Prince Harry and Meghan arrive in Australia to a muted welcome
By Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY, April 14 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in Australia on Tuesday for a four-day visit covering sports, mental health and veterans affairs.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex began their tour at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, where they attended an event in the hospital’s therapeutic garden areas.
“It was a truly meaningful visit for our staff and the young people receiving our care,” said Dr Peter Steer, the hospital’s chief executive.
Harry, wearing a navy blue suit and white shirt, chatted to children and posed for photos with patients in the hospital foyer and described one of the handmade banners welcoming the couple as “beautiful”.
Meghan, wearing a navy blue dress costing A$1,250 ($885) by Sydney-based designer Karen Gee, later helped serve meals at a domestic violence shelter for women in the city.
The Sussexes resigned as working members of the British royal family and moved to the United States in 2020, citing a desire to become financially independent and escape what they described as media intrusion into their private lives.
They last visited Australia in 2018, when they were still working in the royal family and announced Meghan’s first pregnancy after arriving in Sydney.
MEGHAN WILL LEAD THE WELLNESS RETREAT
His recent visits have attracted public attention in Australia, where Britain’s King Charles is head of state, but a large minority supports becoming a republic.
But there was little sign of the enthusiastic welcome that greeted them on the 2018 trip. Television networks broadcast footage showing the couple, who arrived in Melbourne on a commercial flight from Los Angeles, being picked up from the tarmac by a convoy of vehicles.
The couple’s trip is being privately funded, but local media reported that some police costs associated with the visit would be paid by Australian taxpayers, prompting a protest petition signed by more than 45,000 people.
The couple will travel to the capital Canberra to meet military veterans on Wednesday, attend a mental health summit in Melbourne on Thursday, and wrap up the joint leg of their trip with sailing and rugby events in Sydney on Friday.
Unlike their previous visits, the Sussexes will also engage in business activities while in Australia, with Meghan staying in the country to host a wellness retreat at a luxury beachfront hotel in Sydney over the weekend.
Tickets for the event, which includes yoga, performance and sound healing, start from A$2,699 ($1,912) per person.
($1 = 1.4114 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry and Thomas Derpinghaus)
