XN000022-1977-02-09 — Page 3

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1977

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA VISITS LIGHT INFANTRY

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HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS ALEXANDRA TODAY (WEDNESDAY) SPENT THREE HOURS VISITING MEMBERS AND FAMILIES OF THE 1ST BATTALION THE LIGHT INFANTRY AT STANLEY FORT IN HER CAPACITY AS DEPUTY COLONEL-IN-CHIEF OF THE REGIMENT.

ON THE LAST DAY OF HER EIGHT-DAY VISIT, THE PRINCESS LOOKED AS REFRESHED AND KEEN AS THE FIRST DAY HER ROYAL HIGHNESS ARRIVED.

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA WAS MET ON ARRIVAL AT STANLEY FORT BY MAJOR GENERAL D.N.H. TYACKE, COLONEL OF THE REGIMENT, AND LIEUTENANT COLONEL M.J.A. WILSON, COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE 1ST BATTALION.

AFTER A BRIEF VISIT TO THE COMMANDING OFFICER'S HOME, THE PRINCESS PROCEEDED TO THE SPORTS GROUND WHERE HER ROYAL HIGHNESS SAW SOLDIERS OF THE BATTALION'S MORTAR, RECCE, SIGNALS AND ANTI-TANK PLATOONS GO THROUGH THEIR PACES.

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA EVIDENTLY ENJOYED THE CRISP AND FRESH MORNING AIR IN STANLEY, STOPPING AND CHATTING FREQUENTLY WITH SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES WHO CAME CUT TO GET A GLIMPSE OF THE IR ROYAL VISITOR.

ACCOMPANIED BY THE BATTALION'S FAMILIES OFFICER, CAPTAIN V. WOOD, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THEN VISITED THE HOMES OF TWO SOLDIERS AND MET MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES.

FROM THERE, THE PRINCESS WENT ON TO THE WARRANT OFFICERS AND SERGEANTS' MESS AND THEN THE OFFICERS' MESS WHERE HER ROYAL HIGHNESS HAD LUNCH.

A COPY OF THE BATTALION 3 NEW RECORD ENTITLED +SALAMANCA+ WAS LATER PRESENTED TO THE PRINCESS AS A SOUVENIR.

PRINCESS ALEXANDRA HAS A LONG ASSOCIATION WITH THE LIGHT INFANTRY AND HAS BEEN THE REGIMENT'S DEPUTY COLONEL-IN-CHIEF SINCE 1968 WHEN THE COUNTY REGIMENTS OF THE LIGHT INFANTRY WERE DISBANDED AND THE LIGHT INFANTRY REGIMENT FORMED.

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS LAST VISITED THE 1ST BATTALION IN LENGO, WEST GERMANY, ON MAY 25, 1972 WHEN THE PRINCESS PRESENTED THE BATTALION WITH THEIR REGIMENTAL AND QUEEN'S COLOURS.