Princess Anne to open Sydney Royal Easter Show amid Royal PR push

The Sydney Royal Easter Show will be opened by an actual royal for the first time in 34 years, but some suspect the timing is no accident for the beleaguered family.

Princess Anne will head Down Under to officially open the Sydney Royal Easter Show as her beleaguered family reaches out to the world in what an expert suggests is an attempt to varnish their reputation now Prince Andrew has settled his sex abuse case.

Hours after the palace ­announced Anne’s Australian trip, royal watchers were also treated to stunning photos of the Duchess of Cambridge with Australian-born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark on a trip to Copenhagen.

Princess Anne’s duties in Sydney are no accident, a marketing expert claims. Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

This year will be the first time in 34 years a royal has opened the Easter Show.

Some believe the trip Down Under had been planned for months but marketing expert Toby Ralph said its timing could still work to “counter the offensive lack of charm many suspect Prince Andrew has demonstrated.”

“Like any major multi­national, the Royal brand needs to protect its image, so it hires in-house spin doctors to do just that,” Mr Ralph told The Daily Telegraph.

“Recently they’ve embarked on an overt charm ­offensive.

“With the Queen laid low with Covid-19, Andrew laid low by allegations of dalliances with a sex-trafficked 17-year-old and Harry and Meghan riding the US publicity tiger, it’s a wobbly time for brand Windsor.

“There is unquestionably a plan in play to fix this.” Mr Ralph said. The monarchs will be relying on the “royals the punters love – the Queen, William and Catherine”.

“They’ll be doing the heavy lifting of brand repair, breaking out the diamond hats, jumping in coaches and smiling in magazine-worthy frocks at kindergartens.”

“The next rung down is Charles and Anne,” he said.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Princess Anne are among the beloved royals hoped to repair the monarchy’s ‘brand damage’. Picture: Kirsty O'Connor / POOL / AFP

However, Australian royal expert Giselle Bastin sug­gested the visit was in line with traditional royal duties.

“These things aren’t cobbled together to act as distractions to other events in the royal family’s lives: they simply take so much planning,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

“I would imagine that this visit has been in the planning for quite some time. Royal visits are never quickly arr­anged to deflect attention from something else.”

Chief executive of the Royal Agriculture Society Brock Gilmore said “it’s an absolute honour” to have Her Royal Highness opening the show on April 19.

“This is not something that has happened overnight, we first contacted government House about five years ago, requesting them to see if a royal could open the show for our bicentennial,” Mr ­Gilmour told The Daily ­Telegraph.