The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in Australia next week for what is promising to be a high-profile, non-royal tour that will look remarkably like a royal tour.
Across four days, Prince Harry and Meghan will visit various cities, carrying out engagements linked with community resilience, support for the armed forces and mental health.
Much of their visit is under wraps for now but what can be said – at this stage – is that it will be remarkably different from the last time the couple was in Australia eight years ago.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in Australia for a four-day visit beginning next week. (PA/AAP)How times have changed
Back then, in 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan were here representing the British royal family and were two of the The Firm’s most popular working members.
It was their first major tour of the Commonwealth and they came to Australia months after their wedding in support of the Invictus Games, which were held in Sydney.
Their 76 engagements spanned 16 days with stops in Sydney, Dubbo, Melbourne and K’gari (Fraser Island) before they travelled to Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.
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Prince Harry and Meghan recently travelled to Jordan for a humanitarian mission. (World Health Organisation via Ge)
We now know Prince Harry and Meghan’s last visit to Australia was the catalyst for the couple leaving their places as senior working royals in 2020.
Behind the scenes, they were far from the happy couple presented to the media and the public at the time.
Meghan didn’t want to be in Australia and allegedly “hated every second of it”. The duchess was also said to be bewildered she was not getting paid for the highly-publicised tour.
In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping back for a life of financial freedom in the US.
In 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan visited the regional NSW town of Dubbo as part of their 16-day tour. (Phil Noble/Pool via AP)
Six years on, they will travel to Australia as private citizens, not representing the UK government or the British royal family.
The visit is being paid for privately, however Prince Harry and Meghan’s four-day tour of Colombia in 2024 cost the South American country almost $87,000.
The figure included internal transport and security. Prince Harry and Meghan paid for their own flights, accommodation and general expenses.
At the time, sources told The Telegraph UK the cost covered an eight-day period as it included four days of advance visits from staff including security and logistics teams.
Harry and Meghan had a day on Fraser Island in 2018, which included a spontaneous meet and greet. (Getty)What they have planned this time
Prince Harry and Meghan will begin their tour early next week, with engagements set for Melbourne and Sydney.
Another city is part of the four-day itinerary but won’t be announced publicly until next week.
Their spokesperson previously told nine.com.au the program would allow Prince Harry and Meghan “to take part in a number of private, business, and philanthropic engagements”.
Engagements will focus on community resilience, support for the armed forces and mental health.
Prince Harry and Meghan have continued to support such issues since stepping back as working royals, using their new lives in the US to back various charities, organisations and projects that closely align with their interests and beliefs.
Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter said the Australian visit will expose the couple’s “fall from grace”.
A look back at Prince Harry and Meghan’s royal tours as Duke and Duchess of Sussex
“Tours like this raise some very awkward comparisons – here we are talking about how they were received in 2018 compared to a commercial visit that is being driven by commercial interests,” Arbiter told Today.
“They have to be able to earn an income, but after the last few years where they complained about life in the royal sphere, what they didn’t like about the royal system, they are coming to Australia capitalising on their royal titles in a non-royal capacity.
“So, really, what that does is remind the public what it is they gave up.
Prince Harry is due to address a mental health conference in Melbourne. (AP)
“They had the most incredible global platform, global privilege, a status that money cannot buy and yet they’ve given all that up to appear as former royals at cut-price engagements and I don’t think that does them any favours.”
Prince Harry will be a keynote speaker at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, happening across April 15 and 16. Tickets were originally priced at $1978 but they have since been slashed by 50 per cent to around $997.
The duchess will headline a women’s-only retreat in Sydney hosted by the Her Best Life podcast where tickets start at $2699, while the VIP experience costs $3199.
The event is billed as a ‘girls weekend like no other’ and will see Meghan speak at at an in-conversation session before attending a dinner.
Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, will speak at the Her Best Life retreat in Sydney. (Her Best Life)
The retreat is limited to 300 ticket holders and although the website says “allocation exhausted”, nine.com.au saw an email sent to someone who had registered their interest inviting them to purchase a ticket as some were still available.
Meghan is also expected to have meetings with potential partners, buyers and marketing executives as she looks to expand her lifestyle brand, As ever, in Australia.
According to Australian intellectual property office records, Meghan’s trademark was accepted in June, 2025, under the description “fancy”. Current products include jam, flower sprinkles, candles and wine.
As a source previously told The Telegraph UK, Harry and Meghan “have to earn a living”, adding that “they are private citizens and have to pay the bills like anyone else”.
Meghan is looking to expand her lifestyle brand As ever in Australia. (Instagram/aseverofficial)
Prince Harry is due to attend events connected with the Australian Defence Force and the Australia’s Invictus Games team. Invictus Australia recently announced plans to bring the competition back to the country in 2031.
How can the public see Harry and Meghan?
In 2018, affection for Prince Harry and Meghan soared when they announced their pregnancy within hours of landing in Sydney.
Crowds at the Sydney Opera House for their first walkabout of the tour were huge and the media coverage of their visit was largely positive.
This time, however, Prince Harry and Meghan are two of the least popular members of the royal family, according to a YouGov poll in February.
There are no public meet and greets, known as ‘walkabouts’ on this Australian tour. (Getty)
A rapturous welcome this time around is not guaranteed.
And because they are private citizens, opportunities for a public meet and greet are not expected during their four-day visit.
That’s due to the large security operation that would be needed to safely conduct such an event – security that would be taxpayer-funded.
However, once the couple’s itinerary is revealed it is likely some royal fans will try and see Prince Harry and Meghan as they arrive and depart at various events.
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