The Duchess of Edinburgh has arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the start of a solo three-day tour of the country.
Her Royal Highness’s tour coincides with the 30th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre –  the genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War.
This is Sophie’s first visit to the Balkan state, where on Friday at the official Commemorations, she will deliver a powerful message on behalf of The King.
Sophie will then lay a flower in remembrance at the nearby cemetery for genocide victims, before meeting some of the mothers of Srebrenica, who lost relatives, including sons, husbands and fathers.
This is the first royal visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina in ten years. The Princess Royal was the last member of The Royal Family to visit in July 2015, to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide.
The King, when he was Prince of Wales, was due to visit the country in 2020. However, this was cancelled due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Other engagements that the Duchess of Edinburgh will undertake includes a visit to Sarajevo’s Old Town, where she will hear from a local female peace builder, learning more about the impact of the conflict on women and the role they play in reconciliation.
The 60-year-old royal will also attend a meeting with the Missing Persons Institute of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which works across ethnic divides to find missing persons from the 1990s war, and a discussion with survivors of conflict related sexual violence, an issue about which The Duchess has long raised awareness.
