Why did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Royal Children’s Hospital during their Australia tour? Watch the video of their ‘privately funded’ visit

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, visited Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital on Tuesday (April 14, 2026) for the first stop on their Australia tour. This is their first visit to the country since their official royal tour in 2018. The four-day Australian visit comes after the couple announced in 2020 they planned to “step back” as senior royals and to become financially independent in their Californian base.

Following the arrival of former royals, a crowd of young patients and their families filled every floor of the hospital, seeking a glimpse of Prince Harry and Meghan after they arrived at the Parkville hospital in a black Range Rover with tinted windows at 12pm. They walked through the revolving doors to greet fans who were waiting for them.

The former royals embraced young oncology patients and chatted with their families in the foyer for about 10 minutes before making their way into a private part of the hospital to see other patients, as reported by 9News. The couple took selfies with patients and collected flowers as they made their way across the hospital floor.

The Royal Children’s Hospital has a rich royal history. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963, and she returned in 2011 following major renovations. King Charles III and Princess Diana also visited during their royal tour of Australia in 1985.

The Sussexes describe their visit as privately funded, and they flew to Melbourne business class from Los Angeles on a commercial Qantas Airways flight. “This is a privately funded trip. To pay for that, they’re going to have to have some commercial interest,” Hagan told Australian Broadcasting Corp, as quoted by AP.

“If they didn’t have commercial interest, the problem would be: Oh my goodness, these people are leeching off the Royal Family and the taxpayers whether or not they’re making their own money. How dare they make their own money.’ They can’t do right for doing wrong,” Hagan added.