Anne admires flower named after late royal in Singaporean botanic garden

The Princess Royal has admired an orchid during her two-day visit to Singapore which was named after her mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, more than 50 years ago.

Anne visited the National Orchid Garden in Singapore on Wednesday where she also had a flower named after her in a short ceremony, which she described as “very special”.

The princess, who is accompanied on the trip by her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, wore an orange jacket over a patterned blue dress and was presented with the purple bloom, which is now called “Dendrobium Anne”, in a pot.

When chief executive officer of the National Parks Board Singapore Hwang Yu-Ning handed over the flower’s birth certificate, the princess said: “Thank you for that. That’s very special, thank you very much.”

Anne also signed the guest book and posed for a photo with her husband, the British high commissioner to the Republic of Singapore Nikesh Mehta OBE, and Ms Hwang.

After the short ceremony, Anne was shown around the VIP garden, where the orchid hybrids named after heads of state and international dignitaries are on display, while an umbrella sheltered her from the rain.

She stopped for about a minute to look at the flower called “Dendrobium Elizabeth”, named after her mother.

Anne remarked that the flower named after the late Queen, which should be yellow, was “more green” because it had not completely bloomed yet.

Six orchids have been named after members of the royal family, including the Queen Elizabeth during her 1972 visit, and the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2012.

William and Kate saw an orchid named after the prince’s late mother Diana during their south-east Asia tour 13 years ago, which she did not see before her death in 1997.

When Anne was driven away from the orchid garden in a Range Rover, a woman excitedly shouted “Princess Anne” and waved towards the car with other onlookers.