Ben Lowry: There was plenty of sunshine at the Balmoral Show, but once again no royal visitor - a reflection of the depleted number of working members of the family

The then Prince Charles at the Balmoral Show at the King's Hall in south Belfast in 2010, where he met The Ulster Bank Charity Cash Cow, which was raising funds for Rural Support. ©Russell Pritchard / Presseye

(Click here to read Ben Lowry’s main column on Michelle O’Neill’s four-year-late apology over the IRA funeral)

​The weather was pleasant each day, and at times as good as can be in Northern Ireland – sunny and warm, during these long days of May. This afternoon is forecast to be one of uninterrupted sunshine at the increasingly popular new Maze site.

During the show, I was at a reception on Thursday evening which was addressed by the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society president John Henning, who said that he had first attended the show as a boy in 1967, when he recalls Princess Margaret being the guest.

I believe (but cannot confirm) that that was the 100th show (it was founded in 1855 but was cancelled some years for reasons such as war).

One thing that I have been sad to note is the lack of a royal visitor this year, or last, or the year before, 2022. Such visits have been a feature of the show going back more than a century. In 1903 King Edward VII, in 1949 the then Princess Elizabeth, in 2002 she returned as Queen, in 2010 Prince Charles, and after that almost annual visits from royals including Prince Edward and Princess Anne until Covid.

Now there aren’t enough working royals. The family is down the late Queen, Prince Philip, Andrew, Harry, and William and Kate are temporarily out of action due to her illness, as well as Charles on reduced duties for the same reason.

• Ben Lowry (@BenLowry2) is News Letter editor