Battle of Britain anniversary: Prince William unveils restored rare Spitfire

Britain's Prince William unveiled a newly restored Spitfire plane donated to the Imperial War Museum (IWM) on 9 July.

The Duke of Cambridge received the Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 N3200 at Duxford Second World War airfield after it was donated to the IWM by American entrepreneur philanthropist Thomas Kaplan.

In May 1940, the plane's first and only mission was during Operation Dynamo, protecting the British troops at Dunkirk. It crash-landed on the sand near Calais and was only recovered in 1986 before being returned to the UK in 2000, where it was restored.

Spitfire N3200 is only one of two remaining Mark I models restored to original specifications and still flying.

On 10 July, Prince William joined the Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. They watched a flypast of Spitfires, Hurricanes and Typhoon jets.

Widely acknowledged as the start of the Battle of Britain, on 10 July 1940, there were a series of Luftwaffe attacks on shipping convoys off England's south-east coast.