Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to attend Westminster Holocaust Memorial Day event

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend the Holocaust Memorial Day commemorative ceremony in Westminster next Monday.

Prince William will give a reading during the event, which will be broadcast live on the BBC, before meeting Holocaust survivors, and survivors from more recent genocides.

This year’s ceremony marks 75-years since the liberation of Auschwitz and 25-years since the end of the genocide in Bosnia.

Supported by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, of which the Prince of Wales is patron, the annual commemoration includes more than 10,000 educational activities taking place across the UK on 27 January.

Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, welcomed the announcement. She said: “We are delighted that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will join us at the UK Commemorative Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day 2020.”

“Holocaust Memorial Day is particularly significant this year as we mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

“The UK Ceremony is the national focal point for more than 10,000 Holocaust Memorial Day activities, which are taking place in community settings from schools to libraries, and from councils to prisons. At every event to mark the day, people know more about the past, develop empathy for others, and commit to taking action to create a better future.”

HRH The Prince of Wales is to travel to Israel to take part in The World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem alongside other world leaders, while the Duchess of Cornwall will attend commemorations in Poland at the site of the former death camp, meeting survivors.