Anzac Day has been commemorated in London, with Prince Harry laying a wreath at the annual Dawn Service.
Thousands of Australian and New Zealand expats gathered for the 5am ceremony at Hyde Park Corner, this year focused around the New Zealand memorial at Wellington Arch (alternating between Australia’s and New Zealand’s London memorials each year).
Australia’s High Commissioner to the UK Alexander Downer, in his address at the ceremony, evoked images of Anzac troops as they made their fateful landing at Gallipoli.
“We consider the enthusiasm, the courage, and the heroism of the Anzac troops – ordinary men fighting for God, King and empire, for their mates, for adventure, for a world without war,” he said.
Later in the morning, Prince Harry also attended the wreath laying ceremony and parade at the Cenotaph on Whitehall commemorating the Anzacs as well as the British servicemen lost in the disastrous Dardanelles campaign of World War I, of which the Gallipoli campaign was a part.
He also attended the following Anzac Day service at nearby Westminster Abbey.
IMAGE: Prince Harry lays a wreath at Wellington Arch during the Dawn Service at Hyde Park Corner in London, commemorating Anzac Day (Jeremy Selwyn-WPA Pool/Getty Images)
