Duchess of Edinburgh to attend Anzac Day commemorations in the capital

The sacrifices of Australian and New Zealand forces will be remembered at a dawn service marking Anzac Day.

A congregation will gather in central London for the annual event commemorating the national day of remembrance for fallen Antipodean servicemen, old soldiers and those still serving.

Stephen Smith, Australia’s High Commissioner, and Chris Seed, acting High Commissioner for New Zealand, will attend the service at the Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park Corner along with fellow countrymen and women, with the Duchess of Edinburgh also due to pay her respects.

Wreaths will be laid at Antipodean memorials and prayers said during the service.

Anzac Day has been commemorated in the capital since the first anniversary of the First World War Anzac – Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – landings at Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1916, when King George V attended a service at Westminster Abbey.

Since then, the services have become an important moment for thousands of New Zealanders and Australians, who honour the sacrifices of their countrymen and women in all wars.

Anzac Day will also be marked by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph due to be attended by the Duchess of Edinburgh, who will later join the congregation at Westminster Abbey for a service of commemoration and thanksgiving.

The Princess Royal is in Turkey to mark, on behalf of the King, the 110th anniversary of the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on the beaches of Gallipoli.

On Thursday Anne delivered a message from Charles during a service at Turkey’s Canakkale Martyrs’ Memorial, with the King extending his “special thoughts and prayers”, and describing how “we may take some solace in the warm friendships and deep alliances that have emerged from the desperation of Gallipoli”.