On Wednesday, The Princess Royal was in Nottingham to attend sporting events as part of ‘Big Wednesday’ at the University of Nottingham.
‘Big Wednesday’ is a day in which Team Championship Finals are held in fourteen sports, including volleyball and fencing. Princess Anne was there in her role as Patron of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), which is the UK’s governing body for university-level sports. The BUCS offers more than 50 sports to almost 170 member institutions across the country. Over 1,600 university and college students competed in this year’s Big Wednesday event.
#BUCSBigWednesday | Yesterday BUCS Patron HRH The Princess Royal visited @UniofNottingham to watch some of the 52 finals of #BUCSBigWednesday
During the visit HRH met with athletes and staff, presented medals and watched squash, fencing, basketball and volleyball pic.twitter.com/wM9kjXveFp
— BUCS (@BUCSsport) 22 March 2018
Princess Anne was given the opportunity to watch several different sports; Anne was spotted watching fencing, squash and basketball. The royal guest also handed out the medals at the volleyball final.
As a member of the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, The Princess Royal is well-accustomed to presenting medals.
The Queen’s daughter is also no stranger to participating in sporting competitions; she herself competed at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games in equestrian. Her daughter, Zara Tindall, is also an Olympian in the same field, while Zara’s husband, Mike, is a former English rugby player.
While visiting the University of Nottingham, Anne appeared to be in good spirits, chatting with many of the students who were taking part in the championships. The Royal was also seen sharing a joke with the University’s President and Vice Chancellor, Shearer West, and Dan Tilly, Director of Sport.
HRH Princess Anne was very amusing while she visited the @UoNSport David Ross Sports Village today for @BUCSsport seen here meeting our @UniofNottingham Vice-Chancellor @ShearerWest and Director of Sport Dan Tilly pic.twitter.com/ueqXpYLrNX
— Lisa Gilligan-Lee (@LoopyLoolah) 21 March 2018
On Wednesday evening, Princess Anne then returned to London to attend a discussion dinner in her role as an Honorary Member of The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers. The Society was founded in 1771 and is the oldest engineering society in the world. The group has a small but select membership; there is currently thought to be around sixty members.
Princess Anne was elected as an Honorary Member in 2017.
