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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s so-called “faux royal tour” of Australia is drawing criticism, with royal insiders telling Fox News Digital that it is raising eyebrows behind palace doors.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in Melbourne on Tuesday for their first trip down under since their official royal tour in 2018. The four-day visit to Australia is being described as privately funded by the Sussexes, who flew to Melbourne in business class from Los Angeles on a commercial Qantas Airways flight.
“The palace is unhappy about these rent-a-royal tours because it blatantly disregards the late queen’s very specific instruction that there can be no half-in, half-out for the Sussexes,” Kinsey Schofield, host of YouTube’s “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered,” told Fox News Digital.
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, visit the Royal Children’s Hospital on April 14, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. The couple have engagements across Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
“All they are doing in Australia is monetizing their titles and clinging to royal relevance, even though most of Prince Harry’s family refuse to take his phone calls,” Schofield claimed.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, meets guests during the Invictus Australia Reception at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on April 15, 2026, during a four-day visit to Australia. (Jonathan Brady/Pool/Getty Images)
“The purpose of the Australian tour is monetary, but it is also to look like royals because the world has rejected Harry and Meghan as reality stars and podcasters. Their relevance remains through their proximity to the British royal family. The royal family thinks it’s disrespectful.”
British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard agreed.
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“This faux royal roadshow elevates the Sussex brand while undermining the very institution that gave them the platform,” she claimed. “The Australians are asking: Who exactly is this tour for?”
Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. There is no official palace response or endorsement issued on the visit, as Harry and Meghan are not working royals.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, serves lunch to a resident at McAuley Community Services for Women, a homeless and family violence shelter, in Melbourne, Australia, on April 14, 2026, during a visit with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
Schofield and Chard’s statements came shortly after royal writer Robert Hardman, author of “The Windsor Legacy,” told Page Six that Harry and Meghan’s trip may leave palace aides perplexed, even annoyed.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, meet people at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on April 14, 2026. (William West/AFP/Getty Images)
“I’m sure [Buckingham Palace] would prefer that Harry and Meghan weren’t going, but there’s not a lot they can do about it,” he said ahead of their journey. “They have no control. There will undoubtedly be a sense of confusion about what Harry and Meghan are there for … this trip may stick in the gullet of the palace.”
The couple stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, visit the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, on April 14, 2026, during their four-day visit to the country. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
Public complaints emerged about the added security costs for police agencies as the couple visited Melbourne and Canberra, with Sydney marking the final leg of their trip. Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper described the latest visit as a “faux royal tour to shore up Brand Sussex.”
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, visit the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, on April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
A spokesperson for the couple rejected the claim that the couple’s visit was a publicity tour.
“The program is rooted in long-standing areas of work for the Duke and the Duchess, with a clear focus on amplifying organizations delivering measurable impact,” their office said in a statement. “The visit prioritizes listening, learning and supporting communities rather than promotion.”
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, meets a young patient during a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
The statement noted that their agenda includes “a small number of private engagements” to “support broader charitable and commercial objectives.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take photographs with patients while visiting The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne on April 14, 2026. (Joe Armao/The Age via Getty Images)
On Thursday, Harry is scheduled to give the keynote address at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit. Page Six reported in-person tickets cost $706. Sales support community education programs, crisis support and suicide prevention initiatives, the outlet shared.
Meghan is also set to speak at a girls’ weekend retreat in Sydney. Tickets for the “intimate, luxury weekend,” organized by Gemma O’Neill of the “Her Best Life” podcast, have a price tag of $2,699 per person. The VIP experience, priced at $3,199 per person, includes a group table photo with the former American actress.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex previously visited Australia as working royals in 2018. (Paul Edwards/Pool/Getty Images)
“A paid selfie with your favorite celebrity is a Comic-Con opportunity, not a British royal family move,” said Schofield, calling the move “tacky.”
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, serves lunch at McAuley Community Services for Women, a homeless and family violence shelter, in the Footscray suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
“Harry and Meghan’s pseudo-royal tour down under is making noise, but not the kind they might want,” said Chard. “Behind the photo ops, the public mood reads more like disinterest laced with disdain. The big question on everyone’s lips: Why are they here?”
“This isn’t an official royal visit,” said Chard. “It’s a commercial hybrid dressed in palace clothing. Harry’s a paid speaker at a mental health leadership summit. Meghan’s headlining a women’s retreat, eyeing the shelves for her As Ever jam and wares. They are pushing their platforms all while trading on the royal family they left behind.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, sits in the audience before a Q&A session during a visit to Movember at the Western Bulldogs headquarters at Mission Whitten Oval in Melbourne on April 15, 2026. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
Page Six reported that Meghan, 44, is expected to hold meetings about launching her lifestyle brand, As Ever. The outlet noted she has trademarked 12 products in Australia. On April 15, Australia’s 10 News also announced that Meghan would appear on “MasterChef Australia” as a guest judge.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, participates in a model making activity with veterans and their families at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum in Southbank, Melbourne, on April 14, 2026. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
The Sussexes appear to be pushing back against claims that they are exploiting their royal titles.
Their first public engagement was at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital. As they entered the hospital foyer, they shook hands with dozens of well-wishers while being filmed by hundreds of onlookers’ phones.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex seen arriving at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum. (Josh Stanyer/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, opened the facility in 1963. His parents, Princess Diana and the former Prince Charles, visited it in 1985.
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, places a poppy in the Afghanistan section of the Wall of Remembrance at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on April 15, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool/Getty Images)
Meghan also visited a women’s shelter, while the couple spent time with a veterans’ art community in Melbourne. Harry, 41, also stopped by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The two are set to team up for an Invictus Australia sailing event.
Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014, where sick and injured military personnel and veterans compete in adaptive sports.
The couple’s children Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 4, are not traveling with them. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
“There’s a philanthropic fig leaf, but it’s messy,” Chard said. “They’re not working royals. These are all worthy causes, but the optics scream ‘royal tour with the palace,’ with Archewell philanthropies as the shield.”
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, kicks a ball during a Western Bulldogs Australian rules football session at the Western Bulldogs headquarters in Footscray, Melbourne, on April 15, 2026. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams claimed to Fox News Digital that two key senior royals will be following the usual mantra instilled by the late queen to keep calm and carry on.
“Prince William will almost certainly oppose the couple’s attempt to ease themselves back into some sort of relationship with the royal family as he doesn’t trust them,” he claimed. “Since this is one of the king’s realms, and there is enormous media interest in the visit, it is bound to concern the palace. This is similar, in many ways, to an actual royal tour.”
Royal experts previously told Fox News Digital that Prince Harry (right) and his older brother Prince William (left) are not on speaking terms. (Yui Mok – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
“The king has to ignore the Sussexes at this pivotal moment, or he risks being distracted from a very important meeting between him and President Trump,” Schofield pointed out, referring to the monarch’s upcoming visit to the U.S.
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Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, lays a wreath at the Last Post Ceremony during a visit to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on April 15, 2026. (Wendell Teodoro/Getty Images)
“Any mention of Harry takes away from a crucial assignment from the British government,” she warned.
But Fitzwilliams pointed out that if the Sussexes play their cards right, the Australia tour could spark peace talks with the royal family.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex is presented with a Western Bulldogs scarf during a visit to Movember at the Western Bulldogs HQ at Mission Whitten Oval on April 15, 2026 in Footscray, Melbourne, Australia. (Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)
“As head of the armed forces, and the Invictus Games being a fine military charity, the king may feel it’s his duty to open the Games,” said Fitzwilliams, noting that the next event is being held in Birmingham in 2027.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attends the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on April 15, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool/Getty Images)
“This could mean reconciliation, or it could open Pandora’s box,” said Fitzwilliams.
Royal experts previously told Fox News Digital that William and Harry are not on speaking terms. Sources close to Harry previously told People magazine that King Charles wasn’t responding to the Duke of Sussex’s letters or phone calls.
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were greeted by a large media presence. (Josh Stanyer/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)
Whether the trip ultimately proves successful or not for the Sussexes, it gives royal watchers a glimpse into their futures, said Schofield.
“I think paid appearances are Harry and Meghan’s reality for now,” she said. “Meghan is back to working the gig economy, which she was familiar with as an actress. Chasing paycheck to paycheck.”