Prince Harry and Meghan Markle rejected criticism their visit was a publicity tour (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s “trash for cash” trip to Australia is “all for them” and is not a “pseudo” royal tour, commentators have claimed. Royal biographer Robert Jobson, news commentator Samara Gill and The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson all agreed the visit was arranged so the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could make money. Harry and Meghan have rejected such claims.
Matt kicked off talk of the trip in the same publication’s Royal Exclusive podcast. He began by apologising for previously describing the Sussexes’ jaunt Down Under as a “faux-royal trip” aimed at signalling to the Royal Family that they could make a success of it.
He asked this week’s guests if they agreed the tour was in fact a “money-making exercise”, pointing to charges made for some of the couple’s events and Meghan’s AI-firm fashion tie up.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited a children’s hospital during the four day trip (Image: Getty)
Samara said: “It’s pretty craven, isn’t it? When you think about the function of the Royal Family it’s to basically go on these trips to try and strengthen diplomatic ties, be a good look for Britain and bolster those relations.”
She claimed what Harry and Meghan were doing on the “pseudo-royal tour” was bolstering their own relations and lining their pockets.
The commentator told Royal Exclusive: “This is a trash for cash tour. I see it no other way and it’s so craven going to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne… posing for photos with children with cancer, going to homeless shelters with your $25,000 watches on and giving out frittatas to homeless women – all to bolster your own public image when we know Meghan has registered As Ever in Australia. She wants to sell those pots of jam over there.
“There is no diplomatic arc to this. It’s all for them.”
Matt said the events the couple attended – including the hospital visit and meeting veterans – resembled a royal tour, but there were “side hustles” going on.
Samara Gills says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s trip was ‘all for them’ (Image: Getty)
He told viewers: “She’s marketing As Ever. And she’s made an appearance on MasterChef, which obviously is going to tie into her Netflix show and all the cookery she does on As Ever.”
Robert reminded viewers of the late Queen insisting the Sussexes could not be half in and half out of the Royal Family.
The eventual arrangement allegedly reached at the so-called Sandringham summit where the Sussexes’ future was decided saw the couple step down entirely as senior working royals.
On his understanding of the late Queen’s thinking at that time, Robert said: “She saw what was going to happen and both she and [the then future King] Charles said, ‘No’.”
The Sussexes’ trip has been mired in controversy not only over its motives, but also whether Australian taxpayers have helped to pay for it.
Meghan Markle’s appearance on MasterChef ties in with her Netflix show, Matt Wilkinson says (Image: Getty) Stay up-to-date with the latest Royal news Join us on WhatsApp
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Robert agreed Harry and Meghan’s Australia trip showed they had got what they wanted from a “half in, half out” deal.
Harry and Meghan’s whirlwind, four day tour of Australia saw them take part in both charitable and commercial engagements.
Their office said the visit’s focus was on mental health, community resilience, support for veterans, as well as private meetings and “special projects”.
Meghan was interviewed on stage at a “girls’ weekend” retreat in Sydney, costing £1,400 per ticket. VIP tickets for the event at the five-star InterContinental Coogee Beach hotel cost £1,670 and include a group table photo with the Duchess.
Harry was a guest speaker at the InterEdge Summit which explores the “intersection of leadership, psychosocial safety and human connection in the workplace”. The Duke spoke movingly at that event about how he felt about royal duty after the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited Bondi Beach during their whistlestop tour (Image: Getty)
Delegate tickets for the summit, hosted at Melbourne’s Centrepiece conference venue, were available for £525, with platinum tickets costing £1,250 and a virtual ticket allowing on-demand access to Harry’s speech costing £260.
In Sydney, the Sussexes joined members of the Invictus Games community on the water in Sydney Harbour and met former competitors.
The visit concluded at a rugby fixture in Sydney between New South Wales Waratahs and Moana Pasifika at the Allianz Stadium on Friday.
Harry and Meghan rejected criticism that the visit was a publicity tour. Their office said: “The program is rooted in long-standing areas of work for the Duke and the Duchess, with a clear focus on amplifying organisations delivering measurable impact. The visit prioritises listening, learning and supporting communities rather than promotion.”
Their office said there were also “a small number of private engagements” to “support broader commercial, charitable and commercial objectives”.
Harry and Meghan described their visit as privately funded. They flew to Melbourne business class from Los Angeles on a commercial Qantas Airways flight.
But there have been public complaints about the added security costs for police agencies for the couple’s visits to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.