Alfred Hicks, an RAF sergeant during the Second World War, met Charles after the memorial ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery on Thursday.

Mr Hicks was working with the Armed Forces Filming Unit when he was sent to document the Normandy invasion on June 6 1944.

In the lead-up to the landings, the 94-year-old filmed the king inspecting preparations in Portsmouth.

"The prince said I got a chance he never got, I got to meet his grandfather," Mr Hicks said, describing the king as "a lovely man, a really nice man".

Mr Hicks, who landed at Sword Beach on the first day of the campaign, said: "I wanted to get off at the beach and film the others coming in, but they then took us to the front line, and then we had to walk all the way back, it took us 12 hours."

Charles also met 93-year-old Gerard Robertson, who had an unusual experience when he arrived on Juno Beach aged 18.

He trained with the Durham Light Infantry, but got separated from his colleagues after they landed on the beach on D-Day.

"We got off the boat and I couldn't find the company, and I never did find them. We ended up going up the beach with the Canadians," Mr Robertson said.

"The following morning, after we found a ditch to stay in overnight, we found another company, the Engineers."

Mr Robertson ended up sticking with the Engineers for the rest of his military career, and joked: "The only reason I ended up with the Engineers was because I could fix a bicycle chain!"

Australian Associated Press