The Duchess of Edinburgh had a touching meeting with a 105-year-old war veteran ahead of the 80th anniversary of VJ.
Sophie, 60, sat down with a cup of tea and cake with ex-Royal Marine James "Jim" Wren at his care home in Salisbury on Tuesday.
The war hero told the Duchess, who is patron of the Java Far East Prisoner of War Club 1942, how his ship was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, before he was captured and imprisoned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
Sophie told Jim: "Very nice to meet you, thanks for having me. It's my honour to meet you," before the pair flicked through a photo album together.
WATCH: Duchess Sophie meets 105-year-old Royal Marines veteran James 'Jim' Wren ahead of VJ Day
They were also joined by four generations of Jim's family, including daughter Denise Dables, 69, son-in-law Andy Dables, 72, granddaughter Kirsty Dables, 51, and great-granddaughters Freya, 18, and Ellie, 16.
The Duchess' outing comes just days before the royal family will step out to commemorate the anniversary, with the King set to release an address to the nation, before he and the Queen attend a Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
ROYAL NEWS
In the coming weeks, the royals are also set to travel up to the King's Scottish residence, Balmoral, for their annual summer retreat.
The Duchess shook hands with Jim and his family members as she arrived at the care home in a printed red, white and green bunting print dress from Lexy London.
Recalling surviving the sinking of HMS Repulse in the South China Sea in December 1941 - in which 513 perished – Jim told Sophie: "I was having a cup of tea and the alarm went off.
"The first bomb got right behind me. And fortunately it didn't explode. It got down through three decks. That saved my life in a sense
"From then onwards it was a case of actions, actions, and it was torpedo after torpedo and they eventually got nine hits."
Jim clung onto debris before being rescued by HMS Electra and taken to Singapore to defend it against the advancing Japanese. But as they fled Singapore his ship was captured by a Japanese destroyer in February 1942 and he spent three and half years in a brutal prisoner of war camp in Sumatra.
He told the Duchess: "It was a possibility we could perish and all those people on board."
"We didn't know where our next meal or drink would be coming from and left to get on with it as best we can.
"They had no idea how to deal with prisoners of war, the Japanese."
As Sophie flicked through a photo album with the war hero, which included a picture of his wife, Margaret, he revealed that she didn't know if he was dead or alive for more than three years.
He also got emotional speaking about the 80th anniversary commemorations coming after last year's D-Day anniversary and VE-Day earlier this year.
He said: "When we got back the government didn't want to know and told us not to talk about it."
After also having a private chat with the Duchess, Jim said: "It's been a great honour to meet her."
Welcome to The HELLO! Royal Club, where thousands of royal fans like you get to delve deeper into the wonderful world of royalty every day. Want to join them? Just click the button below for a list of club benefits and joining information.
Sign up to HELLO! Daily for all the latest and best royal coverage
By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information please click here.
The Duchess of Edinburgh returned home last week after carrying out a solo ten-day tour of Central and South America at the request of the Foreign Office
Prince Edward's wife was seen on a biodiversity walk in the Amazon rainforest during her trip to Peru – and swapped her bright white espadrilles for Wellington boots
