PURPLE REIGN 

Kate hugs tearful hero who caught gun-toting crooks as Royal Family gather to mark late Queen’s 100th birthday

KIND Kate embraced a George Cross hero as the Royal Family united in memory of Queen Elizabeth II.

The King, 77, presented cards and led a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to three centenarians at a palace bash on what would have been the late Queen’s 100th birthday.

Princess Kate, embraced a George Cross hero today as the Royal Family united in memory of Queen Elizabeth IICredit: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
 

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Tony Gledhill, 88, won the George Cross in 1966 after chasing down and capturing gun-toting crooksCredit: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
 

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The King and Queen were joined by members of The Royal Family to remember the late monarchCredit: theroyalfamily/Instagram
 

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The Prince and Princess of Wales shared this pic of the Queen on InstagramCredit: princeandprincessofwales/Instagram
Before the party the loyal royals gathered for a family photograph in a display of unity and in memory of the late Queen.

The Princess of Wales, 44, also hugged ex-Met Police hero Tony Gledhill who won the George Cross in 1966 after chasing down and capturing gun-toting crooks.

The hero, one of 190 special guests invited to the memorial party, was emotional as he told Kate his wife had recently passed away.

But as Kate, wearing special earrings worn by the late Queen in her first official portrait, held his arms warmly and shared an embrace, he told her his wife’s dying wish for him to attend the palace bash.

Kate gave him a hug and held his hands and said: “We’ll keep in touch, you must, if you want to? Writing? Will you keep in touch? Please do.”

Tony, 88, said afterwards: “She was fantastic.”

Three special guests – who all shared her birthday – were invited to the palace and received a warm welcome from the King, Queen, Kate and William.

Charles personally gave three 100-year-olds their special cards signed by himself and Queen Camilla.

He bent down to speak to first in the line-up birthday girl Mary Wood, a retired nurse from Yatton in North Somerset, who insisted trying to get up from her wheelchair to greet him.

Charles presented her special card and asked: “Is it your birthday today? Oh how wonderful. The same as my Mama. That’s marvellous!’

Queen Camilla told her: “You don’t look old enough to be one hundred!”

Mrs Wood told her the secret was eating “good food as I grew up”.

She said afterwards: “I came here to meet the late Queen when she celebrated her 80th birthday as mine was also on the same day.

“And now I have met her son. It’s been wonderful and so unexpected. I have followed the Royal Family my whole life.”

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The Princess of Wales during a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth IICredit: PA
 

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The Princess of Wales welcomes guests at the receptionCredit: PA
 

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Princess Anne at the official opening of The Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Regent’s ParkCredit: Getty
Charles and Camilla were helped by another OAP who shared the Queen’s birthday, Joan Illingworth, 100, to cut a cake made by the palace pastry chefs.

Holding the knife Joan said: “It’s hard to cut this cake”

Camilla tried her hand first before Charles gave her a hand with the knife saying: “Let me do that with you.”

William met Joan and said jokingly to her: “I can’t believe you are 100! Do we need to call security, have you snuck in?”

Joan was heard telling William her secret to looking young eating to Liquorice Allsorts and clotted cream fudge.

Wills replied: “Wow.”

Afterwards, Joan said: “I said to Camilla ‘I’m deaf’ and she joked ‘join the club’.

“The Prince of Wales said I looked well for my age and asked what was my secret.”

She also described the King as “very friendly”.

On sharing a birthday with Queen Elizabeth II, she said: “I remember all her life she was growing as we were the same age so it feels very special. It feels different being born on the same day as the Queen.

And added: “It feels special and today was a privilege.”

Fellow 100th birthday guest John Jervois, who served with the Royal Signals in Second World War in the Far East, stood up to greet the King.

Charles was heard wishing him a happy birthday and they had a warm chat.

Speaking afterwards John said he used to get lots of presents when he was a child because everyone remembered his birthday as it was the same as the Queen’s.

He said: “It was very valuable.”

On being at Buckingham Palace and meeting the King and Royal Family, he said: “It’s extraordinary. I didn’t think it would happen to somebody like myself.”

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Queen Camilla and King Charles III depart after viewing the final designCredit: Getty
 

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Photographs of Queen Elizabeth II on display at a reception at Buckingham PalaceCredit: PA
 

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Britain’s King Charles and PM Keir Starmer shake handsCredit: Reuters
He also recalled as young man climbing on to the roof of a building in Regent Street, London, to watch the Queen’s Coronation procession.

The reception was held to celebrate the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II on the anniversary of her birth.

Guests included 45 of the patronages she supported including Cancer Research UK, the British Red Cross Society, Jockey Club, Royal Kennel Club and the Army Benevolent Fund.

The historic Marble Hall – one of the only public areas still open during the final stages of the palace’s refurbishment – was decked out to look like a street party.

Bunting first used for VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations last year hung from the ceiling and paintings.

Guests were treated to champagne and a special QEII “tribute” cocktail made from her favourite Dubonnet.

Charles also conversed with members of the Royal Association for Deaf People and his words had to be translated by a sign language interpreter.

Dr Mark Wheatley said afterwards: “It is really special to be invited because the King is our patron and Queen Elizabeth II was our patron for 70 years.”

A Royal Family portrait taken at the party is believed to be the first since the Coronation three years ago.

The other family members at the memorial event were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and even the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra.

Earlier Princess Anne unveiled a new garden in Regents Park in memory of the late Queen.

Speaking after touring the garden, Anne, 75, thanked everyone involved in the project for their “pioneering approach to a real garden for the future”.

She said: “These spaces are for everyone.  Like all gardens, it will change and will always feel different and perhaps that’s always as important as the basics remaining the same.

“The basics did remain the same, that was always important to my late mother’s life.”

The garden will open to the public next Monday and features a circular pond, flower garden and viewing platform.

This morning Kate and William said they they were “remembering” the “inspiring” Queen Elizabeth II in a heartfelt social media post ahead of the special reception.

The X post read: “Remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the 100th anniversary of her birth. Inspiring generations through a lifetime of duty.”

It was accompanied with a smiling black and white photo of the late Queen who was born on April 21, 1926.

Earlier today Charles and Camilla arrived at the British Museum to view the final models of the national memorial to the late Queen.

They were joined at the event by the under-fire Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, who greeted the King with a broad smile and a handshake and then also was seen to pat Camilla on the top of her arm.

Prince Edward and Sophie also headed to the British Museum for the reception this morning.

The Royal Family later gathered at a special reception at Buckingham Palace in honour of the nation’s longest reigning monarch, who died aged 96 in 2022.

Yesterday the King and Queen visited an exhibition on the late Queen’s wardrobe currently on at Buckingham Palace to mark the anniversary.

The King, in a video message, paid a heartfelt tribute to his “darling Mama”, but said much of life today would likely have “troubled her deeply”.

He said he took heart from her belief that “goodness will prevail” and that a “brighter dawn is never far from the horizon”, and said the milestone anniversary should be celebrated as a “life well-lived” rather than marking an “absence”.

The King will see today a likeness of his mother, in the form of a maquette which depicts Elizabeth II as a young woman in her 20s in her Order of the Garter robes, in the early years of her reign.

Another of his father Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, around the same age, in his naval uniform with his hands behind his back, was also on show.

His statue will be slightly behind his wife of more than 70 years and he will be “looking up” at her.

Full-scale bronze versions of the statues by sculptor Martin Jennings will form part of the permanent memorial in St James’s Park.

The new civic space will be called Queen Elizabeth II Place at Marlborough Gate, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace.

Mr Jennings, previous sculptors include a bust of the Queen Mother in St Paul’s Cathedral, as well as the first crowned coinage portrait of the King.

Mr Jennings’s sculpture will stand at one end of a glass bridge being designed by Foster and Partners, the firm who won a 2025 competition to create the nation’s lasting tribute to the late Queen, whose reign spanned seven decades.

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King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend the viewing of the design recommendations for the Queen Elizabeth MemorialCredit: Getty
 

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Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh arrive for the receptionCredit: Reuters
 

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Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester arrives to view the final design for the national memorialCredit: Getty
 

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The King and Queen Camilla arriving at the British MuseumCredit: PA