The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are due to arrive in Sydney on Tuesday for a four-day visit to Australia that has been described as a 'faux-royal' tour. Prince Harry and Meghan will visit Sydney and Melbourne, with Harry making a solo trip to Canberra. Unlike their 2018 tour, which drew rapturous crowds and official receptions, this visit is privately funded and largely promotional, with no walkabouts planned owing to security and cost concerns.
Harry is scheduled to give a keynote address at InterEdge's 'psychosocial safety' summit in Sydney on Thursday, where he is expected to discuss workplace mental health. Tickets for the two-day event range from $498 for virtual attendance to $2,378.65 for a platinum experience. Meghan will headline the three-day 'Her Best Life' retreat, a wellness event pitched as a 'girls' weekend like no other', with tickets costing $2,699 including accommodation, or $3,199 for a VIP package including a group photo with Meghan.
The couple will also undertake a series of charitable visits. Meghan is expected to visit a women's homeless service in Sydney, while Harry will visit the Australian War Memorial, attend an Invictus Australia event and take part in the Last Post ceremony on Anzac Day. They will also visit the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. The tour is privately funded, although some taxpayer-funded policing will reportedly be provided for public safety.
The schedule has drawn criticism, with Daily Mirror royal editor Russell Myers calling it a 'box-ticking tour'. Flinders University associate professor Giselle Bastin said the couple's glamour had faded since their 2018 visit, when they were seen as 'the future of the Windsors'. She added that they appeared to be using Australia 'to cosplay what it might be like if they once again became working royals'. Nine newspapers published a piece on Monday titled 'Australia was good to Harry and Meghan. Now they want to use us as an ATM'.
The article detailed the couple's income streams, including a five-year Netflix deal reported at US$100m, a Spotify podcast deal worth US$20m, and US$20m from Penguin Random House for Harry's memoir 'Spare'. It also referenced their 16-room house in Montecito, California, and inheritances from Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Queen Mother. Bastin noted that the couple 'still need cash', with their spending outpacing their income.
