William and Duke of Gloucester to attend Anzac Day ceremonies

The Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Gloucester will attend Anzac Day services.

William will then take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, followed by a commemoration and thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey.

Anzac Day, celebrated on April 25, commemorates the start of the Gallipoli landings in World War One.

Thousands of Anzac troops perished in the ill-fated 1915 campaign.

The Allies launched an amphibious assault on the Turkish peninsula, which controlled the Dardanelles straits, a critical route to the Black Sea and Russia.

But Winston Churchill’s plan, backed by the Admiralty, failed, and the campaign, despite a heroic Turkish defence, ended in a stalemate eight months later.

Anzac Day celebrates the “Anzac spirit” of the Antipodean troops.

In an Anzac Day message, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall recalled this “gallant comradeship.”

The heir to the throne said in a statement: “As we pause to reflect on the sacrifice of the Armed Services personnel of Australia and New Zealand in two World Wars, and in other conflicts and peacekeeping operations, our thoughts will also be with those communities around the world who are being torn apart by violence and conflict, and those who are fighting for freedom in the face of oppression.”

The dawn service will include readings, a bugler will play the Last Post, and wreaths will be laid at the end.

In addition to William laying the Queen’s wreath, hundreds of veterans’ associations, servicemen and women, and their families will march in a parade.

Following the Dean of Westminster’s address, the New Zealand and Australian High Commissioners will read prayers, and the London-based Ngati Ranana will perform a Maori waiata, or song.

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