Royal watchers gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Sunday as Princess Anne made a solemn appearance at the Anzac Memorial to honour Australia’s fallen servicemen and women. A few hundred well-wishers lined the barricades, hoping for a glimpse of the Princess Royal, who arrived at the Hall of Remembrance for a special commemorative service. Dressed elegantly in a cream jacket and black skirt, with her hair in her signature neat bun, Her Royal Highness was warmly greeted by dignitaries including Governor-General Sam Mostyn, NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, and Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, alongside senior veterans. The service marked an early Remembrance Day observance, ahead of the official commemoration on Tuesday.
Later in the day, Her Royal Highness attended the Centenary Parade at Victoria Barracks, where she delivered a heartfelt address marking 100 years of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel-in-Chief.
During her Australian visit, the Princess Royal will travel to Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane to continue engagements honouring Australia’s military heritage and the Corps’ centenary.
On Saturday, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy met with Governor-General Sam Mostyn and her husband Simeon Beckett AC at Admiralty House in Sydney. On arrival, Cammeraygal elder Brendan Kerin gave a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony in honour of their visit.
The full itinerary of the royal couple has not been revealed yet, but according to information released by Buckingham Palace, the Princess will attend a series of military engagements in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane during the four-day visit to commemorate the centenary.
Princess Anne has visited Australia several times over the years, first visiting in 1970 with her mother, Queen Elizabeth II. In 2022 she visited Sydney to open the Royal Easter show and paid tribute to Rural Fire service volunteers. She also visited Queensland in 2014 for an agricultural conference.
Princess Anne will travel to Singapore for the final two days of the trip to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and the Asian country, at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The Princess is expected to meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during her time in Singapore. She will also visit Kranji War Memorial and the Airbus Asia Training Centre and Rolls-Royce's Seletar campus.
The Princess Royal is the latest member of the royal family to travel Down Under after the King and Queen's nine-day tour of Australia.