‘Gingers rule!’: Prince Harry can’t hide his excitement after he notices young fan with fiery red hair during Melbourne hospital visit

Prince Harry with a young fan in Australia telling the boy ‘Redheads rule!’ Then he shared a sweet post when he noticed her fiery red hair.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Melbourne early Tuesday for a four-day semi-royal tour on a Qantas business class flight from Los Angeles, leaving their six-day-old children Archie and four-year-old Lilibet at their home in California.

After a brief stop at the city center hotel, they arrived at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital at high noon, where they were greeted by a large crowd of well-wishers.

Looking typically chic in a £920 ($1,250) navy blue dress by Australian designer Karen Gee, the 44-year-old Duchess was seen chatting to young cancer patients who gave her flowers and asked for selfies.

And when Prince Harry spotted a red-haired friend in the crowd, he couldn’t contain his excitement and stopped to greet her with a handshake.

‘Yes!’ the Duke, 41, shouted after spotting the black T-shirt-wearing royal admirer in the middle of a crowd in the hospital foyer. ‘The gingers rule!’

Meanwhile, one of the hospital patients said he gave Harry ‘some flowers’ and told ABC News that he and Meghan ‘wish me good luck on my journey and hope I continue to be brave’.

They then toured the wards to do some bedside visits, and Meghan took part in a therapy program with teenage patients with acute and chronic health problems on the first day of the royal tour Down Under.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down in Melbourne early Tuesday for a four-day semi-royal tour that began with a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

Meghan told well-wishers to ‘call me Meg’ as she joined Prince Harry to visit the Australian National Veterans Art Museum, her final stop on day one of her controversial so-called royal tour.

When they arrived, Australia’s first veterans’ poet Steve Cotterill asked them: ‘How would you like me to address you?’

Harry smiled, shrugged, and said, “Whatever you say,” then his wife: “Are you going to call me Meg?”

The couple set off from Los Angeles early Tuesday and their itinerary this week will include charity and business events in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.

It’s unknown how much Prince Harry and Meghan got paid for their commercial appearances, but the Duchess’ fee for a girls’ weekend beach vacation was apparently around $250,000. The hotel event is sold out, although the Daily Mail can reveal.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been accused of using Australia ‘like an ATM’ on their semi-royal tour, which some Down Under insist is all about ‘making money’ and ‘self-promotion’.

Amid a row over how their security is paid, Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said: ‘Victoria Police are there to ensure the safety and security of Victorians. Therefore, any suggestion that officers would be suspended to provide security and protection for Harry and Meghan’s visit is completely unacceptable.’

Libertarian MP David Limbrick said: ‘If people want to spend thousands of dollars on former royals that’s fine. But Victorian taxpayers must not fall into the trap of keeping millionaires safe.’

The 44-year-old Duchess, who looked typically chic in a £920 ($1,250) navy blue dress by Australian designer Karen Gee, was accompanied by a young child during a hospital visit

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were greeted by a large crowd of well-wishers

Australian business leader Hilary Fordwich has revealed that ‘hypocrites Harry and Ben-again Meghan are using their royal connections to ‘make money’ for themselves.

He told Sky News that although the couple claimed the visit was ‘private’, he believed it was ‘to finance his 16-bedroom house in Montecito’.

When they arrived Harry was asked if he had a message for Australia and he said: ‘It’s great. It’s great to be back. Thank you for bringing us back.’

But it seems not everyone is happy to see them for the first time since 2018, when they arrived in the country for an official nine-day royal tour immediately following their wedding.

Andrew Bridge said today: ‘I had no idea they were coming. They are very interested in promoting themselves. They’ll probably be my least favorite royals, let’s just put it that way. ‘They need to do more for the public and end this fight with their families, which is getting pretty boring to be honest’.

The four-day trip will also see Harry and Meghan attend an Invictus Australia event in Sydney, before Meghan stars at her ‘Best Life’ retreat at nearby Coogee Beach.

Weekend tickets cost up to AU$3,199 (£1,400) and include the chance to have your photo taken with the Duchess and ask her questions at a gala dinner at a five-star hotel. Meghan’s fee has been described as ‘fat’ and is apparently around $250,000.

Harry is the star speaker at the InterEdge Summit in Melbourne on Thursday; tickets here range from £525 to £1,250, with a ‘virtual ticket’ for Harry’s speech costing just £260.

The couple insist their 2026 trip is ‘privately funded’ but there is some unease as Australian taxpayers foot the bill for some of the police security. Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition demanding the Sussexes cover all their expenses.

One critic accused them of treating Australia ‘like an ATM’ because the country had ‘treated them well’ while they were working with the royal family.

Harry and Meghan’s last visit to Australia was almost a decade ago, when they were newlyweds.