A gleaming new Jaguar rolled up to the gates of one the oldest worsted mills in the world, carrying the first member of the Royal family to visit.

As a liveryman and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, the Princess Royal yesterday paid a visit to the Drummond Group, one of the top ten worsted mills in the world and the only one to remain listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Dressed in a royal blue three-quarter length coat, Princess Anne was welcomed by Bradford sunshine and seven-year-old Katie McKnight, daughter of one of the textile company's warpers, who presented her with a posy. She was then taken on a tour of the Lumb Lane factory where she talked to mill workers.

And company Chairman Stefan Simmonds said she was no fool when it came to textiles.

"The Princess is a great supporter of the textile industry and she's extremely knowledgeable," he said.

Earlier he had warned the Princess that the crisis engulfing British textiles was the worst in living memory and blamed the "radically over-valued pound" for its decline.

The company, founded in 1835, currently produces around 100,000 metres of high quality woollen and worsted fabric a year and employs 400.

Kath Foster, who first set foot in a mill at the age of 15, now works for Drummond as a picker, painstakingly checking reams of cloth for faults and contamination.

She said the Princess had been very interested in her work. "She asked how long I'd been doing it for and I told her I'd been working in mills for more than 43 years." said Kath.

Warehouse manager Terry Cartiledge said she was dazzled by some yellow cloth being checked in the finishing rooms.

And menswear design manager Johanna Hall added that she had been very interested.

Among those who accompanied the Princess Royal on her visit were Bradford's Lord Mayor, Councillor Harry Mason, Bradford West MP Marsha Singh and the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, Mr John Lyles.

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