Princess Anne, one of the most popular members of the royal family, will touch down in Australia on Saturday for her first visit in two years.

The Princess Royal and her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, will be here for just four days before jetting off for Singapore on the second leg of their trip.

But – unsurprisingly for the woman commonly regarded as the “hardest-working royal” – they’ll pack in plenty while they’re here.

While Anne’s full itinerary is being kept under wraps, Buckingham Palace and the Australian Defence Department have confirmed some details.

It will be the princess’s 20th visit to Australia and the first royal tour since the King and Queen were here for four days in October 2024.

It also comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued an invitation to the Prince and Princess of Wales for their first visit in more than a decade. That trip is expected sometime in 2026 and may include William and Kate’s children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

The trip also comes after weeks of recent controversy for the royal family, with another sibling – Andrew – officially stripped of his titles of prince and Duke of York due to allegations arising from his friendship with sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Buckingham Palace will be no doubt hoping a return to more normal royal business will help to dim the spotlight on the man now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

Princess’s itinerary

Anne and her husband are expected to land in Melbourne on Saturday, before heading to Sydney on Sunday for engagements to mark Remembrance Day.

She will lay a wreath at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park, and another at the Sydney War Cemetery as president of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Anne, the only sister of the King, has been Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals since 1997. The RA Sigs is a group of soldiers who provide communications, electronic warfare and cyber capabilities to support military operations.

On Sunday, the princess will help the corps celebrate its centenary with a garden party and parade at Sydney’s Victoria Barracks. On Monday, she heads to Canberra for more events related to the military milestone.

The last day of the couple’s trip will be in Brisbane. Anne will lay a wreath at the Gallipoli Barracks to acknowledge Armistice Day at 7 Combat Signal Regiment Memorial.

The King and Queen in Canberra in 2024. Photo: AAP

‘Unsung hero’

The Princess Royal is often considered  the unsung hero of the royal family, and is renowned for her no-nonsense attitude and heavy workload.

She carried out 474 official engagements in 2024, more than any other royal.

The King completed 372, including his visit to Sydney and Canberra. However, 2024 also coincided with the monarch’s cancer diagnosis, and his treatment for the disease continues.

They were trailed by their youngest brother, Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, with 293 visits. His wife Sophie made 257.

Next came the Duke of Gloucester (216), the Queen (182), Prince William (166), the Duchess of Gloucester (98), the Duke of Kent (97) and the Princess of Wales (13).

For William and wife Kate, 2024 was also a difficult year with her own cancer diagnosis and treatment.

With the King partly sidelined in 2024, Anne stepped in at ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of crucial World War II battles.

On one day in February last year, she covered 655 kilometres across Britain in 11 hours for five official engagements, including two on behalf of the King.

From her 280-hectare Gatcombe Park home in Gloucestershire, Anne headed first to Windsor, then Nottingham and back to London via helicopter.

“After her trip to Windsor she was reportedly scheduled in for a 20-minute sandwich break. However, she did not eat it and instead flew straight up to Nottingham,” The Mirror newspaper wrote.

It followed the princess’s return to public duties after recuperating from minor head injuries that led her to spend five nights in hospital due to an injury believed to have been caused by a horse.