'The questions no one dare ask Princess Anne during her whirlwind Australian tour'

ANALYSIS – – It takes a brave royal to face the cameras and public when one of the biggest scandals in the monarchy's modern history is taking place on the sidelines.

But that's exactly what Princess Anne is doing across her four-day visit to Australia before she and her husband Sir Tim Laurence continue onto Singapore later this week.

The Princess Royal, best known for her no-nonsense approach and dedication to public service, arrived in Sydney on Saturday and made her first public appearance yesterday at the city's Hyde Park Memorial.

Her visit is very much military-focused: the 75-year-old is here in her role as Colonel-in-Chief to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RA Sigs), which she has held for 48 years.

This year marks 100 years since the formation of the Corps.

The first stop on the brief itinerary was to lay a wreath at the Anzac Memorial and attend a service ahead of Remembrance Day.

At the same time in the UK, her brother King Charles led senior members of the royal family, including the Princess of Wales and Prince George, at the Festival of Remembrance.

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Princess Anne's afternoon events on Sunday included a garden party and parade at Victoria Barracks where she wore the Australian Army uniform for the first time.

Both events included brief encounters with members of the public and media but there was one topic no-one dare bring up: Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The spectacular downfall of the former prince has been a long-time coming and a fortnight ago King Charles did what the late Queen Elizabeth II could not, or would not, do: he formally stripped his disgraced brother of all his titles and most military honours and booted him from Royal Lodge.

The Andrew scandal has barely left global news headlines since the saga was propelled back into the spotlight last month when it was revealed he'd lied to the public by claiming he'd cut off contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, when he'd actually kept in touch with him for much longer.

There was no way his formidable elder sister Anne would be able to visit Australia without the issue of Andrew being brought up in the commentary surrounding her tour.

Prince William, too, was on the global stage last week in Brazil for his Earthshot Prize Awards and the Cop30 climate conference, which he was at on behalf of the King.

The series of engagements were the Prince of Wales' first since his uncle was very publicly reprimanded by the monarch.

He gave a very cautious response when asked by journalist Christiane Amanpour about how there had been "a lot of change in your own family recently".

Rather than publicly acknowledging the scandal, William replied with an answer that kept the topic firmly on his reasons for being in South America.

Much like Prince William, his aunty Princess Anne has ignored the negative headlines about Andrew, and by association the royal family, and carried on with business as usual.

Because that is what being a royal is all about: duty first above all else, even if other issues have the potential to overshadow their work.

Princess Anne has two days left on her Australian tour and there are questions no one dare ask, even though we all want to know the answers: what does she really think of her problematic brother? Were the King's decisions welcomed by other family members? Should action have been taken years ago?

There is a chance she will be asked about the Andrew problem by a rouge member of the public, or journalist keen on a reaction.

But Anne will give nothing back.

The King may have hoped his tough and swift action would have slowed down some of the discussion around Andrew but on Friday morning Australian time, members of US Congress requested he testify over his connections to Epstein saying it was "time for him to come forward".

Princess Anne was hours away from touching down in Australia, with royal aides no doubt hoping her visit, and William's time in Brazil, would come as a welcome distraction after what has been a difficult few weeks for the family as a whole.

Overnight, the King and Queen led the nation in commemorating both world wars and other conflicts involving British and Commonwealth forces on Remembrance Sunday.

The solemn ceremony was held at Whitehall in London with the National Service of Remembrance being the most significant on the royal family's calendar.

Andrew's last appearance on Remembrance Sunday was in November 2019, just days before his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview which led to him stepping back from public life.

Princess Anne will represent the King and the royal family when she lays a wreath on Remembrance Day on Tuesday, in Brisbane.

She will be in Melbourne today, before heading to Canberra.

The Princess Royal has long been praised as the royal family's hardest-working and she's showing no signs of slowing down.

Despite the turbulent times facing the House of Windsor, Princess Anne is ignoring the noise and living up to her reputation.

And we Australians would expect nothing less of her.

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