Harry and Meghan Markle’s extremely lowkey entrance into Australia as Sussexes throw off royal pomp for ‘everyday’ commercial flight

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s low-key arrival in Australia on Tuesday marked a stark departure from all the pomp we know from the traditional royal tour.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport shortly after 6.30am on Tuesday; This surprised other passengers on the same Qantas flight.

While the well-known couple enjoyed the luxury of a first class suite during their 16-day official royal tour to Australia in 2018, this time they chose business class seats on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Traditionally, royal tours begin with a photo op of the glamorous couple stepping off a plane, usually a Royal Australian Air Force or chartered Qantas plane.

This time the plane landed 10 minutes early and the couple sped away in a convoy of vehicles without stopping to pose for the assembled media.

This meant the TV networks waiting at the arrival gate to see the Sussexes were hugely disappointed.

Members of the couple’s security team were later seen discreetly exiting through a side door next to Qantas staff, seen exclusively by the Daily Mail.

Guards were seen pushing a cart filled with four suitcases, one of which was attached with a US flag sticker.

The Sussexes were seated in business class on a Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Their caregiver escorted their luggage to a private vehicle waiting outside the airport

It was rumored the pair could have arrived Down Under on a private jet, but perhaps wisely they opted for a commercial airline as ordinary Australians deal with fuel shortages, high prices and rising costs of living.

A standard business ticket on a direct Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne departing Tuesday night California time costs just over $10,000.

It comes as some of Meghan and Harry’s fellow passengers expressed shock that the former Royal family was on board.

“We only realized it was them when we got off the plane,” an American passenger told The Age.

Another described the couple as ‘beautiful people’ after a brief chat with them.

“I hope you have a good time in Melbourne and I’m sure you’ll enjoy Sydney,” I told reporters. ‘And we talked about their children and that they had been here for a few days.’

But not everyone was happy to see them.

“I don’t like her (Meghan) at all,” another passenger said. ‘Don’t come here. You don’t belong here in Australia. ‘We don’t want them here.’

A business ticket for the same flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne Qantas is just over $10,000

The Duke and Duchess are now safely ensconced in their luxury city center hotel as they prepare for a full-fledged program today, starting with a visit to the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital.

Meghan will then visit a women’s shelter alone and then visit veterans and their families at the Australian National Veterans Art Museum with Harry.

The couple’s children, six-year-old Prince Archie and four-year-old Princess Lilibet, did not join their parents on the privately funded visit, which will not include any outings to meet the public.

The Sussex couple will also attend the Invictus Australia event on Sydney Harbor on the tour, which the couple’s spokesman insists is ‘privately funded’.

Harry is also expected to make a short visit to Canberra without his wife.

Notably, the official four-day itinerary does not include Meghan attending the ‘Best Life’ retreat, held at the InterContinental Hotel on Sydney’s Coogee Beach from April 17-19.

According to a source, this suggests the Sussexes are keeping their ‘pseudo-royal’ dealings separate from Meghan’s latest business venture into the lifestyle world.

The 2018 royal tour cost Australian taxpayers just under $411,000, according to documents released by the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 2019.