During four days of military and remembrance-related engagements in Australia, followed by two days in Singapore marking 60 years of diplomatic relations with the UK following independence from Malaysia, the hardest-working member of the royal family flew the flag for the UK with her trademark low-key efficiency.<\/p>\n
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The Princess Royal ended her Australian tour with a bang, firing the starting gun on a relay race at Gallipoli Barracks<\/p>\n
PATRICK HAMILTON<\/p>\n
In one speech in Singapore, highlighting its \u201cenduring diplomatic\u201d ties with the UK, Anne \u2014 who sounds so like her late mother when she speaks that if you close your eyes, it could be Queen Elizabeth II \u2014 reminded guests this was her sixth visit. <\/p>\n
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The Princess Royal visited Rolls-Royce, displaying a sound grasp of the company\u2019s engineering productivity<\/p>\n
JORDAN PETTITT\/PA<\/p>\n
Her first was in 1972 when she accompanied Elizabeth and Prince Philip on a state visit. It was a reassuring reference harking back to the steadier days of the Elizabethan era, when family scandals were not rocking the institution.<\/p>\n
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Anne accompanying Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Singapore in 1972<\/p>\n
SHUTTERSTOCK EDITORIAL<\/p>\n
Heavy rain and thunder followed Anne, 75, almost everywhere in Singapore but never appeared to dampen her spirits. She arrived from Brisbane at about midnight on Tuesday and had her first engagement on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
If she was feeling any jet lag, it didn\u2019t show as she was piped on board the British patrol ship HMS Spey, docked at Tuas Port. \u201cShe loves a man in uniform. It always cheers her up,\u201d said an aide.<\/p>\n
While the King and the Ministry of Defence were still in the process last week of stripping Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his last remaining title of vice-admiral, Anne, who holds several honorary naval titles, had tea and a catch-up with some of the ship\u2019s 60 servicemen and women.<\/p>\n
Showing no signs of flagging for her third engagement at the orchid garden, Anne mustered enthusiasm as she was presented with a purple orchid named in her honour and shown displays of \u201corchid diplomacy\u201d with plants named after heads of state and dignitaries who have visited Singapore.<\/p>\n
In a diplomatic nod of her own, the princess had changed from her trouser suit into a floral-patterned skirt, almost certainly worn on many prior engagements \u2014 Anne is known for \u201cupcycling\u201d her outfits, sometimes decades apart. One safari-style trouser suit worn on the trip made its debut in 1973.<\/p>\n
If she had views on the questionable \u201corchid diplomacy\u201d of a plant named after the King and Queen positioned alongside another named after Diana, Princess of Wales, she kept them to herself.<\/p>\n
After an audience with Singapore\u2019s president, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Anne was on to her fifth event of the day: the bread-and-butter royal fare of a soggy garden party at the British High Commissioner\u2019s residence, Eden Hall, celebrating the King\u2019s 77th birthday last week.<\/p>\n
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The princess in Brisbane during her four-day visit to Australia. She visited the Gallipoli Barracks on Remembrance Day<\/p>\n
PATRICK HAMILTON-POOL\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
Following handshakes and pleasantries with the great and the good of Singaporean business, politics and culture, Anne, accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, 70, and a small entourage of Colonel John Boyd, her private secretary, and her equerry, Captain Fergus Lupton, took cover from the heavy rain under a marquee to watch drenched bagpipers perform a medley.<\/p>\n
Nikesh Mehta, the British high commissioner in Singapore who accompanied Anne on most of her engagements, reflected on the \u201cstability in times of volatility\u201d that a royal visit brings. If the garden party invitation had not said \u201cin the presence of Her Royal Highness\u201d, many of the guests would not have come, he conceded. He said: \u201cIn this volatile and unpredictable era, how the UK is seen by the rest of the world matters \u2014 and royal visits are an important part of maintaining the UK\u2019s role on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
On her final day, Anne was back at Eden Hall unveiling a plaque naming a building in her honour, before holding an audience with the prime minister, Lawrence Wong, at the official Istana residence. After a quick change into another beige trouser suit, it was off to the Airbus training centre, where her husband, the most understated of royal spouses, apologised for arriving 15 minutes early.<\/p>\n
Strapping herself into the pilot\u2019s seat of an A350 cockpit simulator, there was a flash of Anne\u2019s infamous unvarnished honesty, as she told her hosts: \u201cMy last simulator [flight] was the A400. I didn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the nearby Rolls-Royce headquarters, where she was shown some engines fitted to Airbus and Boeing planes, Anne showed a mastery of her brief, reeling off facts, figures and questions about the company\u2019s engineering prowess and productivity. Unlike her sister-in-law, Queen Camilla, who aides say barely skim-reads her briefs, preferring to \u201cfind people how they are\u201d, Anne is a stickler for preparation.<\/p>\n
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Courtiers describe the mild panic in her private office at St James\u2019s Palace every Friday as \u201cthe bag\u201d \u2014 a postbag of briefing notes, suggested engagements and biographies of everyone she is due to meet,
including journalists \u2014 is compiled for dispatch to Gatcombe Park, her Gloucestershire home.<\/p>\n
In the end, Anne was only rained off for one of her commitments by the storms swirling around her brother. A scheduled interview with The Sunday Times to discuss the trip was cancelled. The official line? \u201cA busy programme.\u201d The reality? Nervousness around the Andrew saga<\/a>, although those close to the princess say she is more than capable of handling herself with the media.<\/p>\n Before boarding a 13-hour commercial flight back to London on Thursday night, Anne squeezed in a dinner with prominent Singaporean trade and investment figures, who contribute towards the \u00a319 billion inward investment to the UK each year.<\/p>\n For a decade, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor travelled the world at taxpayers\u2019 expense in his role as the UK\u2019s special trade envoy, before relinquishing the position in 2011 over his association with Jeffrey Epstein. The princess, who has also visited Ukraine, Turkey and South Africa this year, has been a far safer pair of hands on the international circuit.<\/p>\n At Brisbane\u2019s Gallipoli Barracks, Anne met soldiers from the Australian Defence Force<\/p>\n ALAMY<\/p>\n Reflecting on the trip, a source close to the princess said: \u201cHer Royal Highness\u2019s visit to Singapore offered a wonderful opportunity to deepen the longstanding friendship between our two nations. The princess was deeply touched by the gracious hospitality extended throughout her stay. From touching down through to meeting the president, the welcome HRH received is testament to the strong ties of friendship and mutual respect between Singapore and the United Kingdom. As we look to the future, the princess is reassured this long relationship will continue to flourish.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Princess](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\/5e3f8e1b-fe01-4cb2-bece-b955b92de6fc.jpg\")
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