Britain's royal family on Thursday paid tribute to a generation lost at the Battle of the Somme, 100 years after the deadliest battle in British history, reports FRANCE 24.
"We lost the flower of a generation and in the years to come it sometimes seemed that with them a sense of vital optimism had disappeared for ever from British life," Prince William said at a ceremony in northern France.
"It was in many ways the saddest day in the long story of our nation," he added, speaking on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the start of the World War I battle in which some 20,000 British soldiers died on the first day alone.
William, his wife Kate and brother Prince Harry attended the start of an all-night vigil at the Thiepval memorial to honour the 1.2 million troops of different nationalities who were killed, injured or listed as missing.
Soldiers from the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan will take turns maintaining the vigil until 7:30 am (0530 GMT), the precise time that tens of thousands of troops clambered out of the trenches only to be mown down by German guns.