HER Royal Highness, The Princess Royal made a three-hour visit to the Army’s Cawdor Barracks in Brawdy today (Monday).

Princess Anne, who is the Colonel in Chief of The Royal Corps of Signals, flew in by helicopter at 11am.

She was received by the Master of Signals Lieutenant General Robert Baxter CBE before being provided with a regimental update by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Purves, the Commanding Officer of the 14th Signal Regiment.

The Princess, who last visited the barracks in 2008, was later escorted to a Unit Maintenance Area where she was given an introduction to personnel who were on hand to carry out demonstrations at a number of equipment stands.

She took the time to speak to soldiers from the 237 Signal Squadron about their recent tour experiences in Afghanistan.

They included Staff Sergeant Mal Robertson, who lives with his family in Haverfordwest. He said: “We were successful in that we piloted a number of different capabilities which the regiment had deployed to Afghanistan and we brought that into fruition and made it work. We also brought everyone home safely as well, which is the most important part.”

The Princess also learned more about electronic warfare from the 236 Signal Squadron, as well as the role adventure training has had in team-building. Activities on display included mountain biking, sea diving and kayaking.

She also showed a great deal of interest in the various community engagement events the Signals have been involved in. They included beach cleans at Newgale and the recent Family Fun Day held at the barracks.

When the Princess departed, Captain Sandy Hennis told the Western Telegraph: “It’s really great for the regiment and an honour for her to come this far out to see us. We’re an operational-focused regiment and we’ve always got a squadron on tour, so it’s nice to get that recognition and it’s nice for the guys to have her down here and feel that people care.”