Public appearances in
Christchurch, New Zealand Anne undertakes a wide range of duties and engagements on behalf of the sovereign.
Kevin S. MacLeod, the then
Canadian Secretary to the Queen, said of her in 2014: "Her credo is, 'Keep me busy. I'm here to work. I'm here to do good things. I'm here to meet as many people as possible'." In December 2017, it was reported that Anne had carried out the most official engagements that year of any member of the royal family, including the Queen. Among her overseas visits, she has toured Norway, Jamaica, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, and Australia. in
The Hague, 1984 Anne's first public engagement took place in 1969, when she opened an educational and training centre in
Shropshire. She travels abroad on behalf of the United Kingdom up to three times a year. She began undertaking overseas visits after leaving secondary school, Her first tour of Australia was with her parents in 1970, and she has returned many times since to carry out official engagements as
colonel-in-chief of an Australian regiment, or to attend memorials and services, including the National Memorial Service for victims of the
Black Saturday bushfires in Melbourne on 22 February 2009. In 1990, she became the first member of the royal family to make an official visit to the
Soviet Union, travelling there as a guest of President
Mikhail Gorbachev and his government. In August 2016, Anne returned to Russia to visit the city of
Arkhangelsk for the 75th anniversary of
Operation Dervish, one of the first
Arctic convoys of World War II. The following month, she developed a chest infection and was required to cancel official engagements. In late October 2016, she undertook a two-day study tour of the Malaysian state of
Sarawak. In April 2022, Anne and her husband toured Australia and Papua New Guinea to mark
the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. On 12 September 2022, at
St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Anne became the first woman to participate in a
Vigil of the Princes, standing guard by her mother's coffin. She repeated the vigil at
Westminster Hall on 16 September. It was later revealed that she had been the informant at
her mother's death at Balmoral, signing the death certificate alongside the attending doctor. On 21 April 2026, Anne opened the
Queen Elizabeth II Garden on the
centenary of her mother's birth.
Patronages on 11 July 2002, while the vessel docked at
Southampton. Anne is involved with more than 200 charities and organisations in an official capacity. She works extensively with
Save the Children, serving as its president from 1970 to 2017 and as patron since 2017. She has visited the organisation's projects in Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her long-standing work for
St. John Ambulance as Commandant-in-Chief of St. John Ambulance Cadets, has supported the development of many young people, and she attends the annual Grand Prior Award Reception. She is also patron of
St. Andrew's First Aid. In 2021, she became patron of
Mercy Ships, an international charity that operates the world's largest non-governmental
hospital ships. Anne serves as a
British representative in the International Olympic Committee as an administrator, and was a member of the
London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. She is president of the
British Olympic Association and represented Great Britain on the International Olympic Committee at the
2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. In 1985, she became president of the
Riding for the Disabled Association after serving as its patron for fourteen years. She maintains a close relationship with student sport and is patron of
British Universities and Colleges Sport. Following the retirement of the Queen Mother in 1981, Anne was
elected by graduates of the
University of London as
Chancellor, a position she has held since that year. She served as president of
BAFTA from 1973 to 2001. Throughout May 1996, she served as
Her Majesty's High Commissioner to the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and held the post again in 2017. In 2007, she was appointed by the Queen as
Grand Master of the
Royal Victorian Order, a role previously held by her grandmother. She is a Royal Fellow of both the
Royal Society and the
Academy of Medical Sciences, becoming the latter's first Royal Fellow. Anne was elected
Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh with effect from 31 March 2011, succeeding her father, who stepped down in 2010. Also in 2011, she became president of
City and Guilds of London Institute, Master of the Corporation of
Trinity House, and president of the
Royal Society of Arts, all in succession to her father. She has long served as president of the
Commonwealth Study Conference, an initiative founded by him. In 2023, she succeeded the
Duke of Kent as president of the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. session, December 2018 Anne is the patron of
Transaid, a charity founded by Save the Children and the
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport that aims to provide safe and sustainable transport in developing countries. She is also the patron of
WISE, an organisation that encourages young women to pursue careers in science, engineering, and construction. She has been patron of the
Royal National Children's Foundation since 2002, and of the industrial heritage museum,
Aerospace Bristol since 2016. In 2022, Anne was named honorary chair of
National Lighthouse Museum's Illuminating Future Generations campaign, a project established to raise funds for the museum's gallery space. She is also patron of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, the
Special Forces Club,
Royal College of Midwives,
Royal College of Emergency Medicine,
Magpas Air Ambulance,
Edinburgh University's
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies,
Royal Holloway, University of London,
International Students House, London,
Acid Survivors Trust International,
Townswomen's Guilds,
Citizens Advice, the
Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the
Scottish Rugby Union, and the
Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. In 1986 she was appointed Master of the
Worshipful Company of Carmen. In 2001, she became Master of the
Worshipful Company of Farmers. In 2017, Anne became Prime Warden of the
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers and a Governor of
Gresham's School. In 2025, she was announced as patron of Friends of the Elderly, taking on the role previously held by Queen Elizabeth II for more than 60 years. ==Public image and style==