Private Sydney: Trouble in paradise for Mariah Carey and James Packer?

Packer and his great mate, film star Robert De Niro, have been embroiled in a political scandal over their intention to develop a $US250 million resort complex on Barbuda, with critics protesting over the generous 25-year tax holiday the pair have been granted by local authorities.

Construction has barely begun on the development to rejuvenate the old K Club resort, which judging by recent photos is anything but luxurious. With a clapped out swimming pool, the joint appears to have been abandoned for years.

Interestingly, Packer has also been missing from Mariah's Instagram feed, with no photos of her fiance uploaded for the past 11 weeks, which in the pop star's fast-paced world of constant selfies represents something of a drought.

Last week Carey made some pretty revealing comments to the UK press ahead of her European tour, telling The Sunday Times' Style magazine: "If I start talking about this relationship, people will interpret it in their own way, so I think it's safer for everyone involved to just not talk about the very personal aspects."

The week before, she told The New York Times Packer would not be appearing in her upcoming reality television series: "He's a legit businessman. It's not really his thing to be, like, traipsing all over Europe and hanging out with all my crew and dancers and singers."

The Royal Easter Show reigns supreme

It's that heady mix of horse poo, hay bales and chip-fryer grease traps, with an occasional waft of fairy floss and a steaming pluto pup or two, that first hits your nostrils as you ascend the escalators at Olympic Park train station that reminds you the Royal Easter Show is back in town.

Having spent three days deeply embedded at the show, PS has witnessed everything from the high drama of the cake judging (think pursed lips, tight perms, soggy sponges and cut-throat rivalry) to sipping bubbly in the regal President's Suite at the Royal Agricultural Society Council stand, a slice of Downtown Abbey-style pastoral privilege overlooking sideshow alley, all tweed jackets, Windsor knots, twins sets and mother's pearls under the imposing portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

It was from the RAS Council stand PS watched The Man From Snowy River show, an original production which debuted at the show back in 2004 and features 50 horses, 50 head of cattle, 35 brumbies, six liberty horses, five dogs and a few humans.

As the horses galloped around the ring, Jessica's Theme rang out on the loudspeakers and the council members sipped shiraz and compared notes on their prize bulls, milling down below was the lifeblood of the show: the thousands of punters who stream through the gates each day, from the country folk in huge Akubras to families from the 'burbs pushing prams laden with more show bags than children.

"I have always been a show tragic," declared foodie Lyndey Milan, the first female vice-president of the Royal Agricultural Society and PS's host in the council stand.

"This is what the people come for, they want to see these shows, get up close to the animals ... and they want to buy showbags and eat pluto pups ... that's the tradition."

And who could forget the travelling "carnies", some of whom look scarier than anything you'll find inside the Haunted House, which rather fittingly has Kyle Sandilands' massive head emblazoned all over it this year.

A far more appealing attraction was the cake displays. This year's lead judge of the cake competition was Barbara Reichart (pictured), a veteran of cake judging around Australia and one of the Country Women's Association's top baking experts. This year Reichart was joined by her sister in the judging duties, Rhonda Merchant, the pair donning their Madonna-style microphone headsets to appraise hundreds of sponges, jam rolls, lamingtons, shortbreads and every other imaginable baking delight.

And the ladies pulled no punches, offering deep sighs and the occasional "tisk tisk", swiftly moving from triumph to tribulation as they went through a ruthless process to "eliminate" cakes with dreaded "rack marks", burnt bottoms, soggy centres and sugar flecks. Holding the cakes high above their heads to check every facet of the entry, brutally squashing sponges to see if they bounced back and eventually tasting tiny slivers of a select few.

"We had one lady from Cowra who had been up since 2am baking and drove to Sydney to enter her cakes ... that is serious dedication. Personally, I have my cake tins made to order from a local metal fabricator ... I like sharp corners," Reichart told PS. "People take this very seriously and that's why winning a blue ribbon at The Royal is such a prestigious thing for a baker, I always stand by my decisions and I am often challenged afterwards."

And the drama continued when it came time to judge the banana cake division, with one of the repeat entrants Mark Schembri, admitting he had to turn his oven off 10 minutes early as his wife Sarah had gone into labour.

Schembri, who is also one of the vets looking after the hundreds of animals who come to Homebush each year, later joked to PS: "I was hoping Sarah would foal in the Farm Yard Nursery with the other baby animals ... with 50 vets on site, we're ready to go".

The couple welcomed little William to their family on the first day of the show, and while Schembri's banana cake was a non-starter, his sultana cake did make it as a finalist, though he lamented "but sadly no ribbon this year".

Better luck next year.

Cashed-up mega-celebs move in to Sydney

Sorry Nicole and Cate, there's a new league of mega celebrities calling Sydney home, not that you would probably recognise them on the street.

PS's sister column Title Deeds reports that the queen of Chinese "soft rock", Tian Zhen, has joined the well-heeled residents of Point Piper, snapping up the penthouse in the Kilmory estate for $11.65 million.

And who is Tian Zhen? Well, she cites "Tina Turner" as her musical inspiration and since the 1980s has sold millions of records and positioned herself as the Chinese "Queen of Soft Rock", though it has been some years since her last album was released, 2005's 38.5 degrees C.

Indeed Tian once complained to the Shanghai Star that her career was being stymied by that most Chinese of traditions - the lookalike knock-off.

"In the past my songs and albums were pirated, but now even I, myself, am pirated!"

Apparently a Tian lookalike earned more than 50,000 renminbi ($10,100) in admission fees from more than 2000 fans at a concert.

A little closer to the city another Chinese megastar, actor Liu Xiaoqing, splashed $8.9 million late last year for The Residences sub-penthouse of Alwyn Heong, overlooking the city and Hyde Park.

Liu, who has starred in more than 30 films, was once named the second most beautiful woman in the world. Now aged 60, she has endured relentless commentary across China about her miraculously youthful appearance, although she has long denied having undergone any cosmetic procedures.

"I have wrinkles too," she told one press conference dedicated to the subject. At the time she was playing a 16-year-old Chinese princess despite being 58.

Welcome to Sydney, ladies.

"Princess Mary moment" delayed

It looks as though Channel Seven weatherman and network hunk James Tobin will have to wait for his "Princess Mary moment" with word from London that his latest girlfriend, Lady Kitty Spencer, the niece of the late Princess Diana, has got another new man in her life.

According to the venerable pages of Hello! magazine, Lady Kitty has been getting cosy with Italian money bags, Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro. No word on how Tobin, who managed to spend some quality time with Lady Kitty after meeting her at the Melbourne Cup carnival last year and going to a mutual friend's wedding in South Africa as her date, is taking the news.

Blackballed? Sail on, says bell

Sydney's first, and likely last, celebrity accountant Anthony Bell certainly knows a thing or two about loyal friends. He even named his Sydney to Hobart supermaxi Loyal in honour of the tight bonds he has forged with everyone from cricketer Michael Clarke to Mr Showbiz himself, Larry Emdur.

And PS had no shortage of Bell's loyal pals on the phone this week after rumours circulated that Bell had been "blackballed" from a certain posh sailing club.

"Not true, he never bothered proceeding with it," said one of Sydney's biggest stockbrokers and member of the club who originally approached Bell about joining.

Bell informed PS he is a member of several other sailing clubs nearby, putting the rumour down to one of many being peddled by his "detractors".

Turandot falters at "cheese platter"

The opening night of Handa Opera's Turandot was a great success with a horde of VIPs trotting down the red carpet and enjoying the on stage spectacle. Sadly the same can not be said for the interval.

The evening hit a low note as queues formed around various bars and commentary started on how much punters were being asked to shell out for a few "Spicy Chinese Nuts" ($8) and a tepid plastic thimble of Tyrells wine, which at $14 seemed a little steep.

But not quite as hefty as the $18 being charged for a couple of wafer thin slithers of cheese, stale crackers and dried fruit being trumpeted rather grandiosely as a "cheese platter".

Bachelor sends in drone clones

With paparazzi drones being shot at in the middle of the night above their heads, this year's contestants on Channel Ten's The Bachelor have certainly been enduring one of the more memorable productions of the series up in leafy Glenorie.

To combat those pap pests, the show's producers have decided to fight fire with fire, teaming up with another local paparazzo to mock-up fake paparazzi photos to give to media outlets, lest those same outlets pay for the unauthorised ones taken from drones high above. Good luck with that one.