Princess Anne confirmed to visit Australia for the iconic Sydney Royal Easter Show in April

Princess Anne will visit Australia in the coming weeks representing her mother, the Queen.

The Princess Royal will be the guest of honour at the Sydney Royal Easter Show in April, a fitting engagement for the agriculture-loving 71-year-old.

In a statement to 9Honey confirming Princess Anne's visit, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW said the royal is "specifically coming to Australia in her role as Patron of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth".

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Her Royal Highness will "open the 2022 Sydney Royal Easter Show where we celebrate our Bicentenary".

"HRH also opened the 1988 Sydney Royal Show where we celebrated the nations bicentenary," the statement added.

Her visit could also take in parts of rural and regional New South Wales, in a boost for farming towns doing it tough in recent years.

The annual Easter Show is hosted by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW and brings regional communities together to showcase the best produce, livestock, crafts and skills.

It returned last year after being cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first time the show had been scrapped because of a public health emergency since the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1919.

But organisers staged a triumphant return in 2021 with 700,000 people gathering without a COVID-19 outbreak.

Princess Anne's visit will coincide with her role as president of the Royal Agricultural Society and patron across the Commonwealth.

She took over from her father Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, who served as the society's president for more than 50 years.

Representatives from Buckingham Palace are now in Sydney having arrived on Monday when international borders reopened, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

They are said to be looking into suitable locations for Princess Anne to visit and finalising an itinerary. The Easter Show runs from April 8-19 this year.

The royal tour isn't expected to begin earlier than March 29 with a memorial service for Prince Philip to be held at Westminster Abbey on that date, with Princess Anne due to attend alongside other members of the royal family.

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Rumours of Princess Anne's Australian tour first emerged in September last year. Her last visit came in 2006.

The Easter Show has a long history of welcoming members of the royal family.

The first royals to attend were the Duke and Duchess of York in 1927 (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth).

Queen Elizabeth II became the first reigning monarch to visit the show in 1970, accompanied by Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

During that visit Prince Charles rode a horse while at the show.

Princess Anne, in her role as president, attended the show twice in 1988 - officially opening the event before returning the next day to visit the poultry and cat pavillions, as well as judging a goat competition.

Most recently, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the Easter Show in 2014.

Although Prince George joined his parents on their tour of Australia, the little royal did not make an appearance at the show.

Instead, Prince William and Kate dropped in to the Woolworths Fresh Food Dome, where they paused to look at the iconic District Exhibits.

They then visited the Arts and Crafts Pavilion to view the exhibits and officially open the new 10,000 square-metre exhibition hall.

Prince William and Kate's final stop was to the Sheep and Wool Pavilion where the duchess paused for a joke at her husband's expense, suggesting he could use Alpaca wool to conceal his thinning hair.