MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Windy royal visit to the Falklands followed by minor storm in Antarctica

HRM Princess Anne during a reception in the Town Hall at Stanley

The prediction of bad weather to come in the Antarctic over the next few days has led to a shortening of the visit of the Princess Royal to the Falkland Islands. Taking advantage of a “weather window” the Princess will fly at 6pm today, Sunday, directly from Stanley to the British base at Rothera in the Antarctic in a De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft, belonging to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). This flight was originally planned to take place on Monday morning.

Gale force winds on Saturday delayed the arrival in the Falkland Islands of the weekly LAN Chile flight from Santiago, but did not overly disrupt the first full day of a planned three-day visit by HRH the Princess Royal and her husband, Rear Admiral Timothy Lawrence. Both have visited the Falklands before, but never together. Taking off from Government House in Stanley, where they had spent the night, the royal party, accompanied by Falkland Islands Governor, Mr.Alan Huckle and Mrs. Huckle, were flown by a helicopter to Saunders Island in the West Falklands, to visit penguin and albatross colonies. This was an opportunity for Deputy Governor, and Director of South Georgia's fisheries, Miss Harriett Hall, to brief Princess Anne on the dangers posed by unregulated fishing practices to sea birds, and particularly to albatross, whose numbers globally are decreasing at an alarming rate. After this visit, during which all had to take shelter from fierce squalls on occasion, a planned visit to a mountain top radar site had to be abandoned due to the strong winds and the party flew on to Hill Cove settlement for a private lunch. This was followed by an afternoon reception attended by most of the residents of the West Falklands, some of whom had traveled considerable distances to meet the royal visitor. A further public reception was in the Town Hall in Stanley, after a return to Stanley only slightly delayed by the weather and a minor mechanical problem. Here the Princess Royal was able to meet a wide cross-section of the Falklands population, including a number of serving military. Prominent in their uniform blazers were Falkland Islands athletes and marksmen who had taken part in recent Commonwealth Games. The Princess and her husband had arrived at the Mount Pleasant air base in the Falklands the previous afternoon, on a direct flight from Britain, paying short visits to several military units, including the Falklands patrol ship, HMS Dumbarton Castle, before laying wreaths at the Welsh Guards and Royal Fleet Auxiliary memorials at Fitzroy. (These commemorate those killed in the aerial attack on the RFA ships, Sir Galahad and Sir Tristan, the biggest single source of British losses during the 1982 recovery of the Islands from Argentina) Sunday, fortunately with the weather somewhat improved, began for the Princess with a walk to Stanley's Anglican Cathedral, where she attended morning service and read a lesson. Leaving from Government House, the Princess Royal paused for a brief act of remembrance and to lay a wreath at the Liberation Monument, the memorial to the British and local dead of the 1982 conflict with Argentina over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) The marginally improved weather in the Falklands on Sunday did not prevent the arrival of a storm cloud, if not a storm, over the royal visit to Antarctica, which will follow the visit of the Princess Royal to the Falklands. Under the somewhat misleading headline, "Princess Anne threatens the Antarctic", an article by Rob Sharp of the British Sunday Telegraphclaims that a charity supported by the Princess Royal is thought by environmentalists to be posing a severe threat to the polar region. Princess Anne is patron of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, which amongst other activities maintains a post office and small museum for visitors to Port Lockroy, a former BAS research station on the Antarctic Peninsular. According to the report, the basis of the reported attack by Jim Barnes, the executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, is that this season these visitor facilities opened seven weeks earlier than usual, encouraging double the normal number of cruise ship visits. In the 2005-2006 season, 23 ships docked at the former base, while this season, it is claimed, there have already been 50 ships. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition is described in the Telegraph'sarticle as a non-governmental organisation made up of members from more than 40 countries and Mr.Barnes is quoted as saying that "the bigger picture of tourism in Antarctica is spiraling out of control" and that such an increase in the number of ships traveling to the port "can only be harmful" to a sensitive ecosystem. He calls on the British Government "to control these kinds of numbers". According to the Telegraph, the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's chairman, Philippa Foster Back, admits that very large ships are a problem and that an increased volume of traffic increases the risk of accidents, but maintains that this has to be balanced against the Trust's chief aim, which is to make people aware of the heritage that exists there." Local agent in Stanley for the majority of the cruise ships which visit the Antarctic, Miss Debbie Summers of Sulivan Shipping Ltd., who was among those to meet the Princess in Stanley, described the accusation as "ridiculous", pointing out that ship visits to the Peninsular are planned up to two years in advance and therefore the late decision of the UK Antarctic Trust to open its facilities was "a response to a situation rather than its cause". After her visit to Antarctica, Princess Anne, who is the second child of the Queen of England, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, is due to make what is described as a visit of "a scientific and environmental nature" to the Magallanes area of Chile, arriving, if all goes to plan, in Punta Arenas on 22nd January. During her visit to the region, the Princess will visit the Chilean Antarctic Institute and the plant of Standard Wool, newly restored after a recent fire, as well as meeting members of the sizeable British community in Punta Arenas. On January 23rd, the Princess will leave Magallanes heading for Viña del Mar and Valparaiso, where she will attend a banquet in her honour given by President Michele Bachelet in the palace on Castle Hill. The Royal visit to Chile is scheduled to end on January 25th. John Fowler (MercoPress)Stanley