Kate and Anne Prepare for Major Occasion as Harry and Meghan Continue Faux Royal Tour
The royal family is not letting go of it's ties to Australia anytime soon.
While Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been commanding attention across the continent, the Palace has ensured the royal family's own Australian story is far from over. Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday, April 15, that Kate Middleton and Princess Anne will represent the Crown at Anzac Day commemorations on Saturday, April 25 — a significant annual occasion that honors the service and sacrifice of members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, including those who have lost their lives in conflict.
The two royals will carry out separate engagements across the day. Anne, 75, will begin proceedings with an early morning service at the Wellington Arch in Hyde Park Corner, while Middleton, 44, will attend a wreath-laying ceremony and parade at the Cenotaph war memorial before joining the Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey. The Princess of Wales is expected to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph on behalf of King Charles.
The Westminster Abbey service promises to be a moving occasion in its own right — featuring readings from the New Zealand and Australian High Commissioners, prayers led by children from both nations, and a performance of a Māori waiata.
Anzac Day itself is one of the most solemn and widely observed days in the Australian and New Zealand calendars. Marked every year on April 25 — the anniversary of the 1915 Gallipoli landing, where Allied forces suffered devastating losses during World War One — the day has grown far beyond its origins to encompass the memory of all those who have served and fallen in conflicts since. Dawn services, marches, and acts of remembrance take place, where the two nations' diaspora communities gather to pay their respects. The phrase that anchors every service — Lest We Forget — speaks to a collective determination that the cost of war should never become a footnote.
Those ties have a long precedent. In 2023, Prince William attended the Dawn Service at the Wellington Arch, laying a wreath and signing the book of remembrance. Middleton joined him the following year at the Westminster Abbey service in 2022, and in 2021, Anne represented the royal family at the same service — the first time the commemoration had taken place since its cancellation in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The timing of the Palace's announcement is difficult to overlook. It comes as Harry and Markle continue to generate considerable buzz during their own Australian visit — a privately funded trip, as reported by PEOPLE, made entirely independently of the monarchy. The couple touched down in Melbourne on Tuesday, April 14, marking their first return to the country since their official royal tour in 2018. In the days since, the Sussexes have moved through Melbourne and Canberra with a packed schedule of public and private engagements. Harry spoke about mental health and fatherhood at a Movember charity event; the couple met with veteran families at the Australian National Veterans' Art Museum; and Markle made a widely discussed surprise appearance as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia. A stop in Sydney is expected later this week.
