How King Charles and Queen Camilla's Australian visit will be vastly different from when Prince Harry and Meghan were in town

At the end of Prince Harry and Meghan's royal visit to Australia and the Pacific in 2018, media covering the tour were finally able to take a breath and relax.

The mammoth 16-day tour was exhausting and it had nothing to do with the tensions behind the scenes between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their team, which we now know was a dark cloud hanging over the visit (Meghan was reportedly stunned she wasn't getting paid to meet crowds).

Prince Harry and Meghan were the last British royals to travel to Australia and tonight King Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive for their historic visit.

READ MORE: 'A very limited time': Royal editor on why King's visit had to happen now

But the King and Queen's five-day stop will be vastly different from Prince Harry and Meghan's time Down Under.

The duke and duchess were riding a wave of popularity as they touched down in Sydney, nearly six years to the day of the King and Queen's arrival later tonight.

Within hours of landing, Kensington Palace – which represented Harry and Meghan at the time – announced Meghan was pregnant with their first child. The news came just as a media briefing by palace officials was wrapping up on the eve of the tour.

The following day, October 16, was the official start of the visit and saw the duke and duchess meet thousands of adoring crowds along the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.

What came next was a jam-packed itinerary taking in several states: New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, with stops in regional towns including Dubbo and K'gari (known as Fraser Island at the time).

READ MORE: Where you can see the King and Queen in Australia

Harry and Meghan spent several days in Sydney attending events connected with the Invictus Games before departing for Fiji and Tonga, and returning to Australia again briefly for the Invictus Games closing ceremony.

They then headed to New Zealand for four days before returning to the UK.

It was an incredibly busy schedule with engagements from the morning until the evening on most days. Meghan was forced to pull out of a few events at the last minute due to her pregnancy.

Days often began in the early hours of the morning, before the sun was up, and we didn't finish until well after dinner time.

Due to security, all media had to be in place well before the royal couple actually arrived at each event meaning we could be standing in the sun (or the biting wind in Wellington) for several hours waiting.

There was a lot of travel to and from the locations, including getting on and off planes and tour buses, but we got to visit some of the most beautiful places including the Pile Valley rainforest on K'gari and Rotorua in New Zealand.

READ MORE: All the times Charles has visited Australia through the years

It was worth it to be able to cover such an important visit for Harry and Meghan. The Australian and New Zealand legs would be their first, and last, official tours of a Commonwealth realm.

In contrast, King Charles and Queen Camilla will have a much kinder itinerary.

Changes have been made due to the King's cancer diagnosis and taking into account his and the Queen's ages. Her Majesty is 77 while the King will celebrate his 76th birthday next month.

The royal couple have a planned rest day tomorrow to allow for a recovery from the long flight, although rumours are swirling the King will make a brief appearance at The Everest for the King Charles III Stakes race.

Official engagements begin in Sydney on Sunday, before moving to Canberra on Monday and again in Sydney on Tuesday. The King and Queen depart for Samoa on Wednesday morning.

There will be no evening engagements for the King and Queen in Australia and events have been carefully selected to align with Charles and Camilla's areas of focus including the environment and sustainability, literacy, family violence and community.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will conquer and divide, allowing them to attend as many events as possible while meeting as many Australians as time allows.

READ MORE: Queen Camilla to visit Aussie charity she is patron of

In Canberra, members of the public will be able to see the King and Queen at the Australian War Memorial and Parliament House on Monday, while in Sydney large crowds are expected at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday afternoon.

While they are determined to shake hands with the public, the King and Queen will have fewer opportunities to meet their subjects than seen on previous royal tours including their own past visits.

Just Sydney and Canberra were chosen for inclusion on the tour, with other states and territories missing out. A planned New Zealand leg had to be scrapped.

Despite the scaled back nature of the tour, it will make history for being the first time a British King has visited Australia and His Majesty's first of a Commonwealth realm since the coronation.

It is also the most ambitious journey the King has taken since his cancer diagnosis in February.

Regardless of the short nature of the visit, it's expected to reaffirm Australia's enduring fascination with the royal family.

And here's hoping the King and Queen will leave with fond memories of their time Down Under and encourage the Prince and Princess of Wales to bring their three children to Australia, when Kate's health allows her resume a more gruelling schedule of events.

Because we all know the Australian public would go crazy for a return visit by Prince George, who was last here as a baby in 2014, while the addition of his siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis would provide endless excitement for royal enthusiasts.