Prince Edward honours Anzac Day: the Duke of Edinburgh leads the ...

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh attends the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the New Zealand Memorial on April 25, 2024 in London

The Duke of Edinburgh led the royal family in honouring Anzac Day on 25 April, as he continues stepping up to support his brother, the King.

The event marks the anniversary of the start of the First World War Gallipoli landings, and is a national day of remembrance for Australia and New Zealand. The royal father-of-two joined the dawn service at the New Zealand Memorial in London in the early hours, donning a smart black coat as he wrapped up against the cool weather.

Later, he will attend the Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.The Duke of Edinburgh will also attend the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Cenotaph and lay a wreath on behalf of His Majesty The King.

Prince Edward

His final engagement of the day will see him attending the annual Gallipoli Association Wreath-Laying Ceremony, in the Crypt at St Paul’s Cathedral as he takes on the patronage of the Association, previously held by his father, Prince Philip.

It marks the first time Prince Edward has attended any of the memorials to honour the day, as the events have previously been honoured by other senior royals, including the late Queen, the King and the Prince of Wales. However, it's just the latest example of the Duke stepping up to support the royal family amidst the challenges of the past few months.

He was very recently awarded the Order of the Thistle by the King as he marked his 60th birthday, while he was also given the title of Colonel of the Scots Guard earlier this month. Sources have now revealed what Prince Edward is really like behind-the-scenes, with royal expert Jennie Bond writing in MailOnline, ‘He is said to find the whole business of being royal very constraining at times but has learnt to live alongside it, unworried that everything is done for him.’

The Duke of Edinburgh during the dawn service at the New Zealand Memorial

Calling the father-of-two ‘kind and self-deprecating’, she explained how ‘marriage and fatherhood have matured him’, adding that Edward ‘credits much of this to his wife Sophie.’ Meanwhile she also writes how the Duke is ‘closest to his sister, the Princess Royal’ of his immediate family, with the two sharing many similarities.

Major General Sir Michael Hobbs a former Director of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award told MailOnline, ‘There is a degree of softness there which makes him a thoroughly decent chap.’

Edward and his wife Sophie are widely viewed as a competent, confident couple, who have consistently demonstrated their integrity and public articulacy. In recent weeks, the Duke has stepped into the spotlight amidst the King and Kate Middleton’s cancer battles. It is currently unknown when Charles or the Princess of Wales will return to public-facing engagements, after both were diagnosed with cancer earlier this year - but the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have consistently demonstrated their integrity and public articulacy over the last few years.

Last month, according to The Telegraph it seems Prince Edward could be set to become the royal's leading man. Insiders have praised the royal father-of-two for his ‘inner steel’, with a former Balmoral gamekeeper telling The Telegraph Edward is a ‘really tough bloke’. Sandy Masson, the former head stalker on the royal estate at Balmoral, said, ‘Edward was easily the toughest of all the princes. Nothing was too much for him.’