Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have made the ultimate error by going on a tour of Australia this month. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have completed their four-day visit to the east coast of Australia - but nobody seemed to care. When the couple embarked on a tour Down Under in 2018, when they were senior members of the Royal Family, they were greeted by tens of thousands of people. Meghan also announced she was pregnant with her first child, Prince Archie, during the trip, which was celebrated across the globe.

However, this 2026 ‘faux’ Royal tour of Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra feels like a total flop and attracted notably smaller crowds, with some Australian news outlets describing them as “ambivalent” or “sparse”. In an embarrassing blow to Harry and Meghan, the BBC reported that most Aussies the corporation’s reporters spoke to were either uninterested or unaware of the visit.

There has also been a backlash as it came to light that Australian taxpayers may be covering some of the security costs for the Sussexes’ public events. A petition against taxpayer-funded security for Harry and Meghan gained more than 45,000 signatures.

What’s more, a clip has gone viral of the duo outside the Sydney Opera house, with hardly anyone else there to greet them, despite crowd barriers being in the background of the footage. The video is painful to watch, and I feel quite sorry for them as well as uncomfortable about it all.

Who exactly thought their whirlwind trip to Australia would be a good idea? History cannot be repeated, and the royal fever surrounding the couple stopped the second they decided to move to California and lambasted the Royal Family.

While it is great that Harry and Meghan met with survivors of the Bondi Beach stabbing attack, visited McAuley Community Services for Women and spoke at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, the trip has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Was it a just cash-grabbing, brand deal securing tour - or do the couple really want to be seen as philanthropical figures who care so deeply about others around the planet?

If Meghan’s ‘Best Life’ retreat was being offered for free, I might believe they just want to help people - but as it was for profit, I’m not convinced. I'm clearly not on their PR team, but it would be wise not to do another tour Down Under.