Francesca Packers Secret Engagement: Whats Behind It?

Billionaire heiress Francesca Packer has sent worried whispers rippling through high society as reports emerge she is now engaged to Robert Bates. 

The 31-year-old granddaughter of late media mogul Kerry Packer - as well as daughter of Gretel and English financier Nick Barham, and niece of - has been dating the controversial wellness CEO, 46, since 2022.

Now eastern suburbs chatter is intensifying about Bates' rocky business past, with some observers noting that, combined with Packer's history of being drawn to colourful characters, a potential marriage could be a recipe for heartbreak. 

Bates was last in a relationship with his former business partner Emma Gibson, but they split in early 2022, before he began seeing Packer.

The exes, who were together for five years, landed in the #36 spot on the Young Rich List in 2020, with a combined worth of $145million. 

But since then, Bates - a former student at the elite Cranbrook School where Packer's uncle was famously sent - has become a contentious figure following the failure of wellness start-ups Aquamamma and Aurum+.  

Aurum+ claimed to be a 'clinically-proven solution that treats and prevents mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression', while Aquamamma was a 'healthy hydration solution' for pregnant and breastfeeding women. 

Both companies have since closed down.

In 2023, reports emerged Bates was being chased by 'high net worth' investors who wanted to get back the millions they invested in the companies. 

Bates, who is also the founder of 7 Trinity Biotech, reportedly received a total of $15million from at least 15 different Australian investors for Aurum+ since 2016. 

Also in 2023, he made headlines for his attempt to buy Packer a diamond ring from a jewellery wholesale business owned by another controversial figure in Packer's life: Mark Judge.

Judge, the sort of man often described as a 'colourful identity', is a former Sydney bikie associate - and is counted among the socialite's circle of friends.

He even attended her star-studded 26th birthday in 2020.

Ever since his business setbacks started to make headlines in the financial press, Bates has slipped out of the spotlight - taking Packer with him, as the pair became increasingly private.