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Anzac Day 2018: Prince Charles puts duty first at remembrance service in France ahead of meeting Royal baby grandson

Prince Charles delivers a speech during the dawn service to mark the Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) commemoration ceremony at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France: REUTERS
Prince Charles delivers a speech during the dawn service to mark the Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) commemoration ceremony at the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France: REUTERS

The Prince of Wales today put duty first as he was up at dawn in northern France to lay a wreath to The Fallen ahead of seeing his baby grandson.

Prince Charles travelled to the Anzac Day commemorations for the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux last night, meaning he did not get time to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges’ as yet unnamed baby.

The heir to the throne, who was last week confirmed as the next Head of the Commonwealth, laid a wreath at the foot of the Australian National Memorial in memory of those who died in the bloody World War I battle.

It came as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle represented the Royal Family at Anzac Day services in London.

Charles yesterday described the birth of his third grandchild as a “great joy” but added “the only trouble is I don’t know how I am going to keep up with them.”

Prince Charles put duty first as he was up a dawn to speak at the service in France, he has not yet met his baby grandson (Getty Images)
Prince Charles put duty first as he was up a dawn to speak at the service in France, he has not yet met his baby grandson (Getty Images)

He is expected to meet the baby, fifth in line to the throne, for the first time either tomorrow or at the weekend.

The baby was born on Monday at the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, weighing 8lb 7oz.

Betfair say Arthur is the favourite for his name, ahead of James and Phillip.

Charles today praised the courage of troops who made the ultimate price on the Western front a century ago.

He told a dawn service: “The Australians who served on the Western Front were not professional soldiers. They were not conscripted but were volunteers from all walks of life, in uniform until the war ended or until death or wounds claimed them. “Those who survived would return to rebuild their lives and forge their character into the great country they would help build.

“They would remember forever their many comrades, their fellow ‘diggers’, they left behind here and before in places like Gallipoli, and whose spirit will forever be part of Australia’s identity.

“Today, as we mark a century since they gave their lives, let us resolve to continue to fulfil their trust, so that every passing year will only add to the measure of their honour,” he said.

Prince Charles has yet to meet his new baby grandson (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Prince Charles has yet to meet his new baby grandson (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Among those attending this morning’s service were Australian and French representatives, ambassadors and descendants of those who fought in the battle.

The Australian National Memorial, north of the village of Villers-Bretonneux, marks the site of an intense battle fought during the First World War as part of wider efforts to halt a German spring offensive.

Later Charles, along with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe attended a reception.

They also opened the Sir John Monash Centre museum, which is named after the Australian general responsible for taking the town.

Mr Turnbull and his wife Lucy also visited the grave of her great-uncle Roger Hughes who was killed by a German shell in 1916, five days after arriving on the Western Front as a 26-year-old military doctor.

In Turkey, crowds gathered early for a service at Anzac Cove at Gallipoli, where the Australian and New Zealand troops landed under British command in 1915 in an ill-fated attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.