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Prince Harry has paid tribute to his late grandfather Prince Philip with a letter secretly placed at the National Memorial Arboretum to mark the 80th Anniversary of VJ Day.
The Duke of Sussex asked a friend to put the note and a wreath on the Burma Star Memorial in Staffordshire following the national service of remembrance last Friday.
The letter was placed after King Charles III and Queen Camilla had left in an apparent effort to avoid distracting from the official royal commemorations, reported GB News.
Harry, 40, wrote: ‘For me, this anniversary carries an added layer of meaning. My late grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, served in the Pacific campaign.
‘He spoke with quiet humility about those years, but I know how deeply he respected all who stood beside him in that theatre of war. Today, as I think of him, I think also of each of you, of the shared hardships, the bonds forged, and the legacy you leave.’
The Duke added: ‘On this 80th anniversary of VJ Day, we pause to remember the day the guns finally fell silent across the world, the true end of the Second World War.
‘We also pause to recognise you, the men and women of the ‘Forgotten Army,’ whose courage and endurance in the Far East campaign were anything but forgettable.
‘You faced an enemy determined to the last, fought in unforgiving terrain, and endured months – even years – far from home, in conditions most could scarcely imagine.
Prince Harry and Prince Philip open the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in 2013
King Charles III and Queen Camilla react to veteran Yavar Abbas’s reference to the King’s cancer treatment during the VJ Day service at the National Memorial Arboretum on Friday
‘Your service in the jungles and mountains of Burma and beyond was marked by grit, unity, and sacrifice. It is because of that sacrifice that generations since, myself included, have been able to live in freedom.
‘From the lessons of that bitter struggle came the understanding that even the fiercest of foes can, in time, become valued partners in peace.
‘Today, as both our nations mark this anniversary, we acknowledge the respect earned, the lives lost and the enduring friendship that has since taken root.’
Harry concluded: ‘I am humbled by your example, proud of your service and dedication, and profoundly grateful for what you endured. Your story is part of our shared heritage, and it must never be forgotten. With the deepest respect, thank you.’
He finished the letter with a signature above the words ‘Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.’
The service – also attended by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – was hosted by the Royal British Legion in partnership with the UK Government at the memorial site in Alrewas, Staffordshire.
Philip was mentioned in despatches for his service during the Second World War and served as First Lieutenant on the destroyer HMS Whelp in the Pacific, where he helped to rescue two airmen in 1945.
The men’s Avenger bomber crashed into the ocean during the Allies’ Operation Meridian II against the Japanese. Philip, who was 23 at the time, sent the battleship to the spot where the plane had gone down.
The bomber had flooded and rough seas were preventing the men from getting into their dinghy.
Philip, who first spoke publicly about the incident in 2006 for a BBC Radio 4 documentary, remarked in a typically matter-of-fact manner: ‘It was routine. If you found somebody in the sea, you go and pick them up. End of story, so to speak.’
He alerted the sick bay, arranged for hot food to be waiting for them and found new uniforms for the airmen. The men had no idea who their rescuer actually was until they were told he kept a picture of Princess Elizabeth in his cabin.
The duke was on HMS Whelp on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered.
He recalled the horrors of seeing former prisoners of war returning from the camps.
‘It was an emotional experience. These people were naval officers who hadn’t been in a naval atmosphere for three or four years, sometimes longer,’ he told a BBC documentary in 1995.
‘When we sat down in the mess they were suddenly in an atmosphere that they recognised. They sat there with tears running down their cheeks. They just couldn’t speak.’
Harry was known to have enjoyed Philip’s witty and entertaining company and admired his dedication to duty and the loyal support he showed to Queen Elizabeth II.
Following Philip’s death in April 2021 aged 99, Harry described his grandfather as ‘a man of service, honour and great humour, adding that ‘he was my grandpa: master of the barbecue, legend of banter, and cheeky right ’til the end’.
Silas Ackah Sarbah lays a wreath on the Burma Star memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum during a reception for VJ veterans and their families in Staffordshire last Friday
The Red Arrows fly past the national service of remembrance in Staffordshire last Friday
Harry and his brother Prince William spent their childhood summers enjoying barbecues cooked by Philip at Balmoral, as well as shooting, hunting and fishing, which was also much loved by the duke, on the Aberdeenshire estate.
Harry also said after Philip’s death: ‘He was authentically himself, with a seriously sharp wit, and could hold the attention of any room due to his charm—and also because you never knew what he might say next.’
In a nod to Philip’s well-known impatience, Harry added: ‘While I could go on, I know that right now he would say to all of us, beer in hand, ‘Oh do get on with it!’
‘So, on that note, Grandpa, thank you for your service, your dedication to Granny, and for always being yourself.’
As a military man who served with distinction in the Second World War, Philip was also known to be proud of his grandsons for their own service in the armed forces.
When William and Harry’s mother Princess Diana died suddenly in a car crash when they were just 15 and 12, the brothers were staying at Balmoral with their grandparents.
Philip and the Queen supported the boys during the difficult days ahead. He is said to have offered William and Harry ‘gruff tenderness and outdoor activities like stalking and hiking to tire them out’.
Ahead of Diana’s funeral, he is said to have told the brothers as plans were being made for them to walk behind her funeral cortege: ‘If I walk, will you walk with me?’
On the day, Philip joined Harry and William as they made the heartbreaking procession through London in honour of the princess.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, King Charles III and Queen Camilla during the national service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, last Friday
King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving for the national Service of remembrance in Alrewas
Last Friday’s ceremony was hosted by actress Celia Imrie and featured readings by actor Robert Lindsay and veterans, as well as musical performances from the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain, Jennifer Pike and the Royal Corps of Signals Pipes and Drums.
Ahead of the service, the King, in a pre-recorded audio address to the nation, vowed that the sacrifice of heroes who fought and died in the campaigns ‘shall never be forgotten’.
He also significantly acknowledged the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which led to Japan’s surrender, describing the ‘immense price’ paid by its citizens as one ‘we pray no nation need ever pay again’.
He said: ‘Please know that the courage and camaraderie displayed in humanity’s darkest hour is a flame that shall blaze for eternity – a beacon that honours our past and guides our future.’
After the service of remembrance, which started with a two-minute silence and a Red Arrows flypast, the King made his way to the Far East corner of the arboretum, where he met Silas Sarbah and Khadak Chettri, the grandsons of Second World War soldiers, as well as William Slim, the great-grandson of General Bill Slim, who led the so-called Forgotten Army.
He viewed tributes at the Burma Railway memorial, which is constructed from 30 metres of original track from the so-called ‘Railway of Death’, and took a moment of reflection at the Burma Star Memorial and the Chindit Memorial, before heading to a reception for VJ veterans and their families.
Charles and Camilla were joined by the Prime Minister and Lady Starmer, as they met some 30 veterans who served in the Far East during the Second World War for the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces, accompanied by their families and carers.
A dinner reception was held after the service at which Charles, Camilla, and the Prime Minister chatted at length with several of the Far East veterans.
