{"id":371950,"date":"2026-04-09T22:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/371950\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:18:17","slug":"leaked-operational-notes-for-harry-and-meghans-australia-tour-reveal-whos-paying-for-it-all-include-a-very-telling-omission-and-confirm-the-royal-tradition-they-wont-be-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/371950\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaked ‘operational notes’ for Harry and Meghan’s Australia tour reveal who’s paying for it all, include a VERY telling omission – and confirm the royal tradition they won’t be doing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under-wraps details about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex<\/a>‘s impending trip to Australia can be revealed for the first time, via a leaked document seen by the Mail.<\/p>\n

‘Operational Planning Notes’ shared with select media and written by the couple’s new PR boss Liam Maguire include an itinerary that features stops in Melbourne<\/a>, Canberra and Sydney<\/a>. The document also emphasises that the Australian taxpayer will not be footing the bill for Prince Harry<\/a> and Meghan Markle’s trip.<\/p>\n

In an extraordinary move, Mr Maguire, a military veteran and longtime mate of Harry’s, also used the briefing document to hit back at the couple’s ‘critics’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite Harry and Meghan no longer representing His Majesty the King after they stepped back from the British\u00a0Royal Family<\/a> and moved to California<\/a> in 2020, their trip Down Under appears to resemble a royal tour in many ways.<\/p>\n

They will make joint appearances focusing on veterans and mental health, including a visit to a children’s hospital and an Invictus Australia event on Sydney Harbour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meghan will also undertake a solo visit to a women’s homelessness<\/a>\u00a0shelter, while Harry will attend an AFL<\/a> club in Melbourne and a rugby union match in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Harry is also expected to make a brief visit to Canberra without his wife.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Mail is not disclosing specific details of dates and times outlined in the operational notes for security reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Harry <\/p>\n

Harry and Meghan’s slate of Aussie adventures begins next Tuesday in Melbourne. (The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pictured in\u00a0Melbourne during the royal tour in October 2018)<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The couple will set sail on Sydney Harbour as part of their connection to Invictus Australia<\/p>\n

\"On <\/p>\n

On their 2018 Melbourne visit, sporty Harry learned the basics of Australian Rules Football<\/p>\n

Notably, the official four-day itinerary, starting next Tuesday, does not include Meghan’s appearance at the ‘Her Best Life’ retreat at the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney’s Coogee Beach, which runs from April 17-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to a source, this indicates that the Sussexes are keeping ‘pseudo royal’ engagements separate from Meghan’s latest commercial foray into the lifestyle world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tacked to the end of Mr Maguire’s document is a ‘Q&A’ for media, which appears to be his attempt to get ahead of thorny enquiries expected from journalists.<\/p>\n

An anticipatory question reads, ‘Critics say this is a publicity tour; how do you respond?’<\/p>\n

The waspish response: ‘The programme is rooted in long-standing areas of work for the Duke and Duchess, with a clear focus on amplifying organisations delivering measurable impact.<\/p>\n

‘The visit prioritises listening, learning and supporting communities rather than promotion.’<\/p>\n

The document explained that Meghan, 44, and Harry, 41, were travelling Down Under after being ‘invited to Australia by a number of groups<\/a>‘.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Maguire insisted the visit was being ‘privately funded’, ending speculation over whether the Australian taxpayer would be footing the bill.<\/p>\n

\"Meghan <\/p>\n

Meghan made a valiant attempt at mastering the sport’s handball motion in 2018. Interestingly, her much-publicised attendance this month at the ‘Her Best Life’ retreat in Coogee does not feature on the official itinerary, likely because it is a private venture\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Walkabouts <\/p>\n

Walkabouts are off the agenda for this visit due to security constraints<\/p>\n

It was also confirmed that the Sussexes would not be undertaking traditional ‘walkabouts’ – where members of the Royal Family greet their subjects in public – ‘due to the security costs of keeping public order’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the itinerary appearing to mirror previous official royal engagements<\/a>, fans will be disappointed not to see Archie, six, and Lilibet, four, in person.<\/p>\n

In the Q&A section, there is the question, ‘Will the children be travelling with the Duke and Duchess?’, alongside the answer, ‘No’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Royal watchers will remember that one of the most iconic moments of Prince William and Princess Catherine’s tour of Australia in 2014 was their then one-year-old son Prince George’s adorable meeting with a bilby at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite the Sussexes’ historically frosty relationship with\u00a0the media, their PR chief has gone on a charm offensive, encouraging journalists to contact him via WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

In December, Mr Maguire was described as the couple’s newly appointed chief communications officer and a long-term ally who is said to want to focus on their global status.<\/p>\n

He has been working with the King’s second son for more than a decade and was previously the Sussexes’ comms director for the UK and Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Prince <\/p>\n

Prince George shared an iconic moment with a bilby on Prince William’s royal tour in 2014<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The couple’s newly minted PR boss Liam Maguire is helming the tour Down Under<\/p>\n

The father of two was deputy to their former global PR chief Meredith Maines and had been focused on Harry’s work, having first joined forces on the Invictus Games in 2014.<\/p>\n

But following Ms Maines’s exit, Mr Maguire was asked to step up as chief of communications for both the Duke and Duchess.<\/p>\n

He splits his time between London and his family home in Cornwall and works with a team in California, where the Sussexes live.<\/p>\n

Mr Maguire’s most high-profile involvement with the couple was in July when Ms Maines joined him at a London private members’ club to meet the King’s communications secretary Tobyn Andreae for secret talks revealed by The Mail on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The publication of the photographs is claimed to have angered the Sussexes, but the talks appeared to help bring Harry and Charles back together<\/a> as they briefly met in September during the Duke’s visit to the UK following a period of estrangement.<\/p>\n

Harry and Meghan last visited Australia in 2018, when Meghan was pregnant with Archie, on an official tour on behalf of the late Queen Elizabeth II.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New to DailyMail+? Here are our most-read stories from the past week<\/p>\n

Read NAB staffers’ leaked private messages in the wake of their colleague’s shocking suicide – as we reveal outrage about ‘inadequate’ CEO Andrew Irvine\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside the final months of Sydney socialite Annabelle Price who was found dead in her apartment – and the chilling sign something was wrong<\/a><\/p>\n

Will no one say the bloody obvious about Constance Hall and that feral ‘Denim’? Her single-mum army will crucify me, but someone has to tell her: AMANDA GOFF<\/a><\/p>\n

‘Super toxic’. Manipulative. The REAL untold story of Tess Rowlatt’s spiral from party girl to life of crime revealed by LUCY MANLY, who grew up with Melbourne’s ‘middle-class’ drug queen now sharing a jail with Erin Patterson<\/a><\/p>\n

The tragedy of Tess Crosley ended exactly like I said it would. What Jules said at the very start became a prophecy: JANA HOCKING<\/a><\/p>\n

How NAB breaks staff: What drove married father John to the bank’s Docklands rooftop with his last will and testament in his pocket.. as we reveal cruel redundancy process that employees compare to ‘death row’<\/a><\/p>\n

‘Intense’. ‘Unstable’. Minutes after leaving Scott, runaway MAFS bride Gia goes rogue in interview with ALI DAHER. We reveal the REAL story of their break-up – as she delivers a savage parting shot<\/a><\/p>\n

Kathleen Folbigg and fianc\u00e9 seen for the first time after she spent two decades in jail over the deaths of her four children – amid rumours she’s fallen out with the woman who helped free her<\/a><\/p>\n

For years, I thought what my older sister did to me was just part of growing up. Later, I learned just how sick and twisted she really was\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

JFK Jr severed in half. Carolyn Bessette’s unspeakable injury. Why these sealed crash scene details that’ve never been published must finally now be revealed: MAUREEN CALLAHAN\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under-wraps details about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s impending trip to Australia can be revealed for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[557,156,111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-371950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371950","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=371950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}