16/07/2008 05:48:00
Patron of the Edinburgh-based Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) Princess Anne is continuing her quest to visit each one of the 209 working lighthouses in Scotland.
The princess has reportedly visited around half of the Scottish structures: 80 as a result of her work with the NLB and an additional 20 with her husband.
Chief executive of the NLB, Roger Lockwood, said: "She must have visited more than 80 with us.
"It is not just about ticking off another light on the list. She also likes to see the places and conditions in which the technicians have to work.
"The princess has done all the major lights now and it will not be easy to do them all because there are many that are scattered all over the place. But it will be a remarkable feat if the princess ticks them all off."
Princess Anne has been patron of the board since 1993. She visited the Isle of Arran last week. Next week, she is expected to visit two lighthouses on the north of Scotland's Isle of Skye in continuation of her tour.
Her ambition to visit every lighthouse in Scotland has been compared with that of walkers wishing to scale all 284 of Scotland's Munros. The Guardian notes that it is unknown whether anybody has succeeded in visiting all 209 before.