Last week, The Princess Royal carried out the first overseas engagements of 2023 with a visit to Cyprus.
Princess Anne’s trip was to meet with British Forces personnel and their families, in her role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Logistic Corps.
Princess Anne carried out the first overseas visit of 2023. (Royal Family).
The visit started on Tuesday evening at the Residence of the British High Commissioner, where Anne joined a reception for UK/Cyprus relations, which was hosted by the British High Commissioner, Irfan Siddiq.
At a reception hosted last night by the British High Commissioner @IrfanUKAmb, HRH The Princess Royal met @UKinCyprus friends & partners working across the political, business & NGO spheres #UKCYties @RoyalFamily pic.twitter.com/gpTxGtQpxq
— UK in Cyprus (@UKinCyprus) January 11, 2023
The following day, the Princess carried out her first engagement of the day by meeting the President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, at the Presidential Palace. The pair discussed climate change-related issues, the energy crisis and efforts to restart stalled talks to reunify Cyprus.
Mr Anastasiades gifted The King’s sister a silver copy of a cup from the 4th Century BC, and a photo album of Cypriots who volunteered to fight with British forces during the Second World War. Anne reciprocated with a portrait of herself taken by local media.
The Princess Royal meet with the President of Cyprus. (Nicos Anastasiades)
Her Royal Highness then carried on her visit to the country by meeting personnel from the Royal Logistic Corps, who are currently serving with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.
The peacekeepers gave the royal visitor a tour of a section of the UN-controlled buffer zone, which separates the island nation’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot north from the internationally-recognised Greek Cypriot south.
Anne was able to view different areas of the Buffer Zone and Nicosia, including the Ledra Palace Hotel and the abandoned Nicosia International Airport.
Anne met British military personnel during the trip. (Royal Family)
The Princess Royal visited the buffer zone in Cyprus. (Royal Family)
HRH opened the Queen Berengaria Military School. (UK in Cyprus)
She then visited Wayne’s Keep Military Cemetery in Nicosia, where she took part in a Service of Remembrance and Wreath Laying Ceremony to honour the war dead.
The Princess Royal concluded her trip to Cyprus by opening the Queen Berengaria Military School on the Eastern Sovereign Base Area. The school has been newly built school and serves the British military communities from Dhekelia and Ayios Nikolaos.
A few days later, Anne represented The King at the funeral of King Constantine II of Greece, who died of a stroke in Athens last week. The late King was godfather to Prince William.
