Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, the Princess Royal of the United Kingdom accompanied by her spouse Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence who are on a three-day official visit to Sri Lanka, met President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the President’s House.
“I would like to extend my very best wishes to Your Excellency and the people of Sri Lanka as we celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of bilateral relations between our two countries” The Princess Royal has delivered a message from The King to The President of Sri Lanka.
At a Welcome Ceremony at Bandaranaike International Airport, Her Royal Highness was received by dignitaries including the British High Commissioner to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Andrew Patrick and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, His Excellency Mr. Ali Sabry.
The Princess’s first visited the MAS Active Factory, one of the largest apparel tech companies in South Asia to be identified by the UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) as an important Sri Lankan partner.
As President of the UKFT, Her Royal Highness had an opportunity to meet staff and tour the facility to hear more about their innovative designs and partnerships with UK brands.
Next, Her Royal Highness visited Save The Children Sri Lanka’s Head Office in Colombo. This year marks 50 years of Save The Children working in Sri Lanka.
The Princess had an opportunity to hear about some of the programmes the charity has provided, which have contributed to humanitarian and development needs across the country, including in education, health and nutrition and vocational skills development.
As Patron of Save The Children UK, Her Royal Highness unveiled a plaque commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Save The Children working in Sri Lanka.
Following this, The Princess Royal visited Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children to see Save The Children’s Social Emotional Learning Tool Kit Programme, Tilli, in action.
Her Royal Highness met hospital staff who are implanting the Tilli programme which is a play-based, Social-Emotional Learning tool kit that incorporates evidence-based interventions such as games and story-telling to assist parents and teachers in facilitating meaningful child-friendly discussions with children on topics such as trust, consent, bodies and boundaries.
The Princess Royal previously visited Sri Lanka in March 1995 with Save The Children to learn more about their projects in the country.
