William, Kate say Charlotte and George learning words to ‘We’ll Meet Again’ in VE Day video call to war veterans
London: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were left tickled pink by stories of Churchill’s ‘secret’ birthday message to his son when they chatted to Second World War veterans about their VE Day memories.
Champagne was flowing when Prince William, 37, and Kate Middleton, 38, made a video call on Wednesday to residents of an East Sussex care home to listen to them reminisce about the day the war ended in Europe on May 8 1945.
Prince William praised the efforts of the wartime generation, and told them: “Because we can’t be together, everyone’s still thinking of you all today, and are very proud of everything you’ve all achieved.” Kate revealed Prince George and Princess Charlotte have been asked by their teachers to learn Dame Vera Lynn’s famous wartime anthem.
She said: “The school has set all the children a challenge and they’re currently trying to learn the lyrics to the song We’ll Meet Again... so it’s been really lovely having that playing every day.”
The residents had started their VE Day celebrations early, and when the royal couple asked what they would do when the COVID-19 outbreak was over, the sprightly group said they would hold VC Day - ‘Victory over Coronavirus’.
With a glass of bubbly nearby,
Charles Ward, the oldest resident at Mais House, a Royal British Legion care home in Bexhill-on-Sea, joked about how he served tots of rum to fellow servicemen on VE Day.
“We were in Greece at the time, and I had to go round early in the morning with rum for all the men,” he said with a laugh.
Prince William replied: “I bet you were the hero of the time there Charles, delivering rum out to everybody.” Mr Ward, aged 101, had a varied military career during the war and, after first being called up into the London Irish Rifles, he later served in North Africa before joining the Special Operations Executive to encrypt, or cipher, messages from British agents parachuted into France and Italy.