'More questions than answers' surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan's coming visit to Australia

OPINION – – The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in Australia next month for their first visit in eight years.

But the four-day quasi-royal tour will be unlike any this country has seen before.

And it will be vastly different from the most recent royal visit Down Under, that of Denmark's King Frederik and Queen Mary.

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are no longer working royals and they will not be representing the UK Government or the British royal family, as they did in 2018.

Back then, the duke and duchess were riding a wave of popularity fresh off their royal wedding five months before.

Public affection for Prince Harry and Meghan soared when they announced their pregnancy within hours of landing in Sydney.

Crowds at the Sydney Opera House for their first walkabout of the tour were huge and the media coverage of their visit was largely positive.

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Eight years later, Prince Harry and Meghan are two of the least popular members of the royal family, according to a YouGov poll in February.

A rapturous welcome this time around is not guaranteed.

And for that reason alone, an opportunity for the public to see Prince Harry and Meghan is likely to be left off their itinerary altogether.

During Queen Mary and King Frederik's six-day state visit earlier this month, there were two walkabouts: in Canberra and Hobart.

A public meet and greet is standard with royal visits.

But as Prince Harry and Meghan are now private citizens, and not funded by the taxpayer, their situation is very different.

In 2018, the couple had 24-hour police protection from the UK with assistance from the Australian Federal Police and travelled in a police motorcade wherever they went.

They stayed at Admiralty House – the Sydney residence of the Governor General – the usual place visiting royals stay when in the Harbour City.

It is not known if the state or federal government will foot part of the bill for Prince Harry and Meghan's visit, even if it is a private one.

Prince Harry and Meghan's four-day tour of Colombia in 2024 cost the South American country almost $87,000.

The figure included internal transport and security. Prince Harry and Meghan paid for their own flights, accommodation and general expenses.

At the time, sources told The Telegraph UK the cost covered an eight-day period as it included four days of advance visits from staff including security and logistics teams.

Australia could be hit with a similar bill.

However, Prince Harry and Meghan's spokesperson insisted their tour would be privately funded.

He was responding to a petition calling for no taxpayers' money to be spent, which has more than 35,000 signatures.

"It's a moot point," the spokesperson said.

"The trip is being funded privately, so I'm not sure what this petition hopes to achieve."

Little is known about exactly what Prince Harry and Meghan will be doing in Australia.

Their spokesperson told nine.com.au the program of events was still being finalised. Prince Harry and Meghan will be here in mid-April "to take part in a number of private, business, and philanthropic engagements", he said.

Just two engagements have been announced.

The duke will be a keynote speaker at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, happening across April 15 and 16. Tickets start at $1978.

Meghan will headline a women's-only retreat in Sydney hosted by the Her Best Life podcast where tickets start at $2699, while the VIP experience costs $3199.

The event is billed as a 'girls weekend like no other' and will see the duchess speak at at an in-conversation session before attending a dinner.

The retreat is limited to 300 ticket holders and although the website says "allocation exhausted", nine.com.au saw an email sent to someone who had registered their interest inviting them to purchase a ticket as some were still available.

Meghan is expected to have meetings with potential partners, buyers and marketing executives as she looks to expand her lifestyle brand, As ever, in Australia.

According to Australian intellectual property office records, Meghan's trademark was accepted in June, 2025, under the description "fancy". Current products include jam, flower sprinkles, candles and wine.

Prince Harry is likely to attend events connected with the Australian Defence Force and the Australia's Invictus Games team.

Invictus Australia recently announced plans to bring the competition back to the country in 2031. Prince Harry and Meghan's previous Australia tour included the Invictus Games, which took place in Sydney.

Along with a public walkabout, official tours usually involve meetings with the Prime Minister and Governor General and state governors.

There is an official welcome ceremony and the photo opportunities are widely shared, as we saw with King Frederik and Queen Mary's recent visit.

King Charles and Queen Camilla, too, had official meetings and three opportunities to meet the public when they toured in October 2024.

But much of Prince Harry and Meghan's engagements could be held behind closed doors with limited access to the media.

They have been known to travel with just one or two 'friendly' journalists and a photographer on past tours to Colombia, Nigeria and Jordan since stepping back as working royals in 2020.

Australia has never had a visit from royals who have voluntarily stepped back from their positions as senior working members of the British monarchy.

Diana, Princess of Wales, came here in 1996 post-divorce from King Charles for a series of charity and philanthropic events.

While Harry and Meghan's coming tour could have some similarities with his late mother's, at this stage there are more questions than answers.

When their tour was announced after months of rumours, the decision to return to Australia puzzled some.

We know know their last visit here was the catalyst for the couple leaving their places as senior working royals. Behind the scenes, Harry and Meghan were far from the happy couple presented to the media and the public.

But, as a source previously told The Telegraph UK, Harry and Meghan "have to earn a living", adding that "they are private citizens and have to pay the bills like anyone else".

Their time in Australia next month may very well help.

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