King Charles will lead UK’s 80th VJ Day tributes with nationwide ceremonies, flypast, and landmark illuminations.
King Charles will lead UK’s 80th VJ Day tributes with nationwide ceremonies, flypast, and landmark illuminations.
Britain will mark the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan (VJ) Day on Friday with nationwide events led by King Charles, honouring the end of World War Two and those who served in the final months of the conflict.
While the war in Europe concluded in May 1945, hostilities with Japan continued until 15 August, when Tokyo signalled its surrender following the United States’ atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will join Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Japanese ambassador, and veterans at a National Service of Remembrance. The ceremony will pay tribute to those who fought, endured captivity, and lost their lives in the Far East campaign.
The day’s events will include a flypast of historic military aircraft and a two-minute silence at midday. “Eighty years since our victory in the Second World War, we pay our respects to the many who fought, were captured, and made the ultimate sacrifice in the Far East,” Starmer said. “Our country owes a great debt to those who fought for a better future, so we could have the freedoms and the life we enjoy today.”
At dawn, military bagpipers will play at The Cenotaph in London, Edinburgh Castle, and the National Memorial Arboretum in central England, where the main remembrance service will take place. A piper will also perform at a Japanese peace garden, symbolising the reconciliation between Britain and Japan in the decades since the war.
In the evening, dozens of iconic sites — including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London, and the White Cliffs of Dover — will be illuminated to mark the anniversary.
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