Prince Harry and Meghan’s huge Aussie plans revealed. Visit to Sydney and Melbourne in Mid-April​.

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Prince Harry and Meghan’s huge Aussie plans revealed. Visit to Sydney and Melbourne in Mid-April.

EXCLUSIVE

More than seven years after then-newlyweds Prince Harry and Meghan embarked on their hugely successful Aussie tour, the couple is reportedly heading back Down Under.

A source confirmed exclusively to news.com.au that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to visit Sydney and Melbourne in mid-April.

While their last trip to our shores was in an official capacity as working members of the royal family, this time around they’re travelling as private citizens – and it’s understood they’ll be focusing on activities related to their businesses and philanthropic work.

Details of their specific plans remain unclear, but it’s been rumoured that Meghan will appear as a guest on the Her Best Life podcast, which was initially launched and co-hosted by Jackie “O” Henderson and Gemma O’Neill through their “Besties” company. Earlier this year, just a couple of weeks before her high-profile and abrupt recent exit from her KIIS breakfast show, Henderson revealed that she had decided to “step away” from the venture.

It’s rumoured that Meghan will also appear as a special guest at an upcoming “Besties” event, following in the footsteps of previous VIP speaker Gwyneth Paltrow.

The actress took part in a wide-ranging Q&A with Henderson back in 2023 which attracted around 3,000 ticketholders to the ICC in Sydney’s Darling Harbour – so Meghan’s appearance could be in a similar capacity.
Despite Henderson’s recent departure from the Besties company, she hinted last month that she may return in some capacity in the future - and perhaps Meghan’s involvement could be one such occasion.

Gwyneth Paltrow was the special guest at a Besties event, run by Henderson (left) and Gemma O'Neill, back in 2023 – and Meghan is now rumoured to follow in her footsteps. Picture: Supplied
While details of the couple’s itinerary are expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks, it’s likely that Harry’s plans will involve Australia’s armed forces or veterans’ community, given his strong connections to both.

It’s understood he also has a number of friends locally, fostered across multiple previous visits, including during his month-long stay with the ADF at an army barracks in Darwin back in 2015.
And in his 2023 memoir, Harry gushed over his time living in Australia as a 19-year-old in 2003.
He wrote in Spare that working as a jackaroo on a farm in rural Queensland had helped him find inner peace during what were “some of the best” weeks of his life.

It’s not yet known whether the Sussexes’ children, Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, will join them on the trip next month or stay back at the family’s home in Montecito, California.

News.com.au understands that the royal couple’s Aussie visit has been in the works for almost a year.

Taking him to meet homeless people, taking him to a theme park, MacDonald’s etc. she tried in her own way.

Think these activities were actually her own special circus within the bigger circus - as she ensured the paps were there to capture it all……worst of all was the final summer when she dragged them both on to Al-Fayed’s yacht for the paps to make a point. Excruciating for them both and shocking parenting.

OMG. Take a look at this thread on X!

I so hope that:

1. It’s true.

2.The weekend isn’t suddenly cancelled at the last minute.

It occurs to me there is the delicious possibility that one of the less adoring attendees sharing a bed with one of the superfans! 😂😂😂

Popcorn at the ready.

https://x.com/meghansmole/status/2040084666833678562?s=46

I find that quite scary, that people will go to such lengths, to get tickets tbh. Sort of proves Harry’s security point imo.

Oh wow, there will be skin and hair flying! The psycho stalker Superfan and the anti-fan prepared to pay 3k, both meeting in the same room.

From what we have seen so far, the attendees have been ‘curated’ to fans and Sussex Squad superfans, , so it will be good to get a bit of a balance even if they do have to go in furtively for fear of being refused entry for not being a fangirl of Meghan Markle.

I don’t think Harry has any point at all about the anti fans and his security to be honest. It’s one of their Sussex’s Squad superfans, who has been trying to help him prove his point by acting stalkerish in public. Not sure how true it is, but either she or one of her lieutenants ‘passed’ the screening for a ticket for the meet and greet with Meghan.

I don’t think he has much point at all about his security, it seems to all be manufactured by him, his wife and their cult-like followers. Remember not so long ago he was wandering the streets of Fulham knocking on random doors without a seeming care in the world !

I don’t agree- there’s no suggestion any of these people want to or have any intention to harm Meghan in any way, other than exposing her on the internet.

Personally I think as far as Meghan is concerned this will be a damp squib. She will appear for an hour, talk word salad at people about kindness and finding your voice and living your best life as a woman, take some highly curated photos with the VIPs and bugger off. There won’t be any juicy gossip.

But it will be interesting at least to get the inside take on exactly how much of a let down the whole experience is.

I agree. I cried buckets watching the funeral and couldn't work out why I felt so emotional. On reflection, I must have sensed it was the end of the 'magic' of the RF that I'd lived with for 70 years. Totally the end of an era and I'm sad about it.

Oh I hope it’s true!
Also if you’ve paid £3k for a ticket surely they can’t turn you away?

The Queen died shortly after my dad. I cried buckets for both of them.

@elessar im totally here for the gossip though.

I don’t think it’s that difficult is it? You just sign up online, join the ‘waitlist’ and then get pestered to pay, going by the accounts of people with tickets.

What point of Harry’s does it prove - I don’t think even he has ever said that people who take the piss out of them are somehow dangerous. (Although he does claim to be frightened of one of his own friends / supporters when it suits his agenda tbf.) If they’re that worried about getting close to the public, then charging people for proximity and selfies might not be the best income stream to pursue.

You think she will stay as long as an hour ? She has form for attending events , having her photo taken and sneaking out early .

This thing about restricting tickets to superfans - are there enough left to pay all that money and fill a hall?

i have Twitter blocked now, but IME an awful lot of people blow piss and wind on there ("Ooooo look at ME!!!") without the least intention of following through, and the internet being what it is there's little chance of follow up to know if they even went

I think if you really plan to attend and covertly film an event, the way not to do it is advertise it on social media when your account is already monitored (and has once been closed down) by your target.

Would you not do it quietly and share the images afterwards?

You'd think so wouldn't you, bluegreygreen, but this is what I meant about some of the posts being more for effect that reflecting any real intention

Not unlike their heroine herself ...

Good point @Puzzledandpissedoff - I suspect you're right.

Took him out and about to the cinema, Alton Towers, private visits to charities, other stuff that we'll never hear about to introduce him to the "common people" whom she mingled with before engagement. Spent time with him on Christmas Day, instead of sending him off to the nursery with the nannies while she did the five-changes of dress thing with the grown-ups.

OK I know she had an aristocratic upbringing and was aristocratic to her fingertips, but she was closer in her humanity to the rest of us that the 1980s RF, with their mothballed 1950s high-tea manners, WW2 stiff upper lip, gloves for shaking hands, hats not optional....

I cried at the announcement of her death and I was really surprised because I didn’t really follow or pay much attention to the royals previously! 🤷‍♀️

I don't really agree - it's not a private party it is an event that she is selling to the public. But I admit I don't understand her strategy of turning a "Besties girls weekend" into a meeting of MI5 by banning people from taking their mobiles to a party weekend that they have paid £3,000 for just seems like a really odd move.

It screams a need for control so that only "curated" approved photos are posted maximise their own PR image. We've seen before that they demand any unflattering pictures deleted - even at events that are not their own like the Kardashian party. For this weekend people are basically paying thousands to be extras in a Sussex promotional event.

I read somewhere that it was much more relaxed at the same event with Gwyneth Paltrow a few years ago and 3,000 people paid to and after her staged "conversation" she was happy to join the party and take selfies.... Meghan however, is not even staying at the same hotel

So here's a thought: if attendees can't take photos will they have to sign some sort of NDA too, like those who were visited in Harlem or wherever it was?

For this weekend people are basically paying thousands to be extras in a Sussex promotional event

Sounds spot on to me, @Lunde ...

Charles also took William to things supported by the Princes Trust - people always present it as if Diana was the only one in touch with humanity but KC did a lot of work with deprived communities through the Princes Trust

Should the event be cancelled, good luck getting the ticket money back. Hasn't the lady organising it gone bankrupt to the tune of 500k if I was the venue I would definitely want to be paid upfront non returnable. It's got shit show written all over it.

Oh no it doesn’t.

These pantomimes are created and performed by H&M, who deliberately publicise their sad-sack activities and make them semi-public for $$$.

Someone wanting to record a paid appearance by a celeb, while paying the requisite entry fee, does not set up the conditions for H&M being deserving of IPP status.

They can sign in as Gavin Burrows and then they won't have to worry.

No wonder they’re all Sharing bedrooms - it’ll be like an episode of The Apprentice I expect, get as much money for as little input as possible

Does anyone know the PR output format for the previous events as I am sure they will follow the same process?