Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially confirm Australia visit

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have confirmed they will visit Australia in the coming weeks, more than seven years after their royal tour.

A spokesman for the couple said they would ‘visit Australia in mid-April to participate in a range of private, business and charitable activities’.

‘Further details will be shared in due course.’

This comes just hours after reports suggested the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could visit Sydney and Melbourne next month.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Sussexes’ children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, will join them on the trip or stay in Montecito, California.

Although their plans have not yet been announced, it is likely that the couple will meet with the Australian armed forces or veterans’ community, given Harry’s connections to both.

However, it appears that Meghan may also enter Australia’s podcast scene, with reports that she will appear as a guest on ‘Her Best Life’ podcast, which is launched and co-hosted by Jackie O Henderson through her ‘Besties’ company.

The embattled radio star, who is currently in the news following the shocking collapse of the Kyle and Jackie O Show last week, ‘stepped away’ from the podcast in February.

The couple is expected to visit Sydney and Melbourne as part of their trip.

Meghan may appear on Jackie O’s podcast, which she started with friend Gemma O’Neill

Meghan is also rumored to appear as a special guest at an upcoming Besties event, similar to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who attended a Q&A with Henderson in Sydney’s Darling Harbor in 2023.

No events are currently advertised on the Besties website but followers are encouraged to ‘sign up to be the first to know’.

The Sussex couple last traveled to Australia in 2018 as working members of the British royal family.

Meghan had announced that she was pregnant with her and Harry’s first child, and the trip was considered a huge success for the newlyweds at the time.

Within 18 months of the tour, the couple had stepped back from their royal roles and moved to California with their son Archie.

Royal historian Tim Ewart told Sky News: ‘Australia broke Harry and Meghan and was one of the catalysts for their departure from the Royal Family. ‘She and Harry were hoping they would get even more praise and recognition from this royal tour.’

In the 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, Harry said: ‘After the Australian tour, after our South Pacific tour, everything really changed.

‘This was the first time the family had seen how incredible he was at work. This brought back memories.

‘To see how effortless it was for Meghan to be able to join the family and connect with people so quickly in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga.’