Princess Anne has toured the Shrouds of the Somme tribute in London marking the Centenary of the First World War Armistice.
The Princess Royal spent more than an hour at the Olympic park site on November 15, meeting artist Rob Heard, Shrouds of the Somme Chairman Jake Moores and the volunteer team behind the project.
Rob Heard has individually handstitched shrouds for 72,396 figures, each commemorating a missing soldier of the Battle of the Somme, whose name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial.
The Princess Royal viewed the installation with Jake Moores, Shrouds of the Somme Chairman, and Rob Heard (Photo: Centenary News)
During her visit, Princess Anne stepped forward to lay one of those figures amid the 1000s arranged shoulder to shoulder across 4,000 square metres of lawn.
She also spoke to soldiers of 1 Royal Anglian Regiment who helped to set up the installation within view of the London 2012 Olympic stadium.
The 10-day exhibition, spanning the November 11 Centenary of the Armistice, is the culmination of a series of commemorative displays. The names of the fallen have been sourced from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission – CWGC – which cares for the Thiepval Memorial.
Shrouds of the Somme is at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, until Sunday, November 18. Read more here in this Centenary News feature by Patrick Gregory.
Images: Centenary News
Posted by CN Editorial Team