HRH The Princess Royal marks 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme

We were honoured to welcome our President, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, to the Thiepval Memorial for the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The international ceremony was held on 1 July 2026 at the Thiepval Memorial, France where we commemorate thousands of the soldiers who went missing during the first day of the battle, the bloodiest in British military history.

HRH The Duke of Gloucester, Peter Hudson, CWGC Vice Chairman and Jérôme Dumont, President, Mission Patrimoine de la Première Guerre Mondiale also attended the commemoration which featured music from the Orchestre d'Amiens and mezzo-soprano Emma Brown.

Her Royal Highness unveiled a plaque marking the Thiepval Memorial’s inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, one of over 50 CWGC sites in France and Belgium listed in 2023.

After the ceremony, Two alumni from the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation Guides Programme met with HRH The Princess Royal and shared stories of individuals commemorated at Thiepval.

To find out more about the Battle of the Somme, use the following link: