Ladies and Gentlemen, It is now eighty years since my grandfather, King George VI, announced to the nation and the Commonwealth that 'the dreadful shadow of war has passed from our hearths and our homes'.
The liberation of Europe was secured.
His words echo down through history as all this week, and especially today, we unite to celebrate and remember with an unwavering and heartfelt gratitude, the service and sacrifice of the wartime generation who made that hard-fought victory possible.
While our greatest debt is owed to all those who paid the ultimate price, we should never forget how the war changed the lives of virtually everyone.
Now, as then, we are united in giving utmost thanks to all those who served in the Armed Forces, the uniformed services, the Home Front, - indeed all the people of this country, the Commonwealth and beyond whose firm resolve and fortitude helped destroy Nazism and carry our allied nations through to V.E. Day.
That debt can never truly be repaid; but we can, and we will, remember them.
Over the course of the last year, there have been 80th anniversaries across Europe, from the hills of Monte Cassino to the Lower Rhine at Arnhem.
Last June, my wife and I were profoundly moved to join veterans of D-Day at the new national memorial overlooking Gold Beach, as they returned to honour their comrades who never came home.
In January, as the world marked the liberation of Auschwitz, I met survivors whose stories of unspeakable horror were the most vivid reminder of why Victory in Europe truly was the triumph of good over evil.
All these moments, and more, combine to lead us to this day, when we recall both those darkest days and the great jubilation when the threat of death and destruction was finally lifted from our shores.
