The Princess of Wales has led commemorations on Anzac Day by laying a wreath at the Cenotaph in a sombre ceremony. Kate attended the annual ceremony in Central London, which commemorates the 1915 Gallipoli landing of Australian and New Zealand troops in the First World War. It is a day of remembrance in Australia, commemorating the service of the people of Australia and New Zealand who lost their lives in war.
A Solemn Wreath-Laying Ceremony
The Princess wore a navy coat and hat and laid a wreath of poppies at the national war memorial before bowing her head to pay her respects. Following the wreath-laying ceremony, the princess travelled to Westminster Abbey to join a service of commemoration and thanksgiving alongside veterans and other dignitaries.
Princess Anne’s Dawn Service
Kate's commemorations came hours after Princess Anne attended a dawn service at Wellington Arch on Hyde Park Corner as she too marked Anzac Day. Organised by the New Zealand and Australian High Commissions, the Princess Royal arrived for the service shortly before it started at 5am. She laid a wreath against Wellington Arch during a service that included a reading of the John McCrae poem In Flanders Fields and concluded with the national anthems of the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Services were also held across New Zealand, Australia and Gallipoli on this morning.
Commemorations in France
The occasion was also marked in Villers-Bretonneux, a village in the Somme region of France, which Australian units helped defend during the First World War. A post on the Royal Family X account on Saturday morning read: "Today is #ANZACDay – which honours the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations."
The History of Anzac Day
Anzac Day – April 25 – marks the anniversary of the start of the First World War Gallipoli landings. Thousands of Anzac troops – Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – died in the ill-fated 1915 campaign. Waves of Allied forces launched an amphibious attack on the strategically important Turkish peninsula, which was key to controlling the Dardanelles straits, the crucial route to the Black Sea and Russia. But the plan backed by Winston Churchill, then first lord of the admiralty, was flawed and the campaign, which faced a heroic defence by the Turks, led to stalemate and withdrawal eight months later. Its legacy is the celebration of the “Anzac spirit” – courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship – shown by the Antipodean troops.
