Princess Anne delivers powerful message in France

Princess Anne said the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme recalled “the responsibility to remember”, as she marked one of the deadliest battles of the First World War.

“As time passes, and the Great War slips further into history, the responsibility to remember falls more clearly upon us,” said the sister of King Charles III during a ceremony at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in northern France.

“Our duty is not only to honour sacrifice but to ensure that its lessons are neither forgotten nor taken for granted,” added the princess, who is the president of The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

The 141-day Battle of the Somme was the bloodiest of the First World War, starting on July 1, 1916, as Allied forces -- mainly British -- aimed to relieve pressure on the French by attacking the Germans around the Somme river.

The battle is the deadliest in Britain’s history, with 20,000 dead or missing in just the first hours, and 40,000 wounded.