The visit will take place at the invitation of British Ambassador to Slovenia Andrew Page and will be the first to Slovenia by the Earl of Wessex, who is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II.

He and the Countess of Essex Sophie will take part in a number of events aimed at promoting British innovation and business cooperation with Slovenia as part of the Great British Day project organised by the British Embassy in Ljubljana.

The three day festival running from Wednesday to Friday will focus on promoting British culture and values, while also being an opportunity to advance business ties, the British Embassy has said in a press release.

The Earl and Countess are scheduled to attend a reception for competitors taking part in the Rolls-Royce Alpine Trial centenary celebration rally, dedicated to remembering the success of Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost cars in the 1913 Alpine Trial race.

Organised by the 20-Ghost Club, the rally features a 3,000 km route passing through Austria, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. Nearly 50 cars, including a car participating in the 1913 race, set off from Vienna on 14 June.

Prince Edward is also scheduled to deliver a keynote address at a business breakfast dedicated to young entrepreneurs organised by the British-Slovenian Business Chamber in association with the embassy.

The event will be a prelude to the debate on one of the topics of this year's Young Bled Strategic Forum, "Doing Business: New Tools and New Rules", which is scheduled to start on Thursday.

The Countess of Wessex will meanwhile visit the Soča Rehabilitation Institute for a presentation of wheelchair basketball and meeting with young people who are provided rehabilitation at Slovenia's main rehabilitation centre. She is then scheduled to travel to the town of Kamnik to take part in a presentation of therapeutic riding.

Prince Edward and President Borut Pahor are scheduled to confer distinctions to participants of the MEPI youth achievement promotion programme which is organised in Slovenia as part of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award programme for young people.

The royal couple are also scheduled to meet the participants of a workshop on sustainable fashion design that has been organised in cooperation with the London College of Fashion.

As part of their stay in Ljubljana, Prince Edward and Countess Sophie are expected to be received by PM Alenka Bratušek and meet Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković. They are also scheduled to visit the British International School and take part in birthday celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II.

The visit will be the first by the prince and countess to Slovenia. Prince Edward is the only child of Queen Elizabeth II who has not yet visited Slovenia.

The Queen and Prince Philip visited Slovenia in 2008, a year after Prince Andrew paid a visit. Princess Anne was in Slovenia in 1996, while Prince Charles paid a visit in 1998.