This week the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are visiting Australia. Initially I was told by their people that this was NOT a tour; rather a series of ‘private business meetings’, looking at ‘potential supply partners and chains’ for Meghan’s As Ever brand with ‘not much media’.
When I asked if Harry was even going to do anything (aside from a corporate speaking engagement at a mental health summit), we both joked that he could do some surfing or maybe something with Invictus. So imagine my surprise, when I was sent their four day public itinerary last week, to see it looked like a carbon copy of the royal tour playbook.
(Image credit: Photo by Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
And far from ‘not much media’, the couple are taking a reporter and photographer from the Press Association (which files to all national and international media) to provide ample coverage of their four days in three cities (Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney).
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Engagements such as visiting Canberra’s national war memorial complete with last post ceremony, a children’s hospital, a women’s refuge, sailing around Sydney harbour and watching a rugby match easily tick off a royal tour bingo full house.
I was with Harry and Meghan the last time they visited Australia – in 2018 when they were still working royals. But this time they’re combining money-making speaking engagements.
(Image credit: Photo by Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
So I do think it’s quite confusing for them to do these public visits (the Melbourne hospital is even called the Royal Children’s Hospital) as this is categorially not a royal tour as they are not representing the Royal Family, nor Australia’s monarch. I wondered why they’ve suddenly decided to do so many royal-type public engagements.
Is it in the quest for more (and frankly better than they’ve had recently) PR? Back in 2018 they travelled Down Under as working royals, having just announced that they were having their first child. On the surface it was a great trip.
Crowds came out in their thousands; Meghan baked banana bread for their hosts; they even brought much-needed rain to the Outback and I remember chatting to Aboriginal girls who told me a woman of Meghan’s colour was an inspiration to them all. But behind the scenes was a different story.
(Image credit: Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage via Getty)
Palace staff had been scrambled to try and cover the trip after relations had broken down with some senior courtiers. The staff that did come seemed stressed, over-worked and never entirely sure whether or where Meghan would turn up.
There were apocryphal stories of late arrivals for engagements due to the Duchess not being happy with her hair or wardrobe; of fallings-out with David Beckham and Harry refusing to be pictured with him at the Invictus Games (from memory this was never actually communicated to poor Becks so he was left to wonder what was up with Harry) and the initial rumblings that Harry had seriously fallen out with brother William.
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In fact, the tour can probably be summed up in the quite amazing line from Meghan (according to the author Valentine Low) that when she stepped out onto the Sydney Opera House steps and saw the cheering crowds, she quipped to an aide: ‘I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.’ Well…. Now she is.
(Image credit: James D. Morgan via Getty)
This weekend is a ‘Meet Meghan’ three day wellness event hosted by popular Aussie podcast Her Best Life at a Sydney hotel where the Duchess is the guest speaker (VIP tickets cost £1705 a head). This led one well-placed royal insider to acidly comment: ‘She’s basically Fergie now’ – a reference to the former Duchess of York’s insatiable chasing of money after she left the Royal Family.
It’s not known how much she’s being paid, although Aussie media suggest that her involvement is also to promote the new Soho House Sydney, set to open in the coming months. So I do think the Sussexes need to stick to their lane. If they want to make money, make private visits.
If they want splashy positive PR, visiting a royal hospital last visited by the then Prince and Princess of Wales, return as working royals. But they shouldn’t try to do both. Will the Aussies love them or loathe them? We’ll find out this week!
TOPICS
Prince Harry
Meghan Markle