Princess in red, on her 60th birthday

SEATED, and wearing a striking red gown at her Gloucestershire home, of Gatcombe Park, the Princess Royal posed for this commemorative photograph to mark her 60th birthday today.

On her 50th birthday, she was appointed Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.

In an interview to mark her 60th birthday, she said that she had no intention of slowing down. "Look around at the members of my family who are considerably older than me and tell me whether you think they have set an example which suggests that I might - unlikely," she explained.

Her daughter, Zara Phillips, 29, said: "She's looked after us, supported us, taught us everything she knows. I would like to be as good a mother as she has been to us."

The Princess Royal declined all offers of a party in her honour and chose instead to spend the day with her husband, Vice-Admiral Tim Laurence.

The princess is regarded as one of the hardest working members of the Royal Family, carrying out around 600 engagements last year,

She is patron of more than 200 charities and represented the British three-day event team at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. She won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 1971, an achievement matched by her daughter in 2006.

She has a deep, life-long affection for Scotland and is involved in dozens of organisations north of the Border, ranging from army regiments to sports clubs, charities and schools. An avid rugby fan, she is patron of the Scottish Rugby Union and last year watched the national side play at Murrayfield no less than five times.