A Special Connection to Australia
Australia holds a unique place in the hearts of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their last visit to the country was marked by a significant announcement — they revealed they were pregnant with their first child shortly after landing in Sydney on a rainy October day in 2018.
This moment generated immense public interest and set the stage for their 16-day royal tour, which included numerous engagements across Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji. The tour was widely regarded as a success, with Meghan’s popularity rising significantly. Headlines praised them as the faces of the modern monarchy, while crowds welcomed them with enthusiasm, drawing comparisons to the 1983 honeymoon tour of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
Prince Harry reflected on the Australian tour as a turning point for the couple during his interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. He mentioned that it was after this tour that things “really changed” for them. “It really changed after the Australia tour,” he told Oprah. “It was also the first time that the family got to see how incredible [Meghan] is at the job. That brought back memories.”
The Duchess shared similar sentiments, stating that it was upon returning from the Australian tour that the couple first began to feel differently about their relationship with the royal family. This eventually led to their 2020 decision to step down as working members of the royal family, resulting in a long-standing rift between Harry and his family.
“After we had gotten back from our Australia tour … we talked about things really started to turn, when I knew we weren’t being protected,” Meghan told Oprah.
Harry, who had previously spent a few months living in Australia as part of his attachment to the Australian Army in 2015, added: “To see how effortless it was for Meghan to come into the family so quickly in Australia and across New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, and just be able to connect with people. She was welcomed into the family not just by the family, but by the world.”
That was eight years ago. Next week, the couple will return to Australia, but this time in a different capacity and with a vastly different life. They famously relocated to the US in 2020 and established a new life in sunny California with their two children, Archie and Lillibet.
The Duchess launched her own lifestyle brand, As Ever, while Prince Harry has continued his passion for the Invictus Games, which he founded, and has carved out a niche as a speaker on mental health issues, including in the workplace. As a couple, they have engaged in various TV podcasting and book deals, with Harry writing his tell-all best-selling memoir, Spare.
Next week, the Duke and Duchess will return to Australia for a series of private, business, and philanthropic engagements. These include two formal engagements where Prince Harry will give a keynote address about mental health concerns in workplaces at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, alongside speakers such as Jelena Dokic and Hugh Van Cuylenberg. Meanwhile, the Duchess will be the star attraction at the Her Best Life “girls weekend like no other” retreat at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach next weekend.
Public sentiment towards the couple in 2026 may differ from that of 2018, but regardless of personal opinions, the issues that Prince Harry and Meghan are expected to highlight during their upcoming tour — mental health, supporting women and families, and veterans affairs — are all critically important for the wider community.
At The Australian Women’s Weekly, we will be covering every step of their tour, so stay tuned for our live coverage across womensweekly.com.au.
