The island got a whirlwind visit over the weekend from the Princess Royal and Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, who are scheduled to head home today.

The couple were met at LF Wade International Airport on Saturday night by John Rankin, the Governor, and Captain Paolo Odoli, his aide-de-camp, before being whisked away by a motorcade.

Yesterday, the Princess Royal and Sir Tim attended Christ Church in Warwick, where the Reverend Alistair Bennett escorted them to the morning service.

A ceremonial tree-planting on the grounds of Government House also took place that morning.

They toured the Event Village for the 35th America’s Cup, where they met volunteers as well as Team BDA, the local entrant in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, and visited Commissioner’s House.

The royal couple also met numerous soldiers with the Royal Bermuda Regiment, who were joined by the British Army for the RBR’s biggest-ever deployment.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Curley, Commanding Officer of the RBR, said: “The Princess Royal was very happy to meet the troops involved in the security operations.

“The event is almost over, but we’re still continuing to push the troops in all aspects to make sure we do our due diligence.

“We’ve had a lot of good reports about our conduct and performance on land and on sea. It’s been a great privilege and honour for us to have this major role and we want to finish on a very high mark and end the event with the same high standards we have shown throughout.”

The Princess Royal is the second child and only daughter of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

She last visited the island in May 2011, when her flying stop coincided with a visit by members of the Caribbean-Canada Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue.