The Princess of Wales hugged two Holocaust survivors and the King made an emotional visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau as the world marked 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camp.
Kate had a moving reunion with Yvonne Bernstein and Stephen Frank, who she photographed in 2020, at the UK National Ceremony held in London for around 50 survivors of the Holocaust and survivors of subsequent genocides, telling them it was a “treat” to see them again.
The event at Guildhall in central London was part of events held around the UK and abroad to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday.
People around the UK were asked to light a candle in their windows in the evening to remember those who were killed and to stand against prejudice and hatred.
While landmarks, buildings and monuments are lighting up purple as part of the Light the Darkness national moment, including, the London Eye and the Liver Building in Liverpool.
King Charles and other world figures joined Auschwitz survivors for a poignant ceremony at the site of the infamous death camp to mark 80 years since its liberation
Prince William and Sir Keir Starmer spoke at the memorial in London, where the Prime Minister said the Holocaust was a "collective endeavour" by ordinary people "consumed by the hatred of difference".
Sir Keir said: "We start by remembering the six million Jewish victims and by defending the truth against anyone who would deny it. So we will have a National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre to speak this truth for eternity.
"But as we remember, we must also act. Because we say never again, but where was never again in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, or the acts of genocide against Yazidi.
"Today, we have to make those words mean more. So we will make Holocaust education a truly national endeavour."
Sir Keir said all schools would teach the Holocaust and give opportunities to hear a recorded survivor testimony so that "we can develop that empathy for others and that appreciation of our common humanity, which is the ultimate way to defeat the hatred of difference".
Other political attendees at the event were Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey, as well as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
William, wearing a navy suit and blue tie, and Kate, wearing all black, were greeted on arrival at the event in London by Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, and its chairwoman of trustees Laura Marks.
As Kate sat catching up with Yvonne, the two women held hands, with Yvonne stroking the Princess’s arm and thanking her for coming.
“It was such a treat for me to come and see an old friend,” said Kate.
She had greeted the 87-year-old by saying: “It’s so nice to see you,” and hearing that Yvonne had suffered some health problems, she added: “You’ve had such a hard time, haven’t you?”
Kate also shared a warm hug with Stephen, 89, who thanked her for sending him a Christmas card and the two chatted about his family.
William sat with Polish born Alfred Garwood, who survived Bergen-Belsen as a child and Bosnian genocide survivor Sabina Kadic-Mackenzie, who now lives in Liverpool.
Both the Prince and Princess discussed their desire to teach their children about the Holocaust, with William saying: “George is getting to the age where he’s starting to understand things. So it’s getting interesting to talk to him about what happened.”
King Charles meanwhile made a historic visit to Auschwitz. He called it "something that I will never forget" and said remembering the "horrors" of the concentration camp was a "sacred duty".
Charles and other world figures joined Auschwitz survivors for a poignant ceremony to remember and mourn all those murdered at the infamous, German-occupied site liberated 80 years ago.
For the King the visit - the first by a British monarch to Auschwitz - was said to be profound and Charles appeared emotional at one point and wiped his eye.
Candles were left by heads of state and government after the survivors had placed their flickering tributes, and Charles placed his light with both hands, before taking a step back and bowing his head.
He later left a wreath at the Death Wall, a reconstruction of the site where several thousand people, mainly Polish political prisoners, were executed and he also paused under the infamous iron gates that have come to symbolise the terror of the Nazi regime, bearing the motto Arbeit macht frei - Work Sets You Free.
The King saw exhibits of hundreds of everyday items taken from those murdered - adult shoes, children's shoes and suitcases.
In the visitors' book in what was previously the laundry room at the camp Charles wrote: "Remembering what took place here, and those who were so cruelly murdered is a duty; a sacred duty that must be protected.
"Being here today, hearing the stories of those who experienced its horrors, seeing the shoes of children whose lives were taken when they'd just begun, and walking the paths upon which such cruelty was inflicted, is something that I will never forget."
Before the ceremony staged at Auschwitz-Birkenau Charles visited Krakow's Jewish Community Centre and in a speech said remembering the "evils of the past remain a vital task" and those memories should inspire people to "build a kinder and more compassionate world".
Charles said to be in Poland to mark 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz was "sombre and indeed a sacred moment".
He went on to say: "It is a moment when we recall the depths to which humanity can sink when evil is allowed to flourish, ignored for too long by the world.
"And it is a moment when we recall the powerful testimonies of survivors such as Lily Ebert, who so sadly passed away in October, and who collectively taught us to cherish our freedom, to challenge prejudice and never to be a bystander in the face of violence and hate."
He added those lessons could not be more important in a world that has seen the "dangerous re-emergence of antisemitism" and remains "full of turmoil and strife".
A dwindling number of elderly men and women who lived through the terrible conditions at the concentration camp were the focus of a ceremony, with some taking to the stage to share their experiences and thoughts on hatred and prejudice in the world.
They were watched by world leaders and heads of state including France's President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Spain's King Philip VI and Queen Letizia.
Auschwitz survivor Tova Friedman said she spoke for the children and told the guests she was six years old when she was liberated from the Nazi death camp.
She described her journey to the concentration camp: "Hungry, thirsty and very terrified I held on tightly to my mother's hand in the dark cattle car for countless hours while the cries and the prayers of so many desperate women permeated my soul and haunt me to this day.
"Finally, we arrived at Auschwitz, a gloomy Sunday with a sky obscured by smoke and a terrible stink hung in the air, and there were rows and rows of naked women all around me."
She had a word of warning for the world: "We all, all of us, must reawaken our collective conscious to transform this violence, anger, hatred and malignancy, that has so powerfully gripped our society, into a humane and just world. Before this terrible, terrible negative forces will destroy us all."
Leon Weintraub, a 99-year-old survivor from Lodz, Poland, decried the rising hatred in the world today which he blames on "increasingly vocal movements of the radical and anti-democratic right."
"This ideology, an attitude that preaches hostility and hatred towards others, defines racism, antisemitism and homophobia as virtues," Weintraub, a doctor, said.
