How the royals celebrated VE Day back in 1945

The Royal Family’s appearance alongside war hero Winston Churchill on the Buckingham Palace balcony is one of the iconic moments of VE Day in 1945.

But what is less well known is that the monarch greeted the packed crowd on the Mall eight times on the historic day.

Their schedule did not stop there, they were busy marking the German surrender 80 years ago today with royal events.

There was even a secret trip to join the wild celebrations as Londoners celebrated Victory in Europe.

Experience VE Day 1945 as it happened with Metro’s live blog

The King and Queen were cheered on as heroes in their own right.

Their refusal to evacuate London during the Blitz earned them adoring respect across the country as they made a point of visiting bomb sites in the capital.

Eighty years since the King and Queen led the UK’s VE Day party, Metro traces how they spent the momentous day.

A royal investiture for military heroes

The King kicked off off Victory in Europe Day with a celebration of Britain’s war heroes.

The Royal Family held an investiture, awarding military medals to more than 270 recipients.

These medals, including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Military Medal, were handed out in Buckingham Palace’s Ballroom.

The first to be presented was Dr John Beeston, who was awarded a George Medal by the King.

The doctor with the Civil Defence was being honoured for his courage helping a woman trapped in debris after a devastating bombing raid.

The George Medal was for civilian acts of bravery not on the battlefield and the Distinguished Service Medal is given to those who have shown bravery and resourcefulness in active service.

Lunch with Churchill before their big speeches

The country’s two much-loved leaders held a lunch at Buckingham Palace before they both gave addresses to the nation.

It was their final lunch of the war, as the pair had regularly met over meals on Tuesdays to discuss the progress of the war.

Churchill rolled up in a civilian car at Buckingham Palace to meet the monarch.

But well wishers in the Mall soon realised who was arriving and the police had to hold back cheering crowds.

The wartime PM then left to the palace and returned to Downing Street to deliver his famous speech confirming Germany’s surrender at 3pm on VE Day.

The first appearance in front of jubilant Londoners

Moments after Churchill declared a ‘brief period of rejoicing’ in his 3pm speech, the Royal Family came out onto Buckingham Palace’s balcony to greet Londoners along the Mall.

King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret all walked out in front of a crowd numbering up to 100,000 people.

The King was wearing the uniform of an Admiral of the Fleet and Princess Elizabeth was wearing her khaki uniform of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), which she joined earlier in 1945.

Television cameras, which were mounted on vans in the Palace’s forecourt and were filming the Royal Family as they waved down the Mall.

This appearance was the first of eight visits to the balcony by the Royals

Churchill joins the royals on the Palace balcony

The Mall crowd were surprised with a special twist as the Royal Family stepped out next to the wartime PM onto Buckingham Palace’s balcony at 5pm on VE Day.

They made the historic appearance minutes after the King met Churchill and members of his war cabinet in the Palace’s Bow Room.

Churchill could be seen chatting with the King and Queen, smiling as onlookers let out repeated cheers.

King thanks ‘Almighty God’ for victory in nighttime address

At 9pm it was the King’s turn to the nation, as well as Commonwealth citizens across the globe.

The King told millions of people worldwide that Germany has ‘finally [been] overcome’, but warned that more fighting was still in store in Asia.

In the 15 minute broadcast, the King said the UK was ‘the last remaining barrier against a world-wide tyranny’ and paid tribute too all of those who lost their lives fighting for Allies.

He said: ‘Today we give thanks to Almighty God for a great deliverance.

‘Speaking from our Empire’s oldest capital city, war-battered but never for one moment daunted or dismayed – speaking from London, I ask you to join with me in that act of thanksgiving.

‘Germany, the enemy who drove all Europe into war, has been finally overcome…

”In the darkest hours we knew that the enslaved and isolated peoples of Europe looked to us; their hopes were our hopes; their confidence confirmed our faith.

‘We knew that, if we failed, the last remaining barrier against a world-wide tyranny would have fallen in ruins.’

The Royals returned for another trip to the balcony just after the King had wrapped up his speech.

The Princesses join the Mall’s celebrations

Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret left Buckingham Palace and joined the throngs of people partying in London.

The heir to the throne and her sister, aged just 19 and 14, were given permission by their father to leave as part of a small group from the Royal Household.

The pair cheered for their parents and mingled in with Londoners.

The future Queen said of the evening in a BBC interview: ‘We were terrified of being recognised – so I pulled my uniform cap well down over my eyes.

‘A Grenadier officer among our party of about 16 people said he refused to be seen in the company of another officer improperly dressed.

‘So I had to put my cap on normally.’

The excursion took them to Whitehall, the famous Ritz and the Royal Parks.

Queen Elizabeth later recalled: ‘[There were] lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief.’

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