THE SUN shone on the Princess Royal when she was greeted by proper summer weather and a large crowd when she arrived at the Royal Cornwall Show on Thursday morning for a busy schedule of engagements.
It was her fourth visit to the showground at Wadebridge and the princess arrived by helicopter, which landed in an adjoining field, before she was driven through packed crowds to the President's Suite for what proved a very busy five and a half hour tour, accompanied by this year's president, Colonel Edward Bolitho, who is also the Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall.
Show secretary Chris Riddle was delighted the Princess Royal had accepted the invitation to come to the show yet again.
"The show has got off to a marvellous start,'' he said.
"We have wonderful weather to greet the Princess Royal, and I'm delighted she is here. We also have Owen Paterson, the Secretary of State for the Environment, which is excellent news for the show.''
The Princess Royal, dressed in a turquoise jacket and skirt, first attended a meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth, of which she is president, and later met exhibitors at the Farmers' Pavilion.
It proved to be a very hot day, with temperatures climbing into the mid-70sF, and it was hotter still in some of the marquees she toured.
Her next stop was at the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Association exhibit, where a £10,000 cheque was presented to the Royal Agricultural Institution by Michael Williams, chairman of Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association.
The princess took a keen interest in what the WI in Cornwall had been up to, with a queue of wellwishers waiting outside the marquee to see her.
Inside she presented the Royal Cornwall Cup to Illogan WI, which won the top prize for its Afternoon Tea display.
Cornwall WI chairman, Kathy Reed, said the princess had been absolutely charming. "She chatted to the ladies about their exhibits and also made a point of meeting our tea ladies. She happened to mention she liked saffron buns and could only get them in Cornwall, so of course someone gave her some.
"She really is lovely and was very interested in what we were doing at the show,'' said Mrs Reed.
The Princess Royal had the opportunity to see for herself some of the best livestock in the country, when she toured, the cattle, pig and sheep sections later in the afternoon.
She also seemed very interested in what young farmers had to offer this year with numerous and innovative displays on the 2013 theme of Great British Events. The largest crowd of the day to see the princess was in the Cornwall Food and Farming Pavilion, where stallholders were only too keen for her to sample their produce.
For good measure, the princess was also presented with a Cornish food hamper to take home. The princess, of course, is a top horsewoman, competing for Great Britain in the Olympic three-day event some years ago.
It was no surprise then that she enjoyed the parade of prize-winning horses in the main ring where she made the presentations to their owners. The princess, after a very busy day, departed at 4.30pm.
