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British RoyalsPrincess Anne and Family

Keeping up with Anne: the Princess Royal’s week

The Princess Royal, like much of the House of Windsor, is now on an Easter break. We may well see Anne at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor on Sunday as the Queen leads the Royal Family at Easter Sunday service there. In the meantime, here’s a look back at another busy week for the princess  – it’s time to keep up with Anne.

This week’s installment starts with some engagements that spanned last weekend when the Princess Royal travelled to the Republic of Ireland to see the work of the lighthouse authorities there. Anne, who is Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, visited two lighthouses on Friday April 12th, starting at Baily at Howth Head in County Dublin before moving on to Rockabill in the Irish Sea. The evening saw the princess attend a dinner held on ILV Granuaile off Howth Harbour.

Saturday April 13th took the Princess Royal to another lighthouse, this time Kish Bank off the coast of Dublin. Her visit also saw her meet the commissioners of Irish Lights in Dun Laoghaire – the organisation has worked in partnership with Trinity House now for 150 years.

Anne’s next engagement came on Monday 15th April 2019 when, accompanied by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, she attended a dinner marking the 75th anniversary of the Anglo-Chilean Society which was set up to increase awareness of Chile in the UK. The event was held in London.

The following day saw the Princess Royal, in her role as patron of the Spinal Injuries Association, receive Nicholas Hartley at St. James’ Palace as he took up the role of Chief Executive at the organisation. Then it was on to Buckingham Palace for a special ceremony as Anne, former president of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, presented an award named in her honour to Tony Evans for his outstanding work. She also handed over the Royal Dairy Innovation Award.

Later the same day there were two engagements for Anne linked to her role as Chair of the International Olympics Committee Members Election Commission. Firstly, she hosted a lunch at St. James’ Palace for the organisation before going on to chair one of its meetings. The day finished with another awards ceremony, this time in the City of London. The Princess Royal, as Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Carmen, attended the organisation’s Joint Services Dinner which was held at Drapers’ Hall.

By mid week, Anne was on the way to North Yorkshire where she spent Wednesday carrying out a series of engagements. She visited Johnston Racing in Middleham where she was given an overview of how the stables helps in the development of techniques to help rehabilitate injured horses. The princess also travelled to Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn before ending her day at a charity dinner at the Wensleydale Heifer restaurant in aid of Racing Welfare.

That busy week brings the total number of engagements carried out by Princess Anne in 2019, so far, to 148. In 2018, the Princess Royal was the busiest member of the House of Windsor, taking on 518 engagements in total.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.