{"id":346672,"date":"2026-03-25T07:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T07:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/346672\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T07:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T07:41:09","slug":"harry-and-meghan-australia-tour-petition-demands-no-taxpayer-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/346672\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry and Meghan Australia tour: Petition demands no taxpayer funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">The Sussexes\u2019 trip is now understood to be privately funded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSince stepping down from royal duties in 2020, [the Duke and Duchess] no longer represent the Crown and now operate private commercial ventures based in the United States\u201d, the petition reads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cAt a time when Australians are facing significant cost-of-living pressures, including rising grocery bills, fuel prices, mortgage stress driven by interest rate hikes, and increasing energy costs, public resources must be used responsibly,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">A spokesperson for the couple told the Daily Mail: \u201cIt\u2019s a moot point. The trip is being funded privately, so I\u2019m not sure what this petition hopes to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">Earlier this month, Markle, 44, was announced as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/lifestyle\/meghan-markle-to-headline-womens-empowerment-retreat-in-sydney\/CSJJ56MBAFBL3FOZCDRYZYX5PE\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/lifestyle\/meghan-markle-to-headline-womens-empowerment-retreat-in-sydney\/CSJJ56MBAFBL3FOZCDRYZYX5PE\/\">featured guest speaker at the \u201cHer Best Life Retreat\u201d<\/a> in Sydney, billed as \u201ca girls\u2019 weekend like no other!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">Tickets to the sold-out event cost up to A$3199 ($3860), with VIP guests promised a group photo with the Suits actor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">The event will accommodate 300 guests who are expected to take part in wellness sessions designed to facilitate \u201cpowerful conversations, relaxation, laughter and unforgettable experiences\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">Prince Harry was also announced as the headline speaker at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">The event\u2019s website says the 41-year-old will join other \u201cglobal thought leaders\u201d sharing insights on mental health and workplace wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">Tickets for the summit start at A$1978.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">RadarOnline reported the tour will be recorded by reality TV cameras for a potential new streaming project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">Sources close to the couple claimed they are working to produce a \u201cglossy travel and food documentary highlighting Australia\u2019s culture, landscapes and cuisine\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yUwWNyfsvD\" style=\"display:none\">Markle\u2019s Netflix show With Love, Meghan was cancelled after two seasons after scathing reviews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sussexes\u2019 trip is now understood to be privately funded. \u201cSince stepping down from royal duties in 2020,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[95,85,8172,5842,430,8414,84587,156,738,9859,110106,23493,111,139,7805,69,128,4940,48613,8214,146265,27051,2742,208,11744,102],"class_list":["post-346672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-and","tag-australia","tag-backlash","tag-calling","tag-celebrities","tag-couple","tag-demands","tag-entertainment","tag-funding","tag-harry","tag-markles","tag-meghan","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-no","tag-nz","tag-petition","tag-prince","tag-signing","tag-sparked","tag-taxpayer","tag-themselves","tag-thousands","tag-tour","tag-upcoming","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}