110th Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme Marked with Royal Ceremonies at Thiepval and Across Northern Ireland

On July 1, 2026, the 110th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme (July 1, 1916 — the bloodiest single day in British Army history) was marked by a series of commemorative services across the former battlefield in northern France, coordinated with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). The principal service was held at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, honouring more than 72,000 servicemen with no known grave, beginning at noon local time with a two-minute silence and wreath-laying. The Princess Royal, in her role as President of the CWGC, and the Duke of Gloucester travelled to France and unveiled UNESCO commemorative plaques at Thiepval as part of the anniversary events, with further royal engagements at the Ulster Tower (honouring the 36th (Ulster) Division), the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial (commemorating 821 unidentified Commonwealth servicemen), and Guillemont Road Cemetery. Additional ceremonies took place at Lochnagar Crater and Newfoundland Memorial Park. In Northern Ireland, commemorations included a short ceremony and wreath-laying at Belfast City Hall, illumination of council buildings in Lisburn, installation of commemorative discs across Antrim and Newtownabbey, and evening 'mini-Twelfth' flute band parades in Belfast, Newtownards, Coleraine, Lisburn and Portadown specifically framed as tribute to the Somme dead rather than the traditional Twelfth of July commemorations.