Prince Charles today led Britain in marking the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe day, laying a wreath at the Cenotaph in London.
Britain's Prince Charles at a war commemoration ceremony at the Cenotaph in central London
He led veterans from World War Two and hundreds of members of the public at the national war memorial in commemorating VE day which was proclaimed on May 8, 1945.
Commemorations to mark the end of the war that cost at least 50 million lives worldwide were also taking place in Berlin, Paris and Washington.
US President George W Bush attended a ceremony at the US cemetery at Margraten near the southern Dutch city of Maastricht to pay tribute to the allied soldiers who died to free Europe from Nazi Germany. He joined Dutch Queen Beatrix and prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende in remembering the war dead.
Commemoration services also took place across Europe, with crowds gathered in Berlin, Moscow and along the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris.
French president Jacques Chirac laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as jets flew over the Champs-Elysees, filling the sky with red, white and blue smoke in the colours of the French Tricolore.
At the former Mauthausen death camp in Austria, thousands took part in a ceremony to remember some 100,000 inmates killed there by the Nazis.
Police forces watches sympathizers and members of the right wing National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin
A neo-Nazi march in Berlin was stopped by thousands of anti-fascist demonstrators on Sunday after a tense standoff that overshadowed ceremonies marking the end of the war.
Berlin police said 6,000 demonstrators opposed to the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) crowded into streets around Alexanderplatz square where 3,300 right-wing extremists gathered to protest what they called a German "cult of guilt".
Tens of thousands of Germans had taken part in a candlelight vigil against the far-right in Berlin last night ahead of today's events.
A war veteran during a VE Day memorial service in Dundee
In Britain, events took across the country. A televised two-hour concert will be held in Trafalgar Square this evening, featuring young artists such as Will Young and Katie Melua and a special appearance from Vera Lynn, the World War Two "Forces' Sweetheart".
The concert, which will also feature footage of the original Trafalgar Square VE Day celebrations, will be shown live on giant screens in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Hull.
The service at the Cenotaph marked the beginning of a series of events to be held this year. Queen Elizabeth II will lead national remembrance on July 10th.
The allies had agreed to celebrate victory on May 9th, 1945 but journalists broke the news of Germany's surrender prematurely, prompting mass rejoicing on May 8th. The Soviet Union kept to the agreed date and Russia still marks victory in Europe on May 9th. The war in the Pacific ended three months later and the Allies mark Victory over Japan on August 15 th.
Mr Bush and dozens of other world leaders join President Vladimir Putin for victory celebrations in Moscow tomorrow. The US president will fly to Moscow later today for talks with Mr Putin set to focus on promoting democracy.
During a visit to the Latvian capital Riga yesterday, Mr Bush called the Cold War division of Europe after 1945 one of the greatest wrongs of history, angering Russia at a time when it is marking the war in which 27 million Soviet people died.
After laying a wreath to Russia's war dead yesterday, Mr Putin hailed the Red Army as a liberator, not an oppressor.