A SMILING Princess Anne toured Bicester’s Army barracks yesterday, meeting personnel and their families.

The Princess Royal was there on an official visit as the Colonel in Chief of the Royal Logistics Corps.

Arriving by helicopter at St David’s Barracks, in London Road, she was greeted by members of the 1 Support Regiment.

The Princess was met by the Master General of Logistics, Lieutenant General Mark Poffley and the Corps Colonel, Colin Francis, before being driven to the officers’ mess, where she presented the Imperial Service Medal to long-standing Quartermaster Clerk Elizabeth Williams.

Ms Williams, who lives nearby in Bicester, has worked at the barracks for several years serving 1 Regiment and the barracks’ previous residents, 23 Pioneer Corps.

During her visit the Princess Royal was also treated to several culinary delights, as she toured display stands showing the diverse ethnic backgrounds of people in the regiment, including personnel with Afro Caribbean, Fijian, Nepalese and Indian heritage.

She tasted a variety of different foods and was given a brief history of the countries represented, including cultural facts a spokesman said.

The statement from the regiment added: “Princess Anne was also given an insight into the regiment’s capabilities when she was introduced to a number of stands demonstrating the regiment’s operational role.

“Among the many pieces of kit and equipment she got the opportunity to have a look over several vehicles including the impressive Mastiff armoured troop carrier.”

The £265,000 six-wheel-drive Mastiff is one of the safest armoured vehicle used by the Army.

It was introduced in Helmand, Afghanistan, in 2007 and has a V-shaped hull to deflect bomb blasts – with the vehicles recorded as having survived hundreds of bomb attacks.

Towards the end of her visit yesterday, the Princess was also presented with a silver rhino, a nod to the regiment’s insignia, by six-year-old Finlay Evans, the son of regiment second in command Major Nathan Evans.

Keira Ward, eight years-old, also presented a posy of flowers to the Princess shortly before she left.

1 Regiment was originally known as 1 Divisional Column, according to the Army, providing transport support to the First Division.

Its history can be traced back as far as the peninsular war 1812 where allotted troops of the Royal Wagon Train supported the First Division.

It was relocated from Germany to St David’s Barracks, in the UK, in 2015.