Princess kicks off flying visit

Princess Anne is in New Zealand for five days on a "private visit" during which she will open the New Zealand leg of the 2003 Commonwealth Study Conference.

The Princess Royal arrived in Auckland on Saturday on a Qantas flight and flew on to Wellington. A section of the airport was secured while she was taken to a waiting car.

Yesterday she met representatives from charity group Save The Children.

She also dined with the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, in Wellington.

She is expected to visit Auckland, the Far North, Hamilton and the West Coast before flying to Australia, where the remainder of the conference is being held.

Princess Anne's father, the Duke of Edinburgh, set up the Commonwealth Study Conference for the development of leaders in 1956 but he could not attend this year.