Harry and Meghan Australia Tour 2026: What to know about Duke and Duchess of Sussex return to Australia for the first time since royal exit | Explainer

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in Australia next week for what promises to be a high-profile, non-royal tour that will look remarkably like a royal tour.

For four days, Prince Harry and Meghan will visit several cities and carry out assignments related to community resilience, support for the armed forces and mental health.

Much of their visit remains secret for now, but what can be said at this stage is that it will be remarkably different from last time the couple was in Australia eight years ago.

How times have changed

At the time, in 2018, Prince Harry and Meghan represented the British Royal Family and were two of the most popular working members of The Firm.

It was their first major tour of the Commonwealth and they came to Australia months after their wedding in support of the Invictus Games, held in Sydney.

Their 76 engagements spanned 16 days with stops in Sydney, Dubbo, Melbourne and K’gari (Fraser Island) before traveling to Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand.

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We now know that Prince Harry and Meghan’s latest visit to Australia will… catalyst for the couple leaving their place as senior working royals in 2020.

Behind the scenes, they were far from the happy couple presented to the media and public at the time.

Meghan didn’t want to be in Australia and said she “hated every second of it”. The Duchess was also said to be stunned not getting paid for the much-discussed tour.

In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that this was the case taking a step back for a life of financial freedom in the US.

Six years later, they will travel to Australia as private citizens and not represent the British government or the British Royal Family.

The visit is paid for privately, but that of Prince Harry and Meghan four-day tour through Colombia in 2024, the South American country cost almost $87,000.

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

That’s what sources said at the time The Telegraph In Britain, the costs covered a period of eight days as they included four days of preliminary visits by staff, including security and logistics teams.

What they plan to do this time

Prince Harry and Meghan will begin their tour early next week, with engagements in Melbourne and Sydney.

Another city is part of the four-day program, but will not be publicly announced until next week.

Their spokesperson said this earlier nine.com.au the program would allow Prince Harry and Meghan to “participate in a number of private, business and philanthropic engagements.”

Engagements will focus on community resilience, support for the armed forces and mental health.

Prince Harry and Meghan have continued to support such issues since stepping back as working royals, with the help of their new lives in the US to support various charities, organizations and projects that closely match their interests and beliefs.

Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter said the Australian visit will expose the couple’s “fall from grace”.

A look back at Prince Harry and Meghan’s royal tours as Duke and Duchess of Sussex

“Tours like this make for some very uncomfortable comparisons – here we are talking about how they were received in 2018, compared to a commercial visit driven by commercial interests,” Arbiter said. Today.

“They need to be able to earn an income, but after recent years of complaining about living in the royal sphere, what they didn’t like about the royal system, they are coming to Australia to capitalize on their royal titles in a non-royal capacity.

“So what that does is remind the audience what it is that they gave up.”

“They had the most incredible global platform, global privileges, a status that money can’t buy, and yet they gave it all up to act as former royals for cheap, and I don’t think that benefits them at all.”

Prince Harry will be a keynote speaker at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, taking place on April 15 and 16. Tickets originally cost $1,978, but have since been reduced by 50 percent to about $997.

The Duchess will do that headlining a women-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 being billed as a ‘girls’ weekend like no other’ and Meghan will speak at a conversation session before taking part in 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 there were still some available.

Meghan is also expected to meet with potential partners, buyers and marketing executives expanding its lifestyle brandAs always, in Australia.

According to data from the Australian Intellectual Property Office, Meghan’s trademark was accepted in June 2025 under the description “fancy”. Current products include jam, sprinkles, candles and wine.

As a source previously said The Telegraph Britain, Harry and Meghan “have to earn a living,” adding that “they are private citizens and have to pay the bills like anyone else.”

Prince Harry will attend events related to the Australian Defense Force and the Australians Invictus games team. Invictus Australia recently announced plans to bring the competition back to the country in 2031.

How can the public see Harry and Meghan?

In 2018, 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 them first walkabout of the tour was huge and media coverage of their visit was largely positive.

This time around, however, Prince Harry and Meghan are two of the least popular members of the royal family, according to one YouGov poll in February.

A rapturous welcome this time is not guaranteed.

And because they are private individuals, no opportunities for a public meeting are expected during their four-day visit.

That’s because of the major security operation that would be required to conduct such an event safely – security that would be funded by taxpayers.

However, once the couple’s itinerary is revealed, it’s likely that some royal fans will try to spot Prince Harry and Meghan as they arrive and depart from various events.

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