VE Day 80th anniversary: Prince George’s surprise appearance with royals at Buckingham Palace tea party

Prince George has made history overnight by taking part in what is his most significant royal engagement.

The second in line to the British throne accompanied his parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales, to a tea party to honour the surviving WWII veterans during VE Day celebrations.

Wearing a dark suit, crisp white shirt and royal blue tie, the 11-year-old prince looked wise beyond his years as he shook hands with veterans, listened intently as they spoke and asked questions during the event inside Buckingham Palace.

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Prince George was accompanied by his mother and father, who watched on proudly during their eldest son’s first ever engagement with only his parents.

The tea party followed an earlier appearance by the entire Wales family who watched a military procession from a specially built dais outside Buckingham Palace before joining key members of the royal family on the palace’s balcony to watch the traditional flypast.

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Prince George was joined by his sister Princess Charlotte, who just turned 10, and seven-year-old Prince Louis, who again delighted royal watchers with some of his antics and facial expressions.

After the parade and flypast, the royal family went inside where Prince George then joined his parents, King Charles and Queen Camilla to mingle with the veterans.

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The Daily Mail said Prince George spoke to 101-year-old D-Day veteran Alfred Littlefield.

He described to Prince George and his father how he joined the Army at 20 and found himself at the D-Day landings, where he swam onto the Normandy beaches under heavy shell fire.

“What was it like when you were coming in?” Prince George asked him, to which Littlefield replied, “Pretty awful”.

Littlefield told Prince George it was very important he was there to talk about these things before telling Prince William he should be “very proud” of his son.

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The Daily Mail said Princes William and George also chatted with Dougie Hyde, 99, who stoked boilers in the Merchant Navy before joining a secret operation to liberate Europe by deploying munitions and amphibious vehicles.

Prince George displayed his knowledge by asking Hyde, “‘Did you ever get shot at?” and “Did you ever see a U-boat?”

Afterwards, Hyde said he had been “very impressed with the lad’s interest” and described him as “very polite”.

The Princess of Wales also introduced Prince George to another Army veteran, 99-year-old Charles Auborn, who was a gunner.

“This is my son George I was telling you about,” she said.

As Auborn showed Prince George pictures of the M4 Sherman tanks he operated during the war, the young prince asked “Were they hard to operate? It must have been very tough with the weather.”

The outing is likely to herald the start of more official events for the young prince, who will one day be king.

It follows a difficult few days for the royal family, who had to contend with the fallout of Prince Harry’s interview with the BBC.

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