Earlier on Wednesday, 21 veterans attended a memorial event at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

A further 23 surviving D-Day veterans attended commemorations in Normandy, where they were joined by Princess Anne.

There were 225 D-Day veterans able to travel to Normandy five years ago, and the Royal British Legion has said these "poignant commemorations will be our last opportunity to host a significant number of Normandy veterans".

On Wednesday evening, a joint UK-France thanksgiving service was held at Normandy's Bayeux Cathedral, which was illuminated in honour of those who fought on the beaches.

The King will travel to France for a commemorative event on Thursday at the British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, which will also be attended by the 23 veterans. The trip to France will be the King's first overseas travel since his cancer diagnosis.

An international ceremony with more than 25 heads of state will be attended by Prince William.

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King Charles and the Prince of Wales joined world leaders and veterans at a series of events to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Both royals made speeches in France on Thursday, praising the "bravery and sacrifice" of those who "served at that critical time".

The King laid a wreath at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, near Gold Beach, with a note attached touching on the sacrifices made on D-Day.

Later in the day, Prince William joined heads of state at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer for the final event of the commemorations.

In a speech at the British war memorial in France, the King said the lesson to learn was that free nations must stand together to oppose tyranny.

"Our obligation to remember them, what they stood for, and what they achieved for us all, can never diminish," the King told the delegation at a sombre and emotional commemoration.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attended the same ceremony as the King, in what may be one of few remaining anniversaries that D-Day veterans will attend.

On 6 June 1944, tens of thousands of soldiers landed on five beaches in Normandy in northern France.

The landings were the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-western Europe.

Five years ago, 225 British veterans travelled to Normandy for commemorations. This year, there were 23, including some centenarians.

One US Navy veteran travelling to France, Robert "Al" Persichitti from Rochester, New York, died on his way to the event, a veteran organisation has confirmed.

He was airlifted to a hospital in Germany on 30 May after suffering a medical emergency aboard a ship heading to Europe. He died the following day, aged 102.

Thursday's commemorations began early in the day with a military piper at Gold Beach in Arromanches, who played a lament at sea at 07:26, marking the exact moment when the invasion began.

That heralded a series of re-enactments, military flyovers and memorial services in several locations.

Those present at Thursday's events also included US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - the leaders of the other main powers involved in the landings.

Prince William was at the Canadian commemorative ceremony at Juno Beach, where he thanked Canadian veterans for their "extraordinary acts of bravery and sacrifice".

"We continue to honour every Canadian, who gave so much, every Canadian family who lost a loved one," he said.

He ended his speech by saying in French: "Thank you for our freedom, and thank you for your service."

Mr Trudeau also paid tribute, saying: "We must all continue to stand for democracy day in day out, we owe it for future generations."

Prince William sat alongside world leaders at the final event of the commemorations, the international memorial ceremony at Omaha beach.

William spoke to President Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of the event.

During the ceremony, President Biden said that what happened 80 years ago in Normandy did not absolve modern generations from doing what had to be done today.

"Democracy is never guaranteed," he said. It had to be preserved and fought for, he added.

At the Gold Beach ceremony, President Macron honoured the bravery and sacrifice of those who fought.

"France will never forget the British troops who landed on D-Day and all their brothers-in-arms," he said.

"That faith in freedom which you have never lost, that constant selflessness and devotion both guide us and serve as a duty to us."

Mr Macron awarded Légion d'Honneur medals to veterans including Christian Lamb, now 103, who spent the war as an officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service.

In 1944, she helped plan the D-Day landings from Churchill's secret war rooms in London.

"You were one of the heroes in the shadows," the French president told her.

Other veterans present included 99-year-old Joe Mines, who landed on Gold Beach 80 years ago.

In words read by actor Martin Freeman, Mr Mines said he had come back "to pay my respect to those who didn't make it".

Roy Hayward, now 99, took part in the landings as a trooper in the Sherwood Rangers and was badly wounded in the assault.

"The tank was hit and I was so badly damaged they had to amputate both legs below the knee," he told the BBC. "I always consider myself one of the lucky ones that survived, because so many of us didn’t."

Also taking part in the day of tributes were President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Meanwhile, American actor Tom Hanks and film director Steven Spielberg joined the commemorations in Normandy.

Their 1998 film Saving Private Ryan depicted the US landings on Omaha Beach in its famed opening battle scene.

The film is being shown in around 300 French cinemas on Thursday to mark D-Day.

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Christian Lamb, John Dennett, Gordon Prime, Marie Scott, Eddie Brown, Jack Mortimer, Pat Owtram, Bernard Morgan, John McOwan, Joe Cattini, Bill Redston, George Spencer, Ken Cooke and Bill Gladden.

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D-Day Veterans

Prayer

Loving and compassionate God,
we pray for all who have laboured for liberty, freedom and justice;
for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice;
for those who in life and death have preserved our living.
Grant that they may rest in your peace, and that we,
through our actions, may be found worthy to inherit
the eternal treasures of your kingdom. Amen.

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The invasion was conducted in two main phases - an airborne assault and amphibious landings. Shortly after midnight on 6 June, over 18,000 Allied paratroopers were dropped into the invasion area to provide tactical support for infantry divisions on the beaches.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has apologised after a backlash for leaving D-Day commemorations in France early.

In what is widely seen as the biggest gaffe of the general election campaign so far, Mr Sunak has been accused of dereliction of duty for leaving an event held to honour the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings early.

While world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, gathered on Thursday to pay their respects, Mr Sunak left Foreign Secretary David Cameron to deputise for him and travelled back to the UK.

Speaking to reporters about the decision to leave after attending a British event, the prime minister said: "On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise."

Mr Sunak said his itinerary for D-Day events had been set "weeks ago" and he had attended other events with veterans, including in Portsmouth.

He said: "Having participated in all the British events with British veterans I returned home before the international leaders event later in the day.

"On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise."

The prime minister also apologised on X, external, saying he hoped the “ultimate sacrifice” made by those who put their lives on the line would not be “overshadowed by politics”.

In the BBC's first election debate on Friday evening, Conservative Penny Mordaunt called Mr Sunak's decision to leave "completely wrong" and said he was right to apologise.

The D-Day commemorations included a British event at Ver sur Mer, which the prime minister and King Charles attended, but Mr Sunak left before the international commemoration on Omaha Beach.

In contrast, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer stayed at the event until the end, the party has confirmed, suggesting Mr Sunak returned in order to record an interview with ITV.

Labour's Jonathan Ashworth said: "In choosing to prioritise his own vanity TV appearances over our veterans, Rishi Sunak has shown what is most important to him."

Sir Keir said he was "struck" by how difficult had been for veterans to get there but how many made the effort to stand up from wheelchairs to salute the King.

He said: "I thought it was really important for me to be there to pay my respects to them and to those that did not return and actually to say thank you.

"Rishi Sunak will have to answer for his own actions. For me, there was nowhere else I was going to be."