Taylor Swift warms Aussie hearts posing for selfies at kids' hospital

Taylor Swift, America's highest-paid celebrity and longtime object of admiration and envy, stuck to her usual script during her current visit to Australia, stopping by a Brisbane children's hospital to thrill a clutch of sick kiddies by posing for selfies.

So what if she's $170 million richer in 2016, according to Forbes magazine? So what if she's been seen lately jetting round the world with her current snogging partner, British actor Tom Hiddleston? And so what if said romance has produced unprecedented online skepticism about Swift's rep for authenticity?

Taylor Swift is top-paid celebrity, says 'Forbes'

No matter, Swift did her Swiftian thing Tuesday at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in the capital city of Queensland, where the pop star and the movie star arrived Friday as delighted media photographers snapped pictures.

Hiddleston, 35, was believed to be reporting for duty on the set of his next Thor movie, which is shooting nearby. Swift, 26, was free to do what she liked and she likes thrilling her young fans.

She said nothing about it on social media, because that would be crass, but Children's Health Queensland tweeted a picture thanking her for her visit.

And the hospital's Instagram page posted pictures.

Soon, relatives of the kids she visited were tweeting similar pictures, while her fervent fans retweeted and praised her.

Naturally, the local papers noticed: "Pop superstar Taylor Swift has brought big smiles to the faces of sick children," reported The Brisbane Times.

"Taylor Swift makes dreams come true," shouted the headline in TheCourier Mail.

"It is said that laughter is the best kind of medicine and Taylor Swift provided plenty of it when she dropped in for a surprise visit at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. Never in their wildest dreams could youngsters at the Brisbane hospital have expected the singing superstar – named the world’s top-earning celebrity – to appear at their bedsides," The Courier Mail declared.

There was no doubt about Swift's sincerity at the hospital.