In Brief
- Prince Harry and Meghan are returning to Australia for the first time in eight years.
- It's not an official visit, but police will still help with security.
Prince Harry and Meghan will embark on a four-day tour of Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney from Tuesday.
Commercial commitments have brought the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Australia, with the couple using the opportunity to spend the week visiting groups and charities they've been known to support.
Despite bearing all the hallmarks of a royal tour, this is not an official visit. Rather, the trip been privately funded. The couple's itinerary contains no public 'walkabouts' — security costs were deemed too high for such events, as the crowds they drew last time they were in Australia were significant.
A NSW Police representative told UK newspaper The Mirror that it would "conduct an operation to ensure public safety is maintained during the visit by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex", and that the operation would "require some additional security measures throughout their stay in New South Wales, while minimising any disruption to the community".
It's been eight years since Harry and Meghan last visited Australia and a lot has changed for them in that time.
In 2020, the duke and duchess announced they would step back as "senior" members of the British royal family and work to become financially independent. They have retained their titles but are no longer working members of the royal family. The couple relocated to Montecito, California, before welcoming their second child in 2021.
It is understood that neither of the couple's children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will accompany them on the trip.
What will Prince Harry and Meghan be doing in Australia?
The couple has quite a bit on across the four days of their visit to Australia. According to a press release on behalf of the couple, the trip will focus on mental health, community resilience and support for veterans and their families, alongside private meetings and special projects.
- In Melbourne, the couple will visit Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital and the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum
- Prince Harry will head to Whitten Oval, the headquarters of AFL club the Western Bulldogs, for a Movember event
- In Canberra, Prince Harry will visit the Australian War Memorial, meet Indigenous veterans, attend an Invictus Australia reception and participate in the daily Last Post Ceremony
- He will jet back to Melbourne to join Meghan for a guided cultural walk and visit a mental health charity, before the prince gives the keynote speech at the InterEdge Summit
- After arriving in Sydney, the duke and duchess are set to sail around the city's famous harbour with Invictus Australia and attend the Super Rugby Pacific clash between the NSW Waratahs and Moana Pasifika
- Meghan is also slated as the special guest of Her Best Life, a three-day luxury women's retreat in Sydney, with tickets starting at $2699
— With reporting from the Australian Associated Press
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