Francesca Packer Barham is carving her own path: ‘I’ll find different shoes’

THE 21-year-old eldest grandchild of the late Kerry Packer graces the latest issue of Vogue and opened up about living up to her famous family’s name.

Francesca Packer Barham, the eldest granddaughter of Kerry Packer, for Vogue Australia.

FRANCESCA Packer Barham graces the December issue of Vogue Australia and gets real about living up to her family’s famous name, saying she realises she has “big shoes to fill”.

The 21-year-old niece of James Packer and eldest grandchild of the late Kerry Packer credited her mother, Gretel, with helping her to forge her own path.

“I’m never going to fit them, because they’re not my shoes,” she tells the magazine.

“I’ll find different shoes. It’s not about being better than the last generation in any way, or being better than anyone else on the planet, it’s about being the best you that you can be. And I think my mum really emphasised that and she kept us almost secure and safe and away from that pressure.”

Francesca described her mum, the only sibling of billionaire James Packer and ex-wife of her father, Nicholas Barham, as “absolutely incredible, one of the most amazing women on the planet”.

She was also full of praise for her grandmother Roslyn, the matriarch of the Packer family: “If I am like her, then I’ve done something right. The three of us are so close, I hope I have a daughter one day so that I can feel something like that, because what we have is incredible.

“We love doing things together. I don’t have sisters but I kind of feel like I don’t need them, because I’ve got my mum and I’ve my grandma.”

Francesca Packer Barham appears in the December issue of Vogue Australia.

The normally private member of the Packer dynasty was also opened about her relationship with her media magnate grandfather, who passed away on Boxing Day in 2005, saying he was incredibly precious to her.

“My grandad, I know him as the guy I used to bake cupcakes with. I’d go over on Saturday afternoon and I’d bake cupcakes, and we’d put pink icing on them and would eat them together and sit and play cards,” she said.

“Everyone’s got a story about him and they’re all either amazing or horrific but you know, love him or hate him, you have an opinion.”

Francesca joked that she believes the ghost of Kerry Packer is haunting her house — and her television set.

“It’s always on the cricket when I turn it on. It’s a funny thing when you lose someone very close to you. You lose them but you don’t.

“Every time I go to the polo I think of him. At the end of the day that’s the circle of life, people are on this earth for a given amount of time and they’re on this earth to hopefully leave it a better place. And I think he did. I’m immensely proud to be his granddaughter.”

On turning 21 and embracing a higher profile in society in recent years, the confident and bubbly brunette says she’s learned a lot already.

“It’s exciting. I’ve been really lucky and it’s really sort of incredible. I’ve had a lot of amazing experiences already, so I suppose looking back on it, thanking my lucky stars and hoping it keeps going that way.”

The Sydney University student, who is recently single after splitting from her 32-year-old rocker boyfriend Joshua Mullane after six months together, added: “I think I’ve learned a lot in the last 21 years and I hope I keep learning and keep growing.

“I think, the whole time growing up in my family, [learning from] my mum and my grandma, it’s been a really big part of growing up and becoming responsible. And responsible doesn’t mean for yourself — it means for yourself and for the people you care about, and for the community you live in, and for everyone else on the planet.

“And it’s exciting, growing up and becoming even more aware of that and seeing more of what can be done in the world, what needs to be done and hopefully what I can do.”

Vogue’s December issue goes on sale Monday 23 November.

Cate Blanchett on the cover of Vogue Australia’s December issue.