DOZENS of people surrounded the entrance to the children's ward at Musgrove Park Hospital in a bid to catch a glimpse of Princess Alexandria.

The Queen's cousin, who was at the hospital to officially open the £500,000 redevelopment of ward 18, arrived on time in a metallic blue-grey Rover.

There was joy from the crowd as she headed straight towards them for a brief walkabout before meeting children and local dignitaries, in the week of March 6, 1992.

Myrna Linegar, who greeted the Princess with a bouquet of flowers, said: "I told her I hoped they weren't wet as I had picked them from my garden."

The Princess then met pharmacist Nicola Durant, and asker her about the ongoing development at Musgrove.

Nicola said: "She said there was a lot of building work going on at the hospital.

"It was the first time I had ever met anybody royal, I shook her hand and she had lovely soft leather gloves on."

David Wilson, 33, said: "She was a lovely person."