The Princess Royal arrived in East Sussex today to lend her support to the beleaguered tourism industry.

Princess Anne was spending the afternoon visiting the county's well-known tourist attractions following a difficult two years.

She first stopped off at the Seven Sisters Country Park, at Exceat, near Seaford, where she was receiving a presentation on the Tourism Without Traffic Project.

The project, jointly led by East Sussex County Council and the Sussex Downs Conservation Board, encourages more sustainable forms of travel and tourism.

The royal visitor was then leaving by bus to visit the Alfriston Clergy House, near Polegate, the first historic building bought by the National Trust in 1896.

She was then moving on to Drusillas Zoo Park, near Polegate.

She arrived by helicopter from Gosport in Hampshire where she had been visiting the Royal Navy submarine museum.

The Princess, who wore sunglasses and a lemon yellow suit, stopped briefly to chat to people waiting at a bus stop opposite the Seven Sisters.

A large crowd of civic leaders were on hand to greet the Princess Royal, including the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex Phyllida Stewart-Roberts, Tory Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson and Michael Ann, chairman of the Tourism Without Traffic Project.

She was among nine Royal Family members taking part in British Tourism Day to help boost the hard-hit industry.

It is the first time so many royals have joined for a theme day to back a single aspect of British life.

The September 11 terrorist attacks, the foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK and the Iraq war have cost the industry an estimated £3 billion in lost revenue.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Edinburgh celebrated his 82nd birthday today with a visit to Legoland in Windsor where he boarded a children's train to see a lifesize statue of himself made from Lego bricks.

The Queen and her husband arrived at the popular theme park at the start of the day of royal visits.

More than 2,000 excited children from Berkshire schools cheered and waved Union Flags as the Queen and Duke made their way through the crowd.

The Queen paused briefly to collect a bouquet of flowers before boarding the Legoland Hill Train, which took them down into Mini Land where hundreds more schoolchildren were waiting.

They were able to survey key parts of the Queen's kingdom in miniature, including Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and Horse Guards Parade.