Princess Royal to honour sacrifices of black South Africans in First World War

The Princess Royal will commemorate the sacrifices of black South Africans and other races who played a vital First World War role during her final day in Cape Town.

Anne will unveil the Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial, which honours South Africans who carried out non-combat jobs and died with no known grave or commemoration.

The King’s sister has travelled to South Africa for a two-day visit and will perform the ceremony in her role as president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which is behind the memorial honouring more than 1,700 South Africans.

The princess will later carry out a series of engagements in Cape Town including visiting the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, which keeps alive the memory of the former archbishop of Cape Town awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa.

Anne last visited South Africa in 2012 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, and she will also visit the Royal Cape Yacht Club and meet the all-female crew being trained to compete in the Cape2Rio race.

She will also tour the South African Astronomical Observatory built in the 1820s after George IV authorised the British Admiralty to establish a royal observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, to provide accurate star positions to help ships navigate the treacherous waters around the Cape.