Buckingham Palace has released a new photograph of Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence, as her 75th birthday approaches.
The Princess Royal will celebrate the milestone birthday on Friday, August 15.
Save the Children UK chief executive Moazzam Malik hailed Princess Anne's "soft support", adding "you can see that she cares" about the state of the nation and the world, and in particular for children experiencing adversity.
Malik told the PA news agency: "Obviously, as a royal, she’s not a political figure, but her soft support for us is very inspiring for us as an organisation and for our collaborators and partners."
Buckingham Palace releases new photo of Princess Anne as royal's milestone birthday approaches
|CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES
He added: "She’s very low key. She’s self-effacing. She doesn’t want to kind of take the limelight, but she’s very committed … You can see that she cares about the state of Britain and the state of the world.
"There are a lot of challenges for us as a country, and indeed, a lot of challenges for children at a time of great geopolitical challenge. And she cares."
Anne has been involved with Save the Children UK for 55 years, first becoming its president in 1970, then as patron from 2017, taking over from her mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Malik said the princess had met some 27,000 of the organisation’s supporters and helped raise tens of millions of pounds over the years.
Princess Anne has been hailed by charity leaders as her 75th birthday approaches
|PA
The chief executive added: “She’s one of our chief supporters, and it’s great to have somebody like that, you know, who will keep nudging you forward.”
Tanya Curry, chief executive of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, of which Anne became patron in 2008, suggested the princess had increased her workload ahead of turning 75, rather than reducing it.
Curry said: "I think she’s probably done a lot more for us actually, and the kind of stamina that she brings to that, mentally and physically, is amazing."
She added: "She’s working incredibly hard, and she positions the Royal Family in such a great way that people really understand and really can see the work that she’s doing."
The Princess Royal will celebrate the milestone birthday on Friday, August 15
|PA
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Save the Children UK chief executive Moazzam Malik hailed Princess Anne's 'soft support'
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Michael Baker, chief executive of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA), said Anne, who has been involved with the organisation since 1971, was determined to attend its national championships for her first return engagement after her hospital admission.
Baker said: "She wanted to be there and come what may, she was going to be with us, and that was so powerful because it was clearly a determined effort to be there as the first visit back.
"That was very deliberate on her part … and even on that day, she stayed well over her time period."