The backlash they faced after their controversial trip to Jordan at the end of February clearly didn’t put them off, as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly embarking on yet another trip!
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to be heading Down Under next month; and according to royal experts and commentators, they should prepare for even more criticism…
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Invictus Games
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Plan To Visit Australia In April
Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, last visited Australia in 2018 after their royal wedding. But they were still working members of the royal family back then – and with much better reputations, may we add – so the trips are already going to be very different in comparison!
According to reports, a spokesperson for the parents-of-two said they “will visit Australia in mid-April to take part in a number of private, business and philanthropic engagements.” And some of these will reportedly involve Australia’s armed forces and veterans.
It’s believed that their children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, will not be on the trip, and will remain in Montecito, California.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s Visit Expected To ‘Create Debate’ About The Monarchy
Australia may have been expecting – and wanting – to see very different royals, as Prince William and Kate Middleton were reportedly invited last year!
An insider told the Daily Mail: “Back in September, the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese had tea with the King at Balmoral and publicly invited the Prince and Princess of Wales to tour the country. There have been rumors of a visit in July or August but it’s not looking likely at the moment. Either way, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are going to get there first.”
While huge crowds turned up to greet the then newlyweds in 2018, they shouldn’t expect the same treatment this time around, if we are to believe a royal insider who spoke to The Sun…
The insider reportedly told the outlet that the Spare author and the former Suits actress shouldn’t expect a warm “welcome” when they touch down in Australia. “I think there will be plenty of monarchists and republicans who won’t welcome Harry and Meghan’s visit,” they said.
The insider went on: “Any ‘royal’ visit, even by members of the family who no longer represent the King, will inevitably create debate about the monarchy.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving Invictus Games
Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Will Need ‘Thick Skins’
Royal journalist Tom Sykes also weighed in on next month’s trip, and echoed what the Sun’s insider said about the couple needing to prepare for the worst.
“The Sussexes are likely to be lightning rods in Australia’s ongoing debate about the royal family and the country’s constitutional future,” he wrote in his The Royalist Substack.
“For now, one thing seems certain: Harry and Meghan will need thick skins when they arrive in a country where they are no longer assured of a warm welcome,” he added. Yikes!