Princess Anne will be visiting Brightlingsea and Colchester

Princess Anne, 74, will be attending three locations in north Essex and Harlow, including Brightlingsea on December 11.

The district will now prepare ahead of her visit, with plans to be put in place for her imminent arrival.

Previous - Princess Anne on a previous visit to Colchester Castle (Image: Credited) She will be coming along to the Brightlingsea Museum and as the Colonel in Chief, Intelligence Corps, will also be visiting 1 Military Battalion at Merville Barracks, Colchester.

Mayor of Brightlingsea, John Carr said: “I’m massively excited, it’s an accolade and it’s wonderful that she will visit.

“I believe she will be visiting the Brightlingsea Museum, which is great because they have worked so hard for this.

“The Princess Royal visiting the town is just great and we will try our best to get the youth and people out to visit her.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work at a place in London where she came in and she is such a wonderful, kind-hearted person, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Mayor of Colchester, Lesley Scott-Boutell said: “I met her at the Arnhem memorial and I have the highest respect for her, she is such a hard working person and she gets so much done.

“I would guess it is something which the garrison is sorting out and it really is great news and any acknowledgement of the 16 Air Assault Combat Team is brilliant.”

Princess Anne is a frequent visitor to the area, including a visit to Colchester Castle back in March 2014 and she then visited charity-run residential care home, Treetops back in 2015.

During her time spent in Colchester in 2014, she also visited Kent Blaxill who were celebrating their 175th anniversary and unveiled a plaque during her tour of Colchester Castle.

She will also be visiting Harlow as part of her trip, where she will visit Netteswell Rectory at Manston Road.