Princess Anne laid a wreath during a ceremony at the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery in the Netherlands today, September 22, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem.

The Princess Royal, 74, stood in for King Charles at several events held to mark the milestone this weekend.

Princess Anne was joined by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence as she delivered her brother’s speech at a reception staged at the Airborne Museum Hartenstein in Oosterbeek last night.

The former hotel served as the headquarters of the British 1st Airborne Division during the battle.

Anne said on behalf of the King: “Eighty years ago, on this very weekend, Operation Market Garden was under way in this region of the Netherlands.

“An ambitious joint airborne and ground forces operation designed to seize crucial bridges to enable the advance into Germany, its ultimate aim was to end the war within a matter of months.

“The friendships made during those difficult days of September 1944 between the Dutch and their liberators continued after the war.

“I saw this for myself five years ago when, as Colonel in Chief of the Parachute Regiment, I attended the 75th anniversary commemorations.”

Yesterday, some 700 paratroopers, including the Red Devils, the British Army’s freefall parachute display team, took part in a jump to mark the 80th anniversary of Arnhem.

Paratroopers from eight NATO countries, including the UK, Spain and the United States, parachuted from 12 different aircraft into Ginkel Heath, a nature reserve near the Dutch town of Ede.

The event was held to commemorate Allied airborne troops parachuting into the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in a daring military offensive in 1944.

Eighty years ago, 1,900 allied airborne soldiers from Britain’s 4th Parachute Brigade were among those to parachute into the Netherlands for the Battle of Arnhem.

The plan for the assault included seizing key bridges with a combination of land forces known as ‘Garden’ and airborne forces – known as ‘Market’.

However, the airborne forces landed around nine miles from the bridge at Arnhem, losing them considerable ground which gave the Nazis time to build blockades to stop the attack.

A bloody battle was fought over nine gruelling days until an order to withdraw was given on September 25.

More than 8,000 British soldiers were either killed, missing or captured in the offensive which remains to this day one of the most tragic losses of life in British history.

Geoff Roberts, now 99, was among 35,000 men who took part in the assault which has remained with him since the tragic events took place during World War Two.

After meeting Princess Anne, Private Roberts said his dying wish is to be buried with his fallen pals.

He said: “I can think of no better place for my ashes to be than here, reunited with my mates who never came home.”