From a Mountainside in swaziland to the Royal Show: Meet Rabbit Judge Brian Platt

When international rabbit judge Brian Platt steps up to the judging table at the 2026 Royal Show, it will mark another chapter in a story that, remarkably, began in Southern Africa almost six decades ago.

Brian’s first experience of life in this part of the world came in 1968, when his father was posted to Swaziland by the British government. He attended Waterford Kamhlaba School, set on a mountainside outside Mbabane, and it was there that a seemingly ordinary childhood outing provided his first introduction to rabbits.

One day, Brian and a group of school friends walked down the mountainside to visit the family of one of the boys for tea. While being shown around the property, they came across something unusual on the lawn: a large rotating shed containing white meat rabbits.

The shed had been cleverly designed so that its open side could be turned away from the sun, keeping the rabbits cool and shaded.

Brian could hardly have known it at the time, but the encounter was the first small step towards a lifelong involvement with rabbits – one that would eventually take him to some of Britain’s most prestigious shows, around the world as an international judge, and back to South Africa and the Royal Show.

From one pet rabbit to the show bench

His serious involvement in the rabbit fancy began in Britain in 1977, shortly after he married.

His wife wanted another pet rabbit, and it had to be a Chinchilla. The couple eventually located two supposed “brothers” in London whose owners were prepared to part with one.

They returned home believing they had acquired two does.

One, as it turned out, was a buck.

It was an unconventional beginning, but it launched Brian on what became a remarkably successful journey in the rabbit fancy.

Brian and his wife began exhibiting Chinchillas, and it was not long before they were competing successfully at major shows. One of their early breakthroughs came at the London Championship Show, where they won the Under 5 Months Chinchilla class against an entry of 116 rabbits.

Their rabbit then went on to take Reserve to Best Adult from an overall entry of more than 200.

For Brian, it was confirmation that they were doing something right.

From exhibitor to international judge

Nearly 50 years later, the enthusiasm has remained.

Brian today serves on a number of specialist judging panels, including those of the National Chinchilla Rabbit Club, National Chinchilla Giganta Rabbit Club, British Mini Rex Club and Rare Varieties Rabbit Club.

He is also a member of the British Rabbit Council’s 3-Star panels for Fur and Rex – the highest judging qualification within those sections.

His judging career has taken him across the United Kingdom, including appointments at the London Championship Show and Bradford Championship Show, as well as major exhibitions throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

And increasingly, it has taken him well beyond Britain.

He has judged in Malta and has previously travelled to South Africa to officiate at the Gauteng Rabbit Club Show, the Cape Club Show in Stellenbosch, and the Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg, where his appointments included the inaugural Jerry Higham Memorial Show.

Choosing the Royal

Coming to South Africa this year has required Brian to change another significant judging commitment: the dates clash with the London Championship Show.

For someone whose early success as an exhibitor was achieved at that very show, it is no small diary change.

But there will, as Brian puts it, “always be next year”.

His international judging calendar continues soon afterwards. In January, he will judge half of the Rex section at the Bradford Small Livestock Society Championship Show, which he describes as the UK’s premier rabbit exhibition.

Before that, however, his attention turns to the rabbits and exhibitors he will meet in KwaZulu-Natal.

For Brian, judging is about more than placing animals in an order. It is an opportunity to meet fellow enthusiasts, appreciate the quality of the rabbits brought before him and share in the knowledge and passion that sustain the rabbit fancy from one generation to the next.

“It is a real privilege to be invited to judge, whether at home or overseas. I always enjoy meeting fellow exhibitors, seeing the quality of their rabbits, and sharing in the enthusiasm that makes our hobby so rewarding.”

For Royal Show visitors, the Rabbit Show offers an opportunity to see that world at close quarters – not simply the variety of rabbits on exhibition, but the expertise, breeding knowledge and tradition behind them.

And there is a pleasing symmetry to the man who will be assessing them.

A schoolboy first encounters rabbits on a mountainside in Southern Africa in 1968. They become a lifelong passion. He goes on to exhibit at the highest level, becomes one of Britain’s senior specialist judges, travels internationally – and, decades later, finds himself back in this part of the world, judging rabbits at one of South Africa’s oldest agricultural institutions.

We look forward to welcoming Brian Platt back to the Royal Show – and, this time, to a new chapter at Tweedie.