Meeting the King felt like family

WWII veteran, 105, on his intimate chat with Charles at VJ80 events

- BY LUCY THORNTON

THE 105-year-old war veteran who stole the show at VJ80 when he saluted his "brave king" has told how he had an intimate meeting with His Majesty after the ceremony - and was made to feel like family.

Captain Yavar Abbas, who went off script during a live broadcast to the nation, also told our sister paper The Mirror how he would like to see a memorial created for Indian soldiers who fought in World War II.

Yavar, who served in the 11th Sikh Regiment and is one of Britain's oldest veterans, touched the nation's hearts when he paid tribute to King Charles last Friday at a remembrance service held at the National Memorial Arboretum.

At the event, attended by 33 veterans who all served in the Far East and Pacific, he saluted the King and Queen and thanked them for honouring the "forgotten Army".

His comments brought tears to the eyes of senior royals and Yavar and the King saluted each other before clasping hands.

After the event, they met again at a reception to mark the end of World II and Japan's surrender.

Talking about his love for his King, and that intimate meeting, the veteran said from his home in London: "He's a wonderful man, wonderful man. He held on to my hand, he wouldn't let go.

"The King said to me: 'You know when you said that, I had tears in my eyes. I'm very grateful to you, and then we talked about our cancers, very intimate talks'.

"My memoirs will now of course have a chapter about my meeting with the King and the intimate talk that he had with me at lunch with all my family there."

Yavar had left TV producers feeling nervous when he announced to the nation: "Apologies for briefly going off the script to salute my brave King, who is here with his beloved Queen in spite of the fact that he is undergoing treatment for cancer.

And the veteran continued: "I salute him for attending this occasion.