The Princess Royal met the Speakers and Deputy Speakers from Commonwealth Parliaments this week in London.
Princess Anne visited Parliament for the Committee of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers’ of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), which takes place every year in different Commonwealth countries.
The 2017 conference saw dignitaries arriving in London where they took part in meetings on Friday in the Houses of Parliament.
The meeting, which brings together the Speakers & Presiding Officers of the national parliaments, was attended by the Speakers of the UK, Canada, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Seychelles and the Deputy Speakers of Singapore and Nigeria.
The conference’s aims are to:
- Maintain, foster, and encourage impartiality and fairness on the part of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments;
- Promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy in its various forms; and
- Develop parliamentary institutions.
The next General Conference is scheduled to be held in Seychelles next year.
After visiting Parliament, The Queen’s daughter went on to Durham where she opened a college campus, opened new premises for a large-scale laundry, and visited a hospice.
East Durham College recently refurbished their Houghall Campus, which Anne opened on Friday.
The visit to the college was very much animal focussed, which would have interested the Princess greatly.
She was given a tour of the college’s in-house dog grooming studio, as well as reptiles in the lizard workshop.
The Princess Royal also spoke to Equine students and was treated to a dressage display.
Speaking at the college, Princess Anne said: “My congratulations. It brings a huge encouragement to see this that level of investment in land-based industries and the way you put to together and manage it.
“I hope the investment itself will attract more people to look at it and at potential careers.
“It is also the way you teach here. It has a great history this place and it has a lot going for it in the future as well.”