Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, who are the Duchess and Duke of Sussex, have confirmed they will spend time in both Sydney and Melbourne in Australia next month

Duke and Duchess of Sussex

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will need ‘thick skins’ in Australia, it is said(Image: PA)

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been warned to have “thick skins” in Australia next month.

 

The Duchess and Duke of Sussex are to spend time in both Sydney and Melbourne in mid-April for private, business and philanthropic engagements, including ones which will involve Australia’s armed forces and veterans’ community.

 

Their last tour of the country was just after their wedding almost eight years ago, and huge crowds turned out to greet the couple. However, it is thought opinion of them Down Under has changed and now they will “no longer [be] assured of a warm welcome.”

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An insider said: “I think there will be plenty of monarchists and republicans who won’t welcome Harry and Meghan’s visit. Any ‘royal’ visit, even by members of the family who no longer represent the King, will inevitably create debate about the monarchy.”

Queen Camilla and King Charles

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Queen Camilla and King Charles visited Australia in October 2024(Image: Getty Images)

 

Harry and Meghan will be in Australia within just weeks of King Charles’ trip to the United States, his first visit there since December 2018. During Charles’ last visit to Australia in October 2024, officials at New South Wales Parliament were left “disappointed” by one aspect of the monarch’s presence.

And it is said Charles and Prince William face unease at Harry and Meghan’s trip, with the pair scheduling in a visit at short notice ahead of any working royals. It is believed that in September, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese had tea with the King at Balmoral and publicly invited the Prince and Princess of Wales to tour his country.

Tom Sykes, a royal journalist, wrote on his The Royalist substack: “The Sussexes are likely to be lightning rods in Australia’s ongoing debate about the royal family and the country’s constitutional future.

“For now, one thing seems certain: Harry and Meghan will need thick skins when they arrive in a country where they are no longer assured of a warm welcome.”

A spokesman for the Sussexes said they “will visit Australia in mid-April to take part in a number of private, business and philanthropic engagements”. The Sussexes’ children, Prince Archie, six, and Princess Lilibet, four, will remain in Montecito, California, it is understood. Meghan was pregnant with Archie when she and Harry last toured Australia in 2018.

The insider told the Daily Mail: “Back in September, the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese had tea with the King at Balmoral and publicly invited the Prince and Princess of Wales to tour the country. There have been rumours of a visit in July or August but it’s not looking likely at the moment. Either way, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are going to get there first.”