Windrush Day 2023: King Charles III celebrates Windrush generation on 75th anniversary
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King Charles III has said it is "crucially important" to recognise the huge difference members of the Windrush generation have made to Britain.
He will be among those at a service at Windsor Castle which along with other events will mark today's 75th anniversary.
The HMT Empire Windrush ship first docked at Tilbury Docks in Essex on June 22 1948, bringing around 500 people from the Caribbean who answered Britain's call to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.
As part of the anniversary, the King commissioned 10 portraits of some members of the Windrush generation which will go on public display in Edinburgh.
How is the Windrush anniversary being marked?
The milestone is being marked with events across Britain, including a national commemoration service at Southwark Cathedral.
There will be performances at the Port of Tilbury in Essex where the ship docked, the Windrush flag will be flown over public buildings, and the King will meet 300 young people at a service in St George's Chapel at Windsor castle.
There will also be a procession through Brixton, an area of London closely associated with the Windrush generation.
In 2022, the King commissioned a series of 10 new portraits of some members of the Windrush generation.
The pictures will go on public display for the first time on Thursday at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Last week, Charles hosted a Buckingham Palace reception where he and Queen Camilla unveiled the paintings and met the 10 people featured in the artworks along with their families.
In the foreword to the book accompanying the portraits, Charles said: "History is, thankfully and finally, beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the Windrush generation.
King Charles described the portraits as a "small way to honour their remarkable legacy."
He added: "It is, I believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers who stepped off the Empire Windrush at Tilbury in June 1948 - only a few months before I was born - and those who followed over the decades, to recognise and celebrate the immeasurable difference that they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country."