Princess Anne rides Staten Island ferry on surprise visit to New York

Sister of new monarch enjoys tourist staple after visiting National Lighthouse Museum to unveil figurine of Needles Lighthouse

Princess Anne took a ride on a quintessential New York tourist attraction and commuter staple - the Staten Island ferry that plies the harbor - during a visit to city this week, just under a month since the death of Queen Elizabeth, her mother and Britain's longest-reigning monarch.

Anne, now sister to the new monarch, King Charles III, was ushered to the ferry's pilothouse as the ship crossed the harbor on Tuesday, sailing towards the skyscrapers of Manhattan and some of the city's most well-known landmarks such as the Empire State Building and One World Trade, which replaced the twin towers of the World Trade Centre after they were destroyed in the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.