IN FULL BLOOM

The Princess Royal brings a splash of colour to Singapore after paying tribute to military personnel during visits to barracks in Australia

- JACK MALVERN

Wearing gloves and a satsuma-coloured jacket, the Princess Royal admired an orchid bearing her name during a two-day visit to Singapore.

She and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, were introduced to Dendrobium Anne at the city-state's National Orchid Garden, where she also encountered another species of orchid named after her mother more than 50 years ago.

Princess Anne also attended a party to celebrate the King's 77th birthday, saying: "The timeliness of the celebration is strangely quite close to his actual birthday, for a change. It's the end of this week. So, not bad.

"These birthday celebrations are always here at the historic setting of Eden Hall. This building symbolises the UK's enduring diplomatic presence in Singapore.

"It is a remarkable milestone – 60 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries," she continued. "It seems quite short. It gives us that historical perspective to reflect on the state of that relationship."

MOVING MOMENTS