Next Australian royal tour confirmed – and it’s in just a matter of weeks

One year on from the King and Queen’s Australian tour, another senior royal is heading Down Under.

It’s been confirmed that Princess Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, will travel to New South Wales and Queensland between Saturday, November 8 and Tuesday, November 11.

“The Princess Royal will be visiting Australia in her role as Colonel-in-Chief to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RA Sigs), with the visit marking 100 years since the formation of the Corps,” a statement from the Australian Government Defence said.

The Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RA Sigs) is a team of soldiers who are technical specialists that provide communications, electronic warfare and cyber capabilities to support military operations.

The Princess Royal last visited Australia in April 2022, during the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, to open the Royal Easter Show.

It comes just days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hinted that the Prince and Princess of Wales could also be heading Down Under in the not-too-distant future.

Following his 90-minute official meeting with the King in Balmoral over late last month, Mr Albanese revealed to journalists that he was “hopeful” Prince William and Catherine would visit in the “coming period” as there was a “standing invitation”.

Asked directly about whether there were plans for the couple to tour Australia, Mr Albanese said: “I’m certainly hoping there will be one, there’s a standing invitation that the royal family are always welcome in Australia.

“It was wonderful to welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla to Australia recently, that had a very successful visit and His Majesty is very engaged and I hope that the Prince and Princess of Wales are able to visit as well and we are hopeful that might occur in the coming period.”

William and Kate last visited in 2014 with their eldest son George, now 12, who was nine months old at the time.