Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Australian itinerary revealed, and it doesn’t look too different from a royal tour
Updated ,first published
Their camp insists the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit to Australia this week is not an official royal tour.
It can’t be anyway. Prince Harry and the lightning rod, formerly Meghan Markle, resigned from their senior royal staff roles in 2020 and are not traveling to this key Commonwealth region on behalf of the British monarchy.
But aside from the lack of government-hosted events and public meet-and-greets, what’s listed on their itinerary doesn’t look all that different from their infamous 16-day trip to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in 2018.
Why are Harry and Meghan coming to Australia?
The couple’s private involvements, which support their broader business, philanthropic and social goals, are considered separate from their core programs, namely their public involvements. But this is not a promotional tour.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are focused on fostering organizations that create measurable impact, whether those organizations build on their long-standing relationship with Harry and Meghan or the work aligns with the couple’s priority areas.
Six-year-old Prince Archie and four-year-old Princess Lilibet are not traveling with Harry and Meghan.
What is Harry and Meghan’s schedule in Australia?
Harry and Meghan’s unofficial royal tour begins Tuesday in Melbourne with a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital and a meeting with veterans’ families at the Australian National Veterans Art Museum. Meghan will also visit a shelter for homeless women and victims of domestic violence.
On Wednesday, Harry will visit the Western Bulldogs headquarters in conjunction with Movember, then head to Canberra to visit the Australian War Memorial and First Nations veterans, and attend the Last Message Ceremony and the Invictus Australia reception.
Invictus Australia announced It plans to bid to host the Invictus Games in Australia in 2031, the international multi-sport competition for wounded, wounded and sick military personnel and veterans founded by Harry in 2014.
The nonprofit will work over the next 12 months to develop a comprehensive bid to host the event once again, an expensive endeavor in itself (in which the Coalition is involved). committed to $1.5 million if Peter Dutton wins the 2025 federal election).
The bid needs to demonstrate that the event would have broad national support, including funding, if held in Australia. Therefore, Invictus Australia is now inviting government and corporate stakeholders to join and show their support for the initiative; Harry can also help with this during his visit.
But when asked if Harry had greased the wheels, Invictus Australia managing director Michael Hartung insisted the reception would be packed with veterans and Invictus Games alumni, as well as corporate and government partners.
“[Harry’s] Our time in Australia will really be focused on talking a little bit about this global work, this global movement and the great work of Invictus Australia, as we stand up as a legacy from the 2018 Games,” Hartung told this imprint.
“Australia leads the world in terms of work beyond the Games at Invictus [Australia, as an organisation]. We’re the first country to have this program ongoing and certainly achieve this kind of scale in service. This is something we are proud of as Australians. And he’ll realize it.”
On Thursday the duke and duchess will undertake Melbourne’s Scar Tree Walk, from Aboriginal art installations along the Yarra River to the traditional Kulin Nations meeting place where Scar Trees are preserved, now the site of the Melbourne Cricket Ground. They will then visit the youth mental health program batyr before heading to the InterEdge summit.
As in 2018, Harry and Meghan will sail around Sydney Harbor on Friday before attending the Super Rugby match between the NSW Waratahs and Moana Pacifica at Allianz Stadium.
Although it wasn’t featured on the couple’s itinerary, we know IP Australia accepted Meghan’s application to trademark her As Ever lifestyle products in June.
of london Telegram Reporting of private meetings with potential buyers, partners and marketing managers is on the agenda.
What else is on Harry and Meghan’s Australia itinerary?
Harry and Meghan have been carrying out a series of private, business and charity engagements in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney this week.
The focus of their programs is support for veterans; Harry has been asked to attend events at the Australian War Memorial supporting Invictus Australia’s intention to host the Invictus Games in 2031.
But what caught the public’s eye were two ticketed events starring Harry and Meghan: the first is the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit, where Harry is scheduled to give a keynote speech in Melbourne on Thursday.
The event, presented by Lifeline Narrm, aims to address the increasing number of psychological injury and mental health issues in Australian workplaces.
Among the speakers was social psychologist Dr. Featuring Amy Cuddy. flaws podcast host Hugh van Cuylenburg and former professional tennis player turned mental health advocate Jelena Dokic.
Guests can pay $498 for the pleasure of attending sessions virtually; The lowest cost in-person ticket price is $997. Sales support Lifeline Narrm services in Victoria, including community education programs, crisis support and suicide prevention initiatives.
Meanwhile, Meghan is headlining a ‘girls weekend like no other’ in Sydney – Best LifeLuxury retreat at InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach from 17 April to 19 April.
Only 300 tickets were available at launch, starting at $2699 per person. This includes a question-and-answer session between the duchess and Gemma O’Neill, who founded the podcast with her best friend and former co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, as well as the gala dinner, which Meghan is expected to attend.
For an extra $500, guests can secure the VIP package and the Holy Grail (a “group table photo” with Meghan).
Are taxpayers funding Harry and Meghan’s trip to Australia?
Yes… and no.
Harry and Meghan’s team claimed the trip was privately funded. However, some of the police services provided to the couple will come out of the public’s pocket.
It will likely be something similar to Harry and Meghan’s private trip to Colombia in 2024, where they paid for their own flights, accommodation and general expenses. But Colombian taxpayers spent about $85,000 on in-country transportation and security. Read more here.
What did Harry and Meghan say about their 2018 Australia tour?
Seventy-six engagements were packed into Harry and Meghan’s 16-day tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in 2018, their first overseas royal tour as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The newlyweds announced Meghan’s pregnancy just hours after landing in Sydney on a rainy October day. Their subsequent rock-star receptions at each event became a catalyst for resignations from senior royal staff.
“They were really welcoming [of Meghan]. But after the Australian tour the situation really changed. After our tour of the South Pacific,” Harry told Oprah Winfrey, describing how the British royal family treated his wife during the couple’s explosive 2021 interview.
“It was also the first time the family saw how incredible he was at his job. It brought back memories.”
He was referring to Diana, Princess of Wales’s popularity with then-Prince Charles when they toured Australia in 1983. Winfrey prodded: “So you’re saying there were signs of jealousy?”
“I wish we could all learn from the past,” Harry replied.
“But to see how effortless it was for Meghan to be able to join the family and connect with people so quickly in Australia and New Zealand and Fiji and Tonga… You know, as we talked about, she’s been very welcomed into the family, not just by the family but by the whole world, certainly by the Commonwealth.
“You really have here one of the greatest assets for the Commonwealth that the family could ask for,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Meghan told Winfrey that when they returned from their tour of Australia, she realized the Sussexes were “not protected” by the Firm.
Including Harry and Meghan’s previous trip to Australia He is participating in the Invictus Games hosted by Sydney in 2018.
This time, there won’t be a screaming crowd watching them descend the Opera House steps. And although Governor-General Sam Mostyn will deliver a virtual welcome to those gathered at the summit in Melbourne in his capacity as patron of Lifeline Australia, he will not host Harry and Meghan at Sydney Admiralty Houses as per protocol for royal visits.
After all, the Sussexes are now ordinary citizens. That means Meghan, if you believe the tabloid gossip. apparently He couldn’t believe that his efforts in Australia almost a decade ago had not paid off, and he only wished: Their trip would largely take place behind a paywall.
What’s on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Australia itinerary?
- Tuesday: Visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne and the Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum. Additionally, Meghan visits a shelter for homeless women and victims of domestic violence.
- Wednesday: Harry heads to Western Bulldogs HQ for Movember, then heads to Canberra for a series of events including the Invictus Australia reception at the Australian War Memorial.
- Thursday: Harry and Meghan do the Wound Tree Walk in Melbourne and visit Batyr. Harry then gives a keynote at the InterEdge Summit, presented by Lifeline Narrm.
- Friday: They will sail around Sydney Harbor with Invictus Australia, after which the pair will attend the Moana Pacifica rugby match against the NSW Waratahs. That night, Best Life‘s retreat begins in Sydney.
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Bronte Gossling is a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, WAtoday and Brisbane Times.Connect via email.
