfully barmy French theatricals, the 70th anniversary of D-Day concluded last night with a forceful and personal speech from the Queen.
The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts,’ she declared. ‘Each year has compounded in Europe the benefits of our victory in the Second World War. Seen in that light, those heroic deeds will stand out as much in 700 years as they do after 70.’
Noting ‘the joy of becoming a great-grandmother’, the 88-year-old Queen added a telling sentiment that will, no doubt, be much quoted by future historians: ‘Everything we do, we do for the young.’
To Normandy’s beaches had come the grandest gathering of world leaders since the London Olympics. It included seven monarchs and ten presidents, assorted prime ministers and cheeses of great magnitude from a couple of dozen governments and armed forces.
They ‘marched’ through the streets of Bayeux, feted by flag-waving children and cries of ‘Merci’ as they made their way to Normandy’s largest Commonwealth cemetery.
There, they were joined by the one head of state who could well recall every moment of that longest day; who served in uniform; who heard her father broadcast to the nation that night; and who has always had a distinguished war veteran at her side – as he was yesterday.
The arrival of the Queen and Prince Philip was heralded by a full quartet from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight – two Spitfires, a Dakota and the mighty Lancaster.
The sound of their Merlin engines and the sight of the Monarch, unmissable in bright green, galvanised several old chaps up and out of their wheelchairs.
Helpers sprung into action. They were struggling to their feet again as the bugle sounded the Last Post and the Queen laid the first of many wreaths, followed by the Prince of Wales, the Prime Ministers of Britain, Australia and France and the Governor-General of New Zealand.
And once the formalities were over, everyone wanted to have a word with the Sovereign.
‘My Dad’s meeting the Queen!’ shouted a lady from Southend charging through the crowd with a mobile phone. Don Sheppard, of the Southend branch of the Normandy vets, was indeed having a word.
It was fabulously French. Black-clad dancers bounced on stage depicting the Nazi conquest while pyrotechnics did the rest.
Eventually, they were replaced by D-Day dancers plus much waving of flags. Finally, all the veterans took a bow, to thunderous applause.
The Queen’s state visit to France continues this morning. Last night, she was the guest of honour at an Elysee Palace banquet.
The day, she said, had left her filled ‘with sorrow and regret, remembering the loss of so many fine young soldiers, sailors and airmen; with pride, at the sheer courage of the men who stormed those beaches, embodied in the veterans among us; and with thankfulness’.
D-Day, she observed, reminded us of a great truth: ‘We should weigh our actions not by immediate acclaim, but by their benefit for future generations.’
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