A French village where British parachutists fought on D-Day is in uproar after learning that the Prince of Wales will not, as it had expected, be visiting for next month’s 70th anniversary commemorations, reports The Telegraph.
The inhabitants of the Normandy village of Merville, where paratroopers stormed a strategically vital German gun battery, had long been expecting a visit from the Prince, who is colonel-in-chief of the Parachute Regiment.
In anticipation of the expected royal visit on June 5, €60,000 (£49,000) has been spent on the ceremony and children have spent weeks learning the words to God Save the Queen. However, Merville figures nowhere on the Prince’s finalised programme.
So incensed is Olivier Paz, the mayor of Merville-Franceville, that he will travel from France to London on Wednesday to deliver 50 letters of protest signed by 1,000 villagers to Clarence House. He will also meet Lt-Gen Jonathan “Jacko” Page, the colonel commandant of the regiment.
“We have been working for weeks to welcome Prince Charles,” Mr Paz told The Telegraph. “I must admit I blew a fuse when I learnt he was not coming.
“There was so much fervour and enthusiasm about this visit on what we consider to be British soil given the number of compatriots who spilled their blood. So it is only natural that the disappointment is equally high.” The letter relays the dismay felt in a village which features on the Parachute Regiment’s battle honours — the list of battle sites emblazoned on the regiment’s colours.
It notes that Merville is the only battle honour site of the regiment not to have been visited by its colonel-in-chief.
“As a result, the last survivors of the 9th Battalion, those who distinguished themselves on D-Day with their selflessness and pugnacity, will never have the honour of a visit by their colonel-in-chief,” Mr Paz wrote in the letter.
“We cannot believe it and we want to inform you of our distress and great sadness.”
Clarence House yesterday admitted to being “a little bit at a loss” at the mayor’s dismay. “Merville Battery has never been part of the programme,” said a spokesman, pointing out that the Prince was already “undertaking seven engagements on Thursday June 5, of which five are being hosted by the Parachute Regiment”.
The spokesman added that the Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall were scheduled to attend a lunch in Ranville — the first village liberated on D-Day —hosted by the Parachute Regiment, to which all Normandy veterans are invited, including those who fought at Merville.
Mr Paz denied that his village had never been on the Prince’s itinerary.
Read more of this report from The Telegraph.