The start of February saw no let up for Princess Anne who packed her week with trips across the UK, sporting success and quite a lot of science. Here’s what the last seven days brought for the Princess Royal.
Last weekend got Anne off to a winning start as she watched Scotland beat Italy in the Six Nations. The Princess Royal is the patron of Scottish Rugby Union and was at Murrayfield on Saturday February 2nd 2019 to watch the team begin this year’s competition in style. Accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Anne watched them win 33-20, a victory that put them at the top of the table, for a few days at least.
On Tuesday, the Princess Royal headed to Bristol for a day focused on education. She visited Colston’s School at Stapleton in the north of the city to officially open its new nursery facility. The Hillbourne Foundation Building will form part of the school which offers education for children and young people aged between 3 and 18.
Anne got a taste of a 21st century take on the traditional plaque unveiling she’s used to when she headed to the new University Technical College at Berkeley in Gloucestershire later the same day. The UTC focuses on science, technology and engineering with its secondary school age pupils, and to officially open the facility, the princess was asked to switch a lever to reveal the plaque that marked her visit. Anne also got the chance to meet many of the young people who are studying at the college and heard about the work going on in STEM subjects there.
The following day, the princess visited New College Worcester, a school for blind and partially sighted young people. She was there to celebrate the work of Lattitude Global Volunteering, of which she is patron. The organisation offers international placements for young people aged between 17 and 25 and aims to help them develop new skills while they support others in countries around the world.
Later, the Princess Royal visited the Royal Association of Dairy Farmers’ event, Dairy-Tech 2019, which was being held near Kenilworth. It aims to put the spotlight on new technology in dairy farming and Anne gave a speech touching on the importance of innovation as well as handing over prizes and meeting members of the farming community.
Princess Anne headed to Northern Ireland on Thursday for a day of engagements. She officially opened the new Springham Campus at Foyle College. The £24 million facility is the latest development for the college which can trace its history back to the 17th century. From there, the princess went to Ballykelly where she visited the local primary school and also spent some time at the new home of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs which was relocated there with the aim of helping to stimulate the rural economies.
The last engagement for Anne on Thursday was in Coleraine where she opened the newly renovated library. The princess was shown historic documents and books and she also got the chance to meet children from nearby Milburn Primary School who came along to join in the celebrations.
Friday took the Princess Royal to counties Fermanagh and Tyrone. In Omagh, Anne visited Boyd Bedding which provides dust free material for use as horse bedding. In Enniskillen, the princess visited Elite Electronic Systems and the Equine College of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise.
The Princess Royal is set to attend Scotland’s second match in the Six Nations Rugby which takes place on Saturday, February 9th at Murrayfield. That will take her tally of engagements for 2019 to 41. In 2018, Princess Anne carried out a total of 518 engagements, making her the busiest member of the House of Windsor last year.
