A potential photo op with one of the most vituperative ‘influencers’ in the so-called Sussex Squad could prove to be a PR catastrophe for Meghan Markle.
Last week, the Daily Mail revealed self-declared ‘royal expert’ @ZandiSussex had scored a VIP ticket to the Duchess’ upcoming retreat in Sydney, Australia.
This anonymous troll has previously spread false claims that Catherine, Princess of Wales, ‘faked’ her cancer diagnosis, in addition to making other hateful smears about the Royal Family on X/Twitter over the years.
Incredibly, it is still unknown whether @ZandiSussex remains on the guest list for the ‘Her Best Life’ retreat, with organiser Gemma O’Neill failing to respond when the Mail sought clarification after her history of trolling was revealed.
This is despite event organisers barring other guests from Meghan’s ‘girls’ weekend’ because of suspected links to media organisations.
Adding to the intrigue, the event’s website was updated days ago with the notice: ‘A handful of additional rooms just released.’ It is unclear whether this signals a late increase in capacity, or whether places have freed up after guests were dropped.
If @ZandiSussex does make it to the retreat – scheduled to take place on the weekend of April 17-19 at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach – her table would be entitled to a photo with Meghan as a VIP guest.
The prospect of Meghan smiling for a photograph alongside a woman who has propagated the false claim that the future queen’s cancer was fraudulent represents a glaring reputational risk for the Duchess, given her repeated calls for compassion and accuracy in online discourse.
A potential photo op with one of the most hateful ‘influencers’ in the so-called Sussex Squad could prove to be a PR catastrophe for Meghan Markle (right with Prince Harry). The organisers of the ‘Her Best Life’ weekend in Sydney have not clarified whether X user @ZandiSussex, who says she is attending the retreat, is still on the guest list after we exposed her history of trolling
@ZandiSussex is relishing in her mainstream notoriety after we drew attention to her hateful rhetoric as a ‘Senior Lieutenant’ of the Sussex Squad
The Daily Mail does not suggest Meghan shares or endorses these views, only that she may come into contact – and potentially unwittingly be photographed – with someone who does at her upcoming retreat.
The ‘Her Best Life’ retreat in Sydney‘s eastern suburbs is part of a private visit to Australia by Meghan and husband Prince Harry, who is set to headline the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne as a keynote speaker on April 15-16.
Meanwhile, the Mail can reveal that @ZandiSussex is relishing in her mainstream notoriety after we drew attention to her hateful rhetoric as a ‘Senior Lieutenant’ of the Sussex Squad – a name given to Harry and Meghan’s most fervent online supporters.
Indeed, she now bills herself on X as ‘Senior Lieutenant Zandi Sussex’.
As recently as Monday, @ZandiSussex was taking digs at Kate’s cancer on X, posting an image of a Monopoly-style ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ entitled ‘Cancer Card’.
Her accompanying comment read, ‘When all else fails, bring out the cancer card. So predictable!’, adding a ‘weary face’ emoji.
As previously reported by the Mail, the anti-royal influencer is the worst offender among a trio of women who publicly claimed they had been accepted to attend the $3,000‑a‑head, three-day retreat in beachside Coogee.
They have a long history of portraying Meghan online as a flawless, persecuted heroine while relentlessly attacking the wider British Royal Family.
Damningly, @ZandiSussex has previously peddled the sick and false conspiracy theory that the Princess of Wales’s cancer was ‘fake’ or somehow exaggerated
As recently as Monday, @ZandiSussex was taking digs at Kate’s cancer on X, posting an image of a Monopoly- style ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ entitled ‘Cancer Card’
The Sussex Squad has a long history of portraying Meghan online as a flawless, persecuted heroine while relentlessly attacking the wider British Royal Family
The ‘Her Best Life’ website and social media accounts were updated days ago with a notice announcing that a handful of additional rooms had just been released
The inclusion of @ZandiSussex on the guest list for Meghan’s Sydney retreat was announced with great fanfare two weeks ago, on March 24.
She posted: ‘Drumroll please! I’m so excited to share that I got a ticket to the Girls’ Weekend with Meghan! Yes, I’ll be inside and will make sure to bring you updates. AND I went VIP so our table gets a photo with Meghan. Let’s go!’
Days later, she boasted: ’21 sleeps until the Girls’ Weekend Retreat. I warned you all that if I got a ticket, you’d never hear the end of it.’
In the past, this X user and Sussex fan has even gone so far as to suggest Prince William is Satanic, photoshopping an image of him as a child alongside one of actor Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, who plays the Antichrist Damien in the 2006 horror film The Omen.
Alongside the images, @ZandiSussex wrote: ‘Birds of a feather.’
It was back on November 8, 2024 that @ZandiSussex first peddled the false theory that the Princess of Wales’s cancer was ‘fake’ or somehow exaggerated.
‘Kate’s “cancer” has always been one big scam! We knew this then and we know it now,’ she posted on X.
The same account repeated the entirely false claim the next year, on June 26, 2025.
About a week ago, another post appeared on the @ZandiSussex account referring to a ‘fake cancer AI video’.
Kate had announced in a video shot in Windsor in March 2024 that tests following major abdominal surgery had revealed cancer.
She began preventative chemotherapy, and later confirmed in January 2025 that she was in remission and gradually resumed royal duties.
Sussex Squad members have a long history of portraying Meghan online as a flawless, persecuted heroine while relentlessly attacking the wider British Royal Family, in particular the Prince and Princess of Wales (pictured in March last year)
Meghan and Harry superfan @ZandiSussex claims royal supporters are ‘hysterical’ about the forthcoming visit by the couple and don’t want it to succeed. (Pictured: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their official tour of Australia in October 2018)
The Daily Mail is not suggesting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are aware of these false claims or that they endorse them in any way.
On April 7, @ZandiSussex appeared to confirm she was still attending the ‘Her Best Life’ retreat, reposting a video from the ‘HBL team’ touring the hotel alongside her own message: ‘The countdown is on … just 9 more sleeps to go!’
The video showed a room at the InterContinental Coogee Beach, as well as a dining room with multiple tables, which will presumably serve as the event room.
It also included images of the sparkling hotel pool, which, despite reports that it was not yet finished, looks to be in pristine condition.
Gemma O’Neill has advised that extra spots have turned up, and after initially advertising that people would have to twin share rooms, there now is a new option.
‘The hotel just kindly released a handful of additional rooms – including solo options,’ she posted on social media.
‘If you’ve been feeling the pull to join this community… this is your sign. Spots are limited – DM us on here for details!’
Since Meghan and Harry’s visit was announced, the broader Sussex Squad has erupted on X with false, conspiratorial claims of a ‘smear campaign’ to sabotage the Australia trip, orchestrated by a ‘jealous’ William and Kate.
On April 1, @ZandiSussex posted that ‘the level of hysteria alone tells me this is going to be an amazing visit for H & M. The truth on the ground is the mood is overwhelmingly positive.’
On March 24, @ZandiSussex announced: ‘Drumroll please! I’m so excited to share that I got a ticket to the Girls’ Weekend with Meghan! Yes, I’ll be inside and will make sure to bring you updates. AND I went VIP so our table gets a photo with Meghan. Let’s go!’
As recently as April 7, @ZandiSussex was still counting down the ‘sleeps’ until the retreat
She added: ‘We will not stand by and watch a woman being demonised simply because of her race and because she dared marry into an institution reserved for people who are not of her colour.’
In one of her most vicious X posts on January 12, @ZandiSussex falsely claimed: ‘The truth is that Kate was never diagnosed with cancer.
‘She made that up to garner support and silence criticism as well as hide whatever really happened. It was still a weasel thing though for Willy to throw her under the bus.’
On March 25, another X user, @NachoBandito, screenshotted that post and said someone should alert Meghan to what the guest had said about her sister-in-law.
Still, there is no evidence that the Duchess of Sussex is aware of the guest list, vetting process or any individual ticket buyer’s point of view.
While in Australia, Harry and Meghan may also visit Canberra, where he is expected to meet members of Invictus Australia, the organisation that co‑hosted the Sydney Invictus Games in 2018, which he opened during the couple’s last visit as working royals.