Princess Anne the new royal patron of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club

Princess Anne the new royal patron of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club

Published 4:20 pm Friday, January 9, 2026

Royal Victoria Yacht Club (RVYC) has a new royal patron after Buckingham Palace accepted a request sent late in 2025.

The club’s past commodore Dale Gann says Princess Anne has agreed to be RVYC’s royal patron for the next three years.

“I wrote a letter … approximately two months ago, and we received official notification from Buckingham Palace that she agreed,” he said. “We’re just really honoured.”

Gann says the patronage is fitting because Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence “are still active sailors.”

“They have a 36-foot sloop in which they actively cruise and sail on to this day,” he said. “She and her husband are extremely in touch with the sport of sailing, the competition of sailing and she’s just a great ambassador for sailing.”

In a Jan. 5 news release, RVYC said Princess Anne’s patronage “will play a meaningful role in supporting the club’s initiatives and elevating its visibility locally, nationally and internationally.”

Princess Anne last visited RVYC in 2024 during a trip to B.C. that also brought her to the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association, God’s Acre Cemetery, the Maritime Museum of British Columbia and HMCS Max Bernays, the Canadian Pacific Fleet’s first Arctic and offshore patrol vessel.

Gann says he hopes that if Princess Anne returns to the club, its younger members will attend.

“It’s super inspiring that someone so recognized in the world as an ambassador for sailing has the potential of coming back to Victoria, and witnessing and promoting and encouraging our youth,” he said.

Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after he was stripped of his royal titles late last year, served as RVYC’s royal patron for 35 years. He stepped back from all 230 of his royal patronages in 2019 over his association with child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Founded in 1892, RVYC has become well known internationally, in part for its annual Swiftsure races, which draw sailors and boats from around the world to compete in long-distance, multi-day contests in the Salish Sea.

Princess Anne’s great-grandfather, King George V, granted the club royal status in 1911.