ORGANISERS were delighted that the royal visit to Crookston Farm, Peebles went off without a hitch - and hailed the part played by the Princess Royal.

Tweeddale RDA chairperson Mags Mills said; “I’ve been involved with a lot of big events like this before and I am aware that you have to do all the hard work long before the actual day.

“The idea is that you can take it easy when the event does take place and that’s exactly how it did work out as everybody was so chilled and relaxed.

“The Princess herself was fantastic. She found time to speak to all the children and you just realise when you hear her chatting how knowledgeable she is.” County RDA chairperson Annette Hammond Chambers said: “We put so much work into it and I’m just delighted that it’s all worked out. There were four of us to start with but then we managed to delegate to get the job done. I am so proud of everyone.

“The glorious weather was a great help as it would not have been the same if we’d had to hold the events in the indoor riding school.” She admitted it had been difficult keeping the royal visit secret before it was made public on May 28. “We told all our people not to go on holiday on this date because there was going to be a big event but we weren’t allowed to say what it was,” she said.

“Some of them did book holidays but most changed to another time when they became aware that we were going to have a royal visitor.”