Princess Anne joined a special ship on the West Coast of Scotland to learn more about its recent deployments.

The Princess Royal was dressed in her naval uniform with a coat and beret, to meet with the company of the HMS Albion and hear about their work.

A post on the official Royal Family instagram page explained that Princess Anne discussed, "the Ship’s operational activity over the last 12 months, including deployments to the Mediterranean, the High North and the Baltic."

What to read next

The HMS Albion is a NATO ship and Princess Anne is its official Lady Sponsor, and has been since 2001 when it was first launched. It was "the first NATO Ship to visit Finland after it became a member and visited Den Helder in the Netherlands to mark the 50th anniversary of the UK-Netherlands Amphibious Force," added the post.

Photographs from the day show the Princess Royal chatting with crew members on board the vessel as she learnt more about the work of the ship's company. She was then able to witness HMS Albion leaving the harbour from Glen Douglas in West Scotland.

Princess Anne has a long history with the armed forces and upholds a number of military positions and official duties.

Earlier this year, Princess Anne visited another NATO outfit, The King's Royal Hussars. She was pictured in a tank as she explored some of their equipment, which had been designed to withstand artic conditions, and was briefed on their operation in Estonia.