The Royals at war

VE DAY SALUTE TO MONARCHY'S ROLE IN DEFEATING HITLER'S NAZIS

- JAMES MOORE

KING Charles III and Queen Camilla are set to lead celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of VE Day today.

They'll be joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales for a Buckingham Palace balcony fly-past and host a tea party for World War Two veterans. It's fitting, since the Royal Family played an important part in the nation's effort to defeat Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany in the 1940s.

Here JAMES MOORE looks back at their crucial role during the conflict...

WHEN war broke out in 1939 George VI made a radio broadcast to the nation urging people to stand firm against Nazi aggression.

Despite suggestions the Royal Family should be evacuated to Canada, he and his wife vowed to stay put.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, said: "The children will not leave unless I do. I shall not leave unless their father does, and the King will not leave the country in any circumstances whatever."

On the morning of September 13, 1940, Buckingham Palace itself was hit by six bombs, with one destroying the chapel.

The King and Queen were in residence and had a narrow escape.

With the Luftwaffe pummelling London, leaving thousands dead and homeless, the Queen said: "I'm glad we've been bombed.

"Now I feel we can look the East End in the face."

The Royal couple visited bomb sites around the capital as the Blitz continued and went on tours of munitions factories, boosting morale.