March 11, 2026

Sussexes head back to Australia — seven years after explosive royal tour

Sussexes head back to Australia — seven years after explosive royal tour
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have confirmed they will return to Australia in mid-April, marking their first visit to the country since their hugely publicized 2018 royal tour.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to take part in a mix of private business, philanthropic and media engagements in Sydney and Melbourne. Meghan is also rumored to appear on the Australian podcast Her Best Life.

The trip is already stirring debate because it will take place at roughly the same time King Charles the

Third is expected to visit the United States. Royal insider Deep Crown notes that the timing will inevitably create a competing global spotlight.

Supporters say Harry and Meghan’s more informal approach to visits helps them connect with younger audiences and humanitarian groups. Critics argue the couple continue to operate like a parallel royal court while no longer representing the monarchy.

The visit comes seven years after their 2018 South Pacific tour, when the newly married couple drew huge crowds and announced Meghan’s pregnancy with Prince Archie.

Get episodes of Palace Intrigue by becommming a paid subscriber on Apple Podcasts. Click the button that says uninterrupted listening.  Just $5 a month, and that includes many ofther shows on the Caloroga Shark network.

Royal Books:

William and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story

The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:11.039
Caalaroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Entry. I

2
00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.960
am your host, Mark Francis, Prince Harry and Megan Markle

3
00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:17.359
have confirmed they will travel to Australia in mid April,

4
00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:19.960
marking their first visit to the country in seven years.

5
00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.359
A spokesperson for the couple said they will visit Australia

6
00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:25.559
in mid April to take part in a number of

7
00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:29.800
private business and philanthropic engagements. The trip will be the

8
00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:32.359
first time the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have returned

9
00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.960
to Australia since their high profile royal tour in twenty eighteen,

10
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.240
shortly after their wedding. During that visit, the couple arrived

11
00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:43.079
in Sydney before embarking on a sixteen day tour that

12
00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:47.079
included stops in Melbourne and Dubbo, along with international visits

13
00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:50.759
to Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand. Large crowds turned out

14
00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:52.759
to greet the newly married couple, and the tour was

15
00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:55.679
widely seen as a major moment for the Sussexes early

16
00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:58.280
in their time as working members of the royal family.

17
00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.320
Excitement during the two nine eighteen trip intensified when Kensington

18
00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.079
Palace announced that Megan was pregnant with the couple's first

19
00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:08.599
child just before the tour began. It is not yet

20
00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.400
known whether Prince Archie now six, and Princess Lili but

21
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.280
four will accompany their parents on the upcoming visit or

22
00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:17.920
remain at the family's home in Montecito. While the full

23
00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:20.719
schedule has not yet been announced, the couple are expected

24
00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:24.400
to spend time in Sydney and Melbourne. Observers say Prince

25
00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.840
Harry may meet with members of Australia's Armed Forces or

26
00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:32.400
veterans organizations, reflecting his long standing involvement with military charities

27
00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.640
and the Invictus Games community. There are also reports that

28
00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:39.680
Megan may appear on an Australian podcast during the trip.

29
00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:42.879
According to local media, she's expected to be a guest

30
00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:46.280
on the podcast Her Best Life, which was launched by

31
00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:51.439
radio presenter Jackie O Henderson through her company Besties. Henderson

32
00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:53.680
has recently been in the headlines following the collapse of

33
00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.920
The Kyle and Jackie Oh Show last week. In reports

34
00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:00.760
say she stepped away from the podcast in February. Meghan

35
00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:02.959
is also rumored to be considering an appearance at a

36
00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.079
future Besties event in Sydney. Previous gatherings organized by the

37
00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.840
company have included appearances by celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow,

38
00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:13.960
who participated in a question and answer event in Darling

39
00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.960
Harbor in twenty twenty three. Royal historian Tim You had

40
00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:21.479
told Sky News Australia broke Harry and Meghan and was

41
00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.439
one of the catalysts for them leaving the Royal family.

42
00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:26.879
She and Harry had expected they would get much more

43
00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:31.199
praise and recognition from that Royal tour. Prince Harry himself

44
00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:33.840
reflected on the trip during the couple's twenty twenty one

45
00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:37.400
interview with Oprah Winfrey, saying it really changed after the

46
00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.599
Australia tour, After our South Pacific tour. It was the

47
00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:43.360
first time that the family got to see how incredible

48
00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.319
she is at the job, and that brought back memories

49
00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.879
to see how effortless it was for Megan to come

50
00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.680
into the family so quickly in Australia and across New Zealand,

51
00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:56.319
Fiji and Tonga and just be able to connect with people.

52
00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:00.680
Royle inside a deep Crown in his free substack. Let

53
00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:03.879
us consider the calendar in that same April window. King

54
00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.039
Charles the third will travel to the United States, the

55
00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:09.960
first reigning British monarch to do so in living memory.

56
00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.360
It is a visit of genuine, constitutional and diplomatic significance,

57
00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:17.719
the kind of moment the Institution has been preparing for carefully,

58
00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:20.319
the kind of moment that demands the full attention of

59
00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:24.159
the world's press, and in precisely that window, the Sussexes

60
00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:26.719
will be on the other side of the planet, generating

61
00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:30.800
their own coverage, conducting their own engagements, drawing their own cameras.

62
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:33.680
They cannot pretend they do not know about Charles trip.

63
00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.240
They cannot pretend the timing is coincidence. The Sussex operation

64
00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.719
is many things, but naive it is not. Despite the

65
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.639
likely criticism, some are suggesting Harry and Meghan are exactly

66
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.520
what the royal family needs. An insider who witnessed the

67
00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:50.479
Jordan trip said, what stands out when Harry and Meghan

68
00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:52.759
are on the ground is how quickly they dissolve the

69
00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:57.120
usual barriers. There is no stiff choreography or visible hierarchy

70
00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:59.680
in the way they move through a room. They tend

71
00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.719
to sit close, ask direct questions, and listen for longer

72
00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:06.360
than expected. In environments where people are coping with displacement

73
00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:11.639
or addiction that informality can feel disarming. Positively, it creates

74
00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:15.520
a sense that the exchange is human first and ceremonial second.

75
00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.800
Although this tour was not conducted under palace auspices, the

76
00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:24.240
structure mirrors traditional Royal engagements, meetings with community leaders, walkthroughs

77
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.920
of facilities, time set aside for private conversations, and public

78
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.600
visibility for local initiatives. The distinction is that they are

79
00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:36.079
no longer bound by layers of institutional oversight. Without those constraints,

80
00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:38.639
they can adapt the tone and pacing of a visit,

81
00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:43.399
spending more time on issues like recovery services, refugee integration,

82
00:04:43.639 --> 00:04:47.079
and support for wounded veterans. It gives their advocacy a

83
00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:51.279
more conversational, less scripted quality, which many participants find easier

84
00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:55.959
to relate to. An unnamed Royal commentator told Radar Online

85
00:04:56.279 --> 00:05:01.000
the institution is navigating a period of introspection. Uestions about cost,

86
00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:05.079
transparency and purpose are surfacing more openly than they have

87
00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:08.360
in decades. In that climate, Harry and Meghan occupy an

88
00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:12.560
unusual space. They have credibility with demographics that are often

89
00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:17.000
indifferent or openly critical of the monarchy, especially younger especially

90
00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:22.600
younger generations and those weary of inherited status. The global celebrity,

91
00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:25.639
combined with a willingness to speak the language of mental health,

92
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.839
identity and social justice, allows them to penetrate audiences that

93
00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:33.519
traditional royal messaging does not always reach. That does not

94
00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:37.439
automatically translate into institutional benefit, but it complicates the picture.

95
00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.879
It raises the question of whether the monarchy can afford

96
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:45.839
to sideline figures who demonstrably command attention in spaces where

97
00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:49.959
the crown struggles to resonate. On the other hand, the

98
00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:54.319
backlash is inevitable, as exemplified by the recent Duchess Wrinkle

99
00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:58.839
Pants commentary. A royal observer told Radar Online she is

100
00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.839
being trolled for a tenth, a relaxed, accessible look that

101
00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:07.079
inevitably invites comparison to Princess Diana's off duty style. Diana

102
00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:09.600
could step out in sweatshirts and cycling shorts and be

103
00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:14.079
hailed as effortlessly chic. Megan tries to channel something similarly

104
00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:17.240
casual and is accused of sloppiness. A source close to

105
00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:20.160
the Sussexes said this was a working visit to a

106
00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:23.839
refugee camp in hot conditions, Lin increases, this is the

107
00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.560
nature of the fabric. The obsession with a few wrinkles

108
00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:30.040
rather than the humanitarian focus, says more about the online

109
00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:34.439
culture than it does about Megan. In The Times, Shane

110
00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:37.079
Watson writes, Megan is said to be itching to move

111
00:06:37.160 --> 00:06:40.680
beyond the jams and tea and into homewere, hostessing textiles,

112
00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.439
pet accessories. You name something you definitely don't need and

113
00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:46.600
it'll be in there, selling for a price that would

114
00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.480
make your dad spit out his tea. And if the

115
00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.360
success of the edible sprinkles and fruit spreads is anything

116
00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.720
to go by as ever, may yet prove to be

117
00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:57.600
the new goop. When a Portro's lifestyle brand has been

118
00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:01.040
valued at two hundred and fifty million dollars, it's a

119
00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.519
lot harder for US civilians to join in with, though,

120
00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.759
and less fun. Although come to think of it, Australia

121
00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:10.040
is fertile ground for Meganizing, and with any luck, Meghan

122
00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.120
is hard at work right now in the creative Barn

123
00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:15.439
in Montecito, coming up with some less frou frou, more

124
00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:19.480
outback solutions to every day elevating I'm available for our ideas.

125
00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:21.480
If you get stuck. Meghan, I would go big on

126
00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:25.519
outdoor dining. You'll need some decorative yet practical spins on

127
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.639
barbie covers, tableware, hurricane lambs, beer calls, and candles that

128
00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:33.839
discourage insects. Tip the Aussies like cork. Another tip, don't

129
00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.839
try to sell them cut up fruit as your signature

130
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.600
rainbow platter. And don't make out that having a mimosa

131
00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.519
is the height of naughtiness. Otherwise he is betting they'll

132
00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.439
buy it. They all will more palas in just a moment,

133
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.399
Meghan shared a new photograph of herself and little Bit

134
00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:54.240
to mark International Women's Day, prompting both praise and criticism online.

135
00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:56.879
The photograph shows Megan sitting on a beach while holding

136
00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.319
her four year old daughter. For the woman she will

137
00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:03.439
one day be happy International Women's Day. She also credited

138
00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:05.800
the photographed to her husband, Prince Harry, writing that it

139
00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:10.439
was taken by Papa Sussex. The post quickly attracted attention online,

140
00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:13.279
with some critics questioning the nickname used for the Duke

141
00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:18.519
of Sussex. One critic wrote, Papa Sussex really, Another commented,

142
00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.000
Papa Sussex. They really know how to be cloying and

143
00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:25.839
insufferable Meghan pushing the use of sussex again. However, supporters

144
00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:28.800
of the couple quickly moved to defend Meghan's post and

145
00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:32.120
the nickname. One supporter wrote, they call him Papa, just

146
00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:34.960
like many British kids do, adding the sussex at the

147
00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:38.399
end is to distinguish Harry from Papa, his dad, King Charles,

148
00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:42.080
because Harry calls his dad Papa. Journalist Tom Sykes wrote,

149
00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:43.879
I would suggest that Meghan is keen for us to

150
00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:47.480
know her husband is a royal duke. A source tells

151
00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:49.679
Radar Online that Charles will meet up with Harry during

152
00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:52.879
the King's visit to the States in April. Of course,

153
00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:55.639
if Harry is in Australia, that will be harder to coordinate.

154
00:08:55.960 --> 00:08:58.720
The source claimed. On the agenda will definitely be a

155
00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:01.080
meeting with Harry. Charles wants to see his son and

156
00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.679
his grandkids. He will be delighted to see them again. However,

157
00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:07.679
sources suggest that William is unlikely to meet with Harry

158
00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.600
and Meghan during his trip. One insiders said, while Charles

159
00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.360
is hoping to mend his relationship with Harry, William wants

160
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.039
no part of it and that's likely never going to change,

161
00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:19.960
and there you have it. If you like to email

162
00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:22.879
us wor addresses The Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com.

163
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:24.919
Please follow us on Spotify, Apple, or the app of

164
00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.240
your choice. Leave us a nice review if you're enjoying

165
00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:29.919
the show by Mark Frantis My Things to John McDermott,

166
00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.159
this Palace Intrigue, good terms,