Royals on tour: Princess Anne confirms plan to visit Australia

Queen Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, 71, is set to visit Australia in April as she represents her mother at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show.

The Princess will attend the Sydney Royal Easter Show as the guest of honour, with the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) of New South Wales issuing a statement revealing the intention of the Princess’s visit.

The Princess’s tour comes as the royal family kicks off a series of royal trips with The Duchess of Cambridge recently traveling to Denmark on a working visit with The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

In a statement to Nine Network, RAS revealed that the Princesses upcoming is “specifically coming to Australia in her role as Patron of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth”. Princess Anne will “open the 2022 Sydney Royal Easter Show, where we will celebrate our bicentenary”. The Queen had previously opened the show in 1988 where the society “celebrated the nation’s bicentenary”.

Agricultural efforts aren’t new to the hard-working Princess, who is well-known for her passion for animals and agricultural development.

In 1976, Princess Anne competed at the Olympic Games in a three-day equestrian contest, the first-ever British Royal to become an Olympian. She is currently the President of the British Olympic Association in addition to her royal agricultural duties. 

 

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To date, The Queen, who is currently recovering from Covid-19, is the only reigning monarch to have attended the Sydney Royal Easter Show making an appearance in 1970, accompanied by late husband, Prince Philip, son, Prince Charles, and daughter, Princess Anne. In 2014, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also attended the show.

Princess Anne attended the show again in 1988 where she opened the event. During her trip, she also visited the poultry and cat pavilions where she judged angora goats in a competition.

According to Express UK, this years visit for Anne “could also see her touring parts of rural and regional New South Wales, in a boost for farming towns who have experienced the hardships in recent years, particularly due to the pandemic.”

The Princess is known to frequently conduct official royal duties on behalf of the Queen and holds patronage in over 300 charitable organisations with a particular passion for sport, science and disability-related work.

In 1990, the Princess was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to the United Kingdom’s Save the Children Fund which focuses on providing better resources for children.

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is Australia’s largest annual ticketed event, reaping an average of more than 828,000 guests each year. Past shows have seen performances from mega music stars and bands including Silverchair, The Whitlams, Jimmy Barnes and James Morrison.

Detailed in their official website, RAS describes themselves as “a not-for-profit organisation committed to supporting agricultural development and rural communities in Australia” delivered “through competitions, education and events” that teach, engage and entertain the community whilst working to improve agricultural sustainability.

Princess Anne is currently 17th in line to the throne, with her brother, Prince Charles, first in line to become King of England when the Queen passes.