Princess Anne has come face-to-face with a robot during her official tour of South Korea.
The Princess Royal and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence visited a Smart Mobility Laboratory at Korea University where they were shown demonstrations of a humanoid robot, a dual-arm robot and a motion capture system. As part of the demonstration, the Princess shook hands with a robot.
Watch the video above.
Princess Anne shakes hands with a robot in South Korea. Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images
A video of the exchange was uploaded to the royal family’s official social media accounts overnight with the caption: “Yes, but can it curtsy?”
The visit comes three years after a co-operation memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between University College London and Korea University. The two institutions now operate a joint fund to support science research projects.
The Princess Royal visited Busan and Seoul in South Korea as part of an official three-day tour this week.
While in South Korea, the Princess had a busy itinerary that included attending commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Imjin River at the United National Memorial Cemetery, which is the only United Nations memorial cemetery in the world.
There she met Korean War veterans and laid a wreath at the cemetery, which is the final resting place of 2339 soldiers, sailors and airmen, including Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans.
While in South Korea, she also toured HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, and met representatives from business, academia and culture to demonstrate the UK’s economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
She also viewed an exhibition featuring works by Korean alumni of UK fashion institutions, which explored the future of fashion through sustainability, innovation and international collaboration.
Princess Anne met with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool/Getty Images
During the trip, Princess Anne had an audience with the President of the Republic of Korea Lee Jaw Myung, and attended a reception at the British Embassy Seoul to celebrate the UK–Republic of Korea partnership.
There, she rubbed shoulders with members of the K-Pop band NMIXX, with whom the British Embassy has a girls’ empowerment partnership.
Princess Anne has now headed to Thailand for a two-day visit.
At 75, Princess Anne remains one of the hardest working members of the British Royal Family.
She carried out 478 official engagements in 2025, up from 474 the previous year.
King Charles topped the list with 535 engagements.
After Anne, came Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, with 313 engagements. Next was Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, with 235 engagements and Queen Camilla with 228.
Princess Anne was forced to take a break from her royal duties in 2024, after a horseriding incident that resulted in her hospitalised for five days and left her with a concussion and memory loss.
She later admitted in an interview with The Times that she was “jolly lucky” to be able to keep working after she was ‘struck’ by the horse while walking beside it at her home, Gatcombe Park.
“You’re jolly lucky… if you can continue to be more or less compos mentis and last summer I was very close to not being. Take each day as it comes, they say,” she said.