On her first visit to Bermuda, Princess Anne arrived at the Civil Air Terminal yesterday afternoon to be greeted by a smattering of public officials and journalists.

In contrast to the visit of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip five years ago, Princess Anne's three-day sojourn on the Island is being treated as a decidedly low-key affair.

All the same, it's clearly not seen as being a holiday either. The Princess's itinerary consists of 23 separate functions squashed into a time frame of little more than three days.

These include visits to various points of interest around the Island and to charities, including the Salvation Army Drug Rehabilitation Unit at Harbour Light and the St. John Ambulance Brigade Headquarters. The Princess Royal will also meet with Premier Jennifer Smith, Opposition Leader Pamela Gordon, the Mayor of St. George's Lois Perinchief and the Mayor of Hamilton William Frith at different times during her stay.

The press has only been invited to a small number of these events indicating that the Princess does not want a great deal of public attention while in Bermuda. Her arrival yesterday was quick and uneventful.

The red and white Gulfstream Luxury Jet glided up to the Civil Air Terminal at 1:50 p.m.

As the doors were opening, the Governor's small party lined up to greet the Princess and a motorcade slithered in behind them, ready to whisk her off without delay.

Princess Anne arrives in Bermuda for low-key visit Present were the Governor Thorold Masefield, his wife Jennifer, the ADC, Capt.

Wayne Smith, acting head of Airport Operations Marshall Minors, head of Airport Security Roger Bryden, and acting director of civil aviation Rod Scott.

After a quick handshake and salute, the Royal party piled into the Governor's Daimler and, escorted by four Police riders, sped off to Government House.

The event, or non-event as some might see it, was a marked contrast to the arrival of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in March 1994 to which a large number of admirers turned up.

Headlines from an edition of The Royal Gazette , published on March 9, 1994, said: "Royal Fever Grips Bermuda'' and "Thousands on hand to greet Royal couple''.

Yesterday, Princess Anne did without the pomp and show that greeted her parents and some could interpret this as meaning that the purpose of her visit comes more from a true desire to do good than to merely be seen and cheered at by the people.

Taking place last night was a function that some would consider to be the highlight of the visit.

Two fund-raising events were held in the Princess' honour at the Bermuda National Gallery, located at City Hall, Hamilton.

The first was a cocktail reception to which invited guests paid $75 for the honour of having a drink with Her Royal Highness.

In attendance were Contributing and Director's Circle members of the Gallery, sponsors of the current exhibition and Gallery volunteers.

The second event, a dinner party, carried tickets with prices of $1,500 each.

A press release from the National Gallery explained the astronomical prices, saying: "The Gallery fund-raising chairman, Trustee Mrs. Carole Bailey is hopeful of reaching a goal of $100,000 which will go towards the Bermuda National Gallery's Education and Outreach Programmes.'' Serving as a backdrop for Princess Anne's visit was the new exhibition "Window on the Azores'' which was opened last week to record breaking crowds and, according to the statement, "is the first international exhibition of its kind and is the Bermuda National Gallery's contribution to the celebration of 150 years of Portuguese settlement in Bermuda''.

The Princess' arrival at City Hall was graced by a small crowd of locals and tourists who took some time out to witness the event.

Visitors Gail Scarlett and Elaine Richardson, who arrived on the cruise ship Zenith on Monday, said they were "very happy to be here'', but also said: "We were amazed there weren't more people here.'' "We were sitting on the bus today and someone mentioned that Princess Anne was in town. We thought we'd come by and have a look,'' Ms Scarlett said.

"This is something we'd never see at home because there would usually be so many people at this sort of event.'' The pair, who are from Burlington, Ontario, added that they planned to go and see Princess Anne when she visits St. George's on Thursday.

Resident Arto Harvey was not quite as impressed however.

"I was waiting for my bus and I thought I'd come to see what she looked like in person,'' he said.

"It's not really that exciting for us Bermudians, though. I went and saw Queen Elizabeth when she visited years ago. It was exciting for me then but times have changed. People don't feel the same way these days.''