Princess Anne, The Princess Royal completed a busy week of engagements in and around London last week. On Tuesday, 26th November, Anne began the day with a visit to the National Breeding Centre at the Grange in Saunderton, Buckinghamshire, as patron of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. She was received by Sir Henry Aubrey Fletcher, Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for the county, arriving in rather soggy weather!
Last week FS Wober got an opportunity to escort Princess Anne, with the lord lieutenant around the hearing dogs centre in Saunderton pic.twitter.com/PkBmN7TetY
— 606 Beaconsfield ATC (@606SqnATC) December 2, 2019
We were delighted to welcome Princess Anne to our southern training centre last week ?
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is a huge dog lover and has been Royal Patron of Hearing Dogs since 1992 ?? pic.twitter.com/bzOsAFikg9
— Hearing Dogs for Deaf People (@HearingDogs) December 4, 2019
The organisation has a number of training centres around the country with the Grange being its headquarters. Here, puppies receive the necessary training to become life-changing assistants to their deaf human counterparts.
Hearing dogs are easily identifiable thanks to their burgundy jackets, but getting used to wearing one is an important part of training ??
We want our dogs to always feel comfortable, so Gretel is practising wearing her jacket at home before using it in public places ❤️ pic.twitter.com/yZEzlZf7Rn
— Hearing Dogs for Deaf People (@HearingDogs) December 3, 2019
Next, in her role as Chancellor, University College of Osteopathy, The Princess Royal attended an afternoon graduation ceremony at Central Hall Westminster and was received by Colonel Jane Davis (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London).
The College is unique in that it has over 100 years experience training its graduates and is the only degree-granting institution of its kind in Europe.
Lovely @UCOLondon Graduation Ceremony at @CentralHall with HRH Princess Royal, always impressive how she makes time to speak to every graduand pic.twitter.com/0ZYIaCLBl7
— Alex Bols (@alexbols) November 26, 2019
Charles Hunt, the Vice Chancellor, tweeted “We are indeed very lucky to have HRH The Princess Royal as our Chancellor as she is so generous with her time.”
Finally that evening, the Princess delivered the National Council for Voluntary Organisations’ Annual Hinton Lecture at the Royal Society in London. In her trademark direct style, she warned attendees about “contract culture” and over-reliance on data when evaluating an organisations’ impact.
“If you know what you are doing and what you want to achieve, you will have to have your own evaluation process,” she said. “It will be different for every organisation. There is no doubt that there are some simple things you can measure in terms of your level of success, but there are others that will be those grey areas where you can only get a sense through feedback probably from your volunteers and the communities in which you work.
“Evaluation is crucial, but I would just be wary of too much of the statistical element of it.”
Read the speech Anne gave here.
On Wednesday, The Princess Royal visited 13 Air Assault Support Regiment at Roman Camp, Merville Barracks in Colchester. She chatted with troops, who provide rapid response support to the 16th Air Assault Brigade, and presented awards to select service members.
The Queen’s daughter was at the barracks in her capacity as Colonel-in-Chief of The Royal Logistic Corps.
Meeting families, presenting awards and understanding capability: HRH The Princess Royal, Colonel-in-Chief of @RHQ_The_RLC, visited 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC at Merville Barracks, #Colchester today pic.twitter.com/xoakdEMedc
— 16AirAssaultBrigade (@16AirAssltBde) November 27, 2019
Speaking to the media, Corporal Godford Otchere, 39 from Ghana, said: “I’ve worked hard and played the rules, and it is nice to have my service recognised.”
“It’s a real honour to receive a medal from The Princess Royal; she was very nice and asked about my work and family.” Cpl Otchere joined the Army in 2004 and has deployed to Afghanistan on operations twice.
Later that afternoon The Princess Royal attended a reception to launch a fundraising appeal for Hft, a specialist autism service. It is a national charity, established in 1962, helping more than 2,500 adults with learning disabilities across England and Wales to live the best life possible.
A fantastic afternoon hosting @Hftonline fundraising launch event for their Orchard Project, in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal.
Read about the fantastic work that they do – https://t.co/B8VjeGODzb pic.twitter.com/WvbabIcbXw— Sworders (@swordersfineart) November 27, 2019
Sworders, the fine arts auction house, hosted the event at its facility in Stanstead.
Her Royal Highness finished the day by receiving officials from World Horse Welfare and attending a reception in her role as Chancellor of University College London.
Returning to her Olympian roots, the Princess opened the new London office and participated in a meeting of the British Olympic Association (BOA) on 28th November. Anne competed in the 1976 games and has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1988.
Later that day, she hosted a dinner at St James’s Palace for representatives from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
On Friday, 29th November, The Princess Royal attended the Riding for the Disabled Association’s National Annual General Meeting at Saddlers’ Hall in London. The Princess is President of the organisation, which provides therapeutic riding and carriage driving lessons and activities for those with disabilities.
The RDA is clearly a cause close to the Princess Royal’s heart as she has worked with the organisation or almost 50 years.
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