OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS took Prince Michael all the way around the world during April, with visits to America, Singapore, Australia and Puerto Rico.

The month began, however, with a visit to Hall Place in Bexley, Kent, where on April 4th, the Prince opened a two-day Crime Prevention Exhibition.

Featuring a wide range of home security measures, including the latest ultra-violet car and property marking systems, the exhibition was organised jointly by the local police and the security company Selectamark to launch Operation Cadence, a six-week blitz on car crime in the area.

Staff from auctioneers Bonham's were on hand at the exhibition to value people's property and stolen goods were put on display in the hope that the rightful owners might be able to identify them.

Following the opening, Prince Michael was invited to plant a tree in the Hall Place gardens, just as his mother, Princess Marina, had done when she officially opened the gardens nearly fifty years ago.

His Royal Highness said afterwards: "My mother planted a cedar sapling, which has now grown into a very fine mature tree. I planted a Russian white-barked birch next to it."

Mrs Van Der Kemp, President of the Versailles Foundation, with the Prince and Princess after the lecture given by the Princess.

On April 5th, the Prince attended a fund-raising lunch on behalf of the World Monument Fund, the American-based architectural charity of which His Royal Highness recently became the UK Patron.

A week later, having travelled to the United States, His Royal Highness visited the Fund's New York headquarters on April 12th for a meeting to discuss future projects planned by the charity, whose aim is to restore and maintain buildings worldwide which have been identified by experts as being of particular historical or architectural significance.

These have so far ranged from Angkor Wat in Cambodia to a 1920's cinema in Moscow and a 1930's communications building in Sheffield.

Partly as a result of his family connections with Tsar Nicholas II, His Royal Highness has taken a particular interest in the Russian buildings that are on the World Monument Fund's current list.

These include the Alexander Palace, just outside St Petersburg, and the Flag Pavilion, which stands on an island in the river Neva.

Following his visit to the World Monument Fund, Prince Michael went on to attend a luncheon hosted by the Director of the Frick Collection. Near Central Park, in what was originally the private mansion of the late industrial tycoon Henry Clay Frick, this is one of the world's most renowned private art collections.

Later the same day, the Prince, with Princess Michael, attended a dinner on behalf of the Versailles Foundation at which Princess Michael gave a lecture entitled 'Louis XIV - The Substance And The Show'.

 This was one of a series of such lectures given by Princess Michael around the world and, on this occasion, came at the end of an American tour which included visits to Naples and Palm Beach in Florida, Portland, Oregon and New York. The Princess hopes to give a similar talk in Moscow when she and Prince Michael are there in July.

On April 13th, Prince Michael visited the offices of the New York Times, where he watched the News and Foreign Desks at work and later joined editors and sub-editors at their daily Editorial Conference.

On the following day, His Royal Highness attended a luncheon meeting of the World Monument Fund's US Directors, held at Christie's and hosted by the Managing Director, before then leaving New York and flying on to Singapore.

There, on April 17th, he fulfilled a number of engagements in his capacity as Patron of the World Health Network Foundation. The World Health Network is an international network of companies through which the latest healthcare information can be shared and used by doctors and clinics worldwide via the Internet.

As well as visiting the WHN offices in Singapore and attending an official luncheon there, Prince Michael also toured Changi General Hospital, one of the biggest in Singapore.

Later, the Prince attended a presentation ceremony held at the Conrad International Centennial Hotel during which leading doctors in various medical fields were honoured for their contributions to healthcare in the region.

At the same time, Canadian cancer specialist Professor Donald Iverson and Emeritus Professor S. Chan Ratnam of Singapore were officially welcomed onto the board of the Foundation, which concerns itself mainly with ethical issues relating to the integrity and confidentiality of medical information exchanged and disseminated through the World Health Network.

During a brief but very busy stay in Singapore, Prince Michael was also able to attend a presentation by BT at which they outlined their activities in the region.

On April 18th, the Prince travelled on from Singapore to Melbourne, Australia where, again in his capacity as Patron of the World Health Network Foundation, he attended meetings aimed at further developing the WHN concept in Australia.

Prince Michael stayed at Government House during his visit and on April 19th, he attended a dinner hosted by the Governor of Victoria, His Excellency Sir James Gobbo.

From Australia, the Prince travelled to Florida for a brief holiday interlude with his family before going on to continue his official engagements with a three-day visit to Puerto Rico.

He was welcomed to the capital, San Juan, on April 28th with a reception at the Government Reception Centre, hosted by the Secretary of State for Puerto Rico, the Honourable Angel Morey.

Then, on April 29th, the Prince visited the Sociedad Pro-Hospital del Nino, the Children's Hospital of Puerto Rico, before going on to attend a Gala Evening organised by the Wilnelia Merced Forsyth Foundation to raise funds for the hospital.

The Foundation, set up by entertainer Bruce Forsyth's wife, Wilnelia, who was Miss World in 1975, had already made a sizeable donation to the hospital.

Praising her efforts in founding the charity, Prince Michael said: "Having become prominent as Miss World, Wilnelia Forsyth decided to put her title to good use in the most commendable way by raising money and giving it annually to whichever cause is deemed by the Foundation to be the most deserving. This year it was the children's hospital, which deals with all sorts of advanced physical and mental disorder.

"I met some of the children during my visit and was most impressed by the way in which they are being looked after."

While in Puerto Rico, the Prince also visited the Industrial Hospital, which treats the victims of industrial accidents, including those suffering from burns.

As Patron of the British-based charity Friends of Russian Children, which has a special link with the specialist Burns Unit at Moscow's Speransky No 9 hospital, Prince Michael was interested to find out to what extent the Speransky's experience and expertise could be used to help the Industrial Hospital. "This is something we are going to be talking about in the future," he said.