Busy Day For Princess Anne

The Princess Royal has now left Northern Ireland after a series of engagements.

During a one-day visit on Wednesday, Princess Anne was at W5 in Belfast's Odyssey complex where she was guest of honour at an event to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Women into Science and Engineering Campaign.

This campaign aims to encourage girls of school age to continue studying maths and science, and to go into related careers such as engineering and construction.

Over 120 invited guests, including around 70 Brownies from across Northern Ireland, welcomed The Princess Royal to the event.

Earlier, Princess Anne (pictured) was guest of honour at the annual garden party in Hillsborough Castle, which was hosted by Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

She met Sir Hugh Orde, PSNI Chief Constable and a number of other police officers and several of their guests.

In the main garden she was given a warm welcome with the National Anthem played by The Band of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Woodward then invited HRH to plant a tree in honour of the royal visit.

Earlier, on the second engagement of the day, The Princess Royal attended a Cruse Bereavement Care 50th anniversary reception at Malone House, Barnett Demesne, Belfast.

Princess Anne went on to meet around 100 guests attending the reception to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Cruse, including representatives of Northern Ireland Cruse area branches.

Her first engagement was at the multi-million pound 'high performance' sports centre at the University of Ulster's Jordanstown campus, in Newtownabbey.

Her Royal Highness was greeted by Joan Christie, Lord-Lieutenant of Co Antrim, and went on to meet Sir Richard Nichols, University of Ulster Chancellor, Professor Richard Barnett, Vice-Chancellor and Professor Alastair Adair, Pro-Vice-Chancellor.

On a tour of the Department of Sports Development and Services, she was accompanied by Professor Barnett and Mrs Trish McFarland, Department Manager, and had the opportunity to meet staff and users of the facilities.

She met Dr Philip Glasgow, Head Physiotherapist, and a number of athletes receiving physiotherapy treatment and, in the nearby Sports Science Laboratory, HRH met sports scientists, students and athletes.

The Princess Royal was welcomed to the specialised 'Throws Area' by Dame Mary Peters, who is Northern Ireland Ambassador of Sport, and went on to meet athletes and their coaches.

Princess Anne last visited the UU in 2003, when she opened the learning resource centre at the Magee campus in Londonderry. Her last visit to Northern Ireland was in September 2008.

Princess Anne's parents, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were in Northern Ireland last month.

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