If you want to travel the world without being hauled over the coals for your carbon footprint, follow Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and embark on a faux-royal tour. Next month Meghan, 44, and Harry, 41, are following up their widely-criticised fake royal tour to Jordan with another long-haul flight from California, this time Down Under.
In April the Sussexes hope to recreate the magic of their 16-day tour to Australia in October 2018 when the newly married couple rode a wave of joy and goodwill, boosted by Meghan announcing she was pregnant. Deemed a ‘royal tour,’ the Sussexes visited Bondi Beach, took a boat ride on Sydney Harbour and Prince Harry climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge with then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
But two years later Megxit saw the couple step down as working royals and move to the US, before launching a series of money-spinning books and TV shows where they ripped into the Royal Family and spilled Windsor secrets.
Now royal experts have warned that if Harry and Meghan think love and goodwill are there for them this time, they could be sorely mistaken.
The timing will not help heal Harry’s rift with his father or his brother Prince William, as the Sussexes’ jaunt clashes with King Charles’ official State Visit to the US next month.
Aussie locals may also be miffed by worrying claims that Meghan is set to appear at a women-only weekend retreat in Sydney, with tickets starting at a staggering £1,400 per person.
Touted as “a girls’ weekend like no other,” Meghan will speak at a gala dinner, with VIP ticket holders offered front-row seats and a group photo with the duchess.
It comes days after Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, announced it had ended its £75m partnership with streaming giant Netflix that began in 2020.
The 300-person Sydney retreat – with talks by a psychologist, yoga, sound healing, a disco and a meditation and manifestation sessions – has been organised by the Her Best Life podcast, founded by Gemma O’Neill and Australian celebrity Jackie “O” Henderson.
O’Neill told listeners the Q&A with Meghan will take the format of a “fireside chat” and be held at a five-star hotel at Coogee Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said their visit to Australia next month will be for “private, business and philanthropic engagements”.
But if their faux-royal trip turns into a desperate cash-grab, it will only prove the Queen was right – and they were not suited to a life of duty and selfless service.