{"id":382365,"date":"2026-04-16T11:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/382365\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:12:17","slug":"harry-and-meghan-in-most-public-appearance-of-tour-downunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/382365\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry and Meghan in most public appearance of tour Downunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Admirers have again got up close and personal with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as the celebrity couple immersed themselves in Aboriginal culture and championed mental health initiatives.<\/p>\n

The unofficial royal tour of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continued on Thursday, with the couple starting their day soaking up Aboriginal culture in Melbourne’s Scar Tree Walk.<\/p>\n

Arriving at Federation Square, they were greeted by Koori Heritage Trust representatives with a young boy showing them a ball made of wombat hide.<\/p>\n

“Do you know that children’s book Diary of a Wombat?” Meghan asked him. <\/p>\n

“Our kids love that book. It’s so good. It’s very cheeky.”<\/p>\n

The royals were guided through the city’s scar trees, living heritage sites created when Melbourne’s Wurundjeri inhabitants stripped bark off trees to craft canoes and other items.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex take part in the Scar Tree Walk on day three of the royal trip on April 16, 2026 in Melbourne. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

In one of their most public appearances of their trip, the Sussexes strolled through Birrarung Marr park, listening intently and asking questions about various sites.<\/p>\n

After missing a chance to see Harry on Wednesday at the Western Bulldogs HQ, Vida from Altona walked up and gifted the pair a bag of cards and Australiana-style colouring books for Prince Archie and Princess Lillibet.<\/p>\n

“I thought that would be something that they would appreciate,” Vida told AAP afterwards.<\/p>\n

“They’re just the epitome of what human beings should be about … They’re humans with emotions, and they’re humans with empathy and loving.”<\/p>\n

A small crowd of curious passers-by grew gradually, with people stopping to investigate the commotion and many staying to snap selfies.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A team member for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex holds back a member of the public as they pose for a selfie photo at the Scar Tree Walk in Melbourne. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Courtney Higlett and her son Zaya shared a special moment with the pair, grabbing a selfie.<\/p>\n

“A lot’s gone on with Harry and Meghan, and we choose to ignore it and just look up to them as role models for what they do,” Higlett said.<\/p>\n

Harry and Meghan then made a quick stop at Swinburne University to visit Batyr, a mental health organisation whose work dovetails with Harry’s mental health advocacy.<\/p>\n

A bustling crowd of students and staff grew as news of their visit filtered through the grapevine, with staff members Freya Coates-Hutchinson, Kaylah Hands and Sarah Post arriving early to nab a prime spot.<\/p>\n

Their efforts paid off. As the Duke and Duchess walked up to the door, Meghan looked back and locked eyes with the trio.<\/p>\n

\"Meghan,<\/p>\n

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex meets advocates during a visit to Batyr, a mental health engagement programme, at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn on day three of the royal trip. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

“She came over, and she looked so nice, and she was giving us a smile, and shook our hands,” Hands said.<\/p>\n

The duchess greeted the excited trio and asked Hands’ name, Coates-Hutchinson recounted.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t even know she did that. I blacked out a little bit,” Hands said.<\/p>\n

Away from the crowds, Harry and Meghan showed their vulnerable side as they listened to the experiences of young people and shared their own insights.<\/p>\n

“I was surprised at how connected and how thoughtful their responses were,” Shapeshifters co-founder Alan Chen said.<\/p>\n

\"Meghan,<\/p>\n

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex leave the Swinburne University of Technology after a visit to Batyr, a mental health engagement programme, on day three of the royal trip to Australia. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

By the time the pair stepped back out to be whisked away, a crowd of students had ballooned, with gasps erupting when they appeared.<\/p>\n

Their final stop in Melbourne will be at the InterEdge Summit, a professional development event to foster mentally healthy, safe and high-performing workplaces, where the duke will deliver a keynote address to guests who have paid about AU$1000 (NZ$1215) to AU$2400 (NZ$2916) for a ticket.<\/p>\n

No longer working royals following their much-publicised split with Buckingham Palace, Harry and Meghan are visiting in a private capacity.<\/p>\n

Harry spent Wednesday visiting the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where he attended a solemn Last Post ceremony and gave a speech to veterans sports organisation Invictus Australia.<\/p>\n

The pair will fly to Sydney later on Thursday, where Meghan will headline an exclusive three-day women’s retreat pitched as a “girls weekend like no other” with tickets starting at AU$2699 (NZ$3279).<\/p>\n

The duke and duchess will end their trip in Sydney, sailing around the harbour and attending a rugby match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Admirers have again got up close and personal with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as the celebrity couple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[85,430,156,111,139,69,6747],"class_list":{"0":"post-382365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-royalty"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382365","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=382365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}