In true Princess Anne spirit, the Princess Royal, who is regarded by royal watchers as the “hardest working royal”, hasn’t let the recent scandal of her brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, deter her from carrying out her royal duties. She and her husband of 32 years, Sir Tim Laurence, have headed abroad for a tour of Australia and Singapore.
On Friday, Anne, 75, and the ex-military man, 70, were photographed meeting the Governor-General Sam Mostyn and her husband, Simon Beckett, as they arrived Down Under. Alongside a series of photographs of the moment, shared on the official Instagram account of the Governor General, were the words: “The Governor-General and Mr Beckett were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence to Admiralty House today. On arrival, Cammeraygal Elder Brendan Kerin gave a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony in honour of their visit.
The message continued: “The Princess Royal is Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Australia Corps of Signals. In her role, she is visiting Australia to join the Signals Corps across the country in celebrating their centenary. As Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force, the Governor-General will join Her Royal Highness tomorrow in laying a wreath at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park before attending a ceremonial parade in honour of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals at Victoria Barracks.”
The meeting of the two stalwart women went down wonderfully with fans, who took to social media with comments. “Two impressive women right there,” one penned. A second agreed adding: “Impressive women.” Meanwhile, a third penned: “Two amazing women! HRH and HE the GG [heart-eyes emoji].”
Anne’s overseas visit
Buckingham Palace announced in a statement last month news of Anne’s trip which will last from 8 to 13 November, in honour of the 00th anniversary of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, of which Anne is Colonel-in-Chief. The statement read: “The Princess will undertake a series of military engagements in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane during the four-day visit to commemorate the centenary. As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Her Royal Highness will lay a wreath at the Sydney War Cemetery.”
It added that the Princess will also lay a wreath at the Anzac Memorial to mark Remembrance. Anne will travel to Singapore for the final two days of the trip to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and the Asian country, at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Princess is expected to meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during her time in Singapore. She will also visit Kranji War Memorial and the Airbus Asia Training Centre and Rolls-Royce’s Seletar campus.The Princess Royal will be the latest member of the royal family to travel Down Under after the King and Queen’s nine-day tour of Australia