Princess Anne has arrived back in the UK after a ten day stay in Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Queen’s daughter arrived in the Latin American country on August 2nd and left on August 12th for the journey home.
Whilst in Rio, The Princess Royal attended a variety of sporting events and ceremonies where she represented the United Kingdom in her capacity as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Anne started her visit of Brazil by attending a three day session of the IOC, of which she is a British representative.
Whilst attending this session, HRH made an unprecedented intervention where she defended the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following the Russian doping scandal.
She said that WADA had come a long way: “Some of us have been here long enough to be there at the beginning of Wada when, in the days that we competed, there was no such organisation.”
After the IOC session, HRH attended the Opening Ceremony in Brazil’s famous Maracanã Stadium. The ceremony showed off Brazilian culture to the world in a spectacle which promised to be one of the most environmentally friendly Olympics ever..
Other royals who watched at the Opening Ceremony included King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, King Philippe & Queen Malthilde of Belgium, Crown Prince Frederick & Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, and many others.
Princess Anne was the only member of the British Royal Family to attend the games, however, she was instead surrounded by sporting royalty.
This included Andy Murray who nearly jabbed Princess Anne in the eye when he struggled to get to grips with his flag-bearing responsibilities.
As well as being a spectator of the sports, HRH also got the opportunity to present medals to the winning athletes.
This included the men’s rugby sevens winners where Fiji were victorious in claiming the gold medal.
As the Princess Royal placed the gold medals over the Fijian athletes’ necks, they knelt down and clapped three times as a mark of respect for the Queen’s daughter.
In Fijian culture, clapping three times is performed during a traditional Kava ceremony, which signifies the bringing together of two families.
Her Royal Highness has a long history with the Olympic Games, having both competed as an athlete as well as being a member of the IOC for 30 years.
In 1976, she participated in the Olympic Games in Montreal, riding aboard The Queen’s horse, Goodwill.