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The Princess Royal has donned her favourite sunglasses for the start of a two-day trip to South Africa.
While most people lose their shades after a couple of holidays, Anne has been wearing the Adidas Team GB accessories since the London 2012 Olympics and needed them in the sweltering Cape Town heat.
With temperatures hitting 33C, the King’s sister was spotted wearing them during a tour of the South African Riding for the Disabled Association in Cape Town, where she presented rosettes to a group of youngsters after a lesson.
The Adidas sunglasses are one of Anne’s favourites and she has been pictured in them throughout the years.
Many called her a ‘style icon’ and praised her for keeping the same accessories for so long.
She walked down a line of riders sat on their ponies handing out awards and chatting to the volunteers that accompany the children whenever they are in the saddle.
“How many ponies do you have?” asked Lashwil, aged 11 after he was given his prize and Anne replied with a smile: “More then I should have” adding there was “one I do ride”.
The King’s sister has a lifelong passion for horses and competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics as a three-day eventer.
She also supports a number of equine organisations including Riders for Health, The Horse Trust and World Horse Welfare.
Anne is making a whirlwind visit to Cape Town but is travelling by herself after her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence suffered a suspected torn ligament while working on the princess’ Gatcombe estate.
The former naval officer requires treatment in the UK and is unable to fly with the princess.
The princess first visited the association in 1994 and on Tuesday saw some of its 14 ponies in a stable and joked when she came across a grey pony so anxious to get out of his stall he was kicking the door.
Anne looked at the animal and joked with its groom: “Oh dear, interrupting another smooth running day”, but when told the name of the disruptive pony, she replied: “He’s actually called Maverick?”
Late she travelled to the British High Commission and completed the planting of a variety of rose, first introduced in 2010, named Princess Anne in her honour.
On Wednesday The Princess Royal will commemorate the sacrifices of black South Africans and other races who played a vital First World War role during her final day in Cape Town.
Anne will unveil the Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial, which honours South Africans who carried out non-combat jobs and died with no known grave or commemoration.
The princess will later carry out a series of engagements in Cape Town including visiting the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, which keeps alive the memory of the former archbishop of Cape Town awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa.
She will also tour the South African Astronomical Observatory built in the 1820s after George IV authorised the British Admiralty to establish a royal observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, to provide accurate star positions to help ships navigate the treacherous waters around the Cape.
