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Down Under
Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will return to Australia in April 2026, their office confirmed a few hours ago, in what is likely to be a closely watched and potentially contentious visit more than seven years after their last tour of the country as working royals.
Rumors of a visit began circulating in the Australian media last night before being confirmed this morning by their spokespeople. The couple are expected to undertake a mix of private, business, and philanthropic engagements, as private citizens rather than on behalf of the Crown, with Sydney and Melbourne among the likely stops.
Their last visit to Australia, in October 2018, came as they announced Meghan was pregnant with their son, Archie.
That tour, which took in Sydney and other parts of the country as part of a wider Pacific trip, drew large, enthusiastic crowds and was widely seen at the time as a high point for the couple’s popularity in the Commonwealth.
Much has changed since then. Polling in Australia in late 2022 suggested their favorability had fallen to new lows even as interest in their Netflix series remained strong.
Although there has been no major nationwide survey focused solely on Harry and Meghan’s standing in Australia in the past year, broader polling shows Australians are split over the monarchy and the role of King Charles III as the country’s head of state. Surveys since the King’s accession have alternated between a narrow lead for a republic and periods of renewed support for retaining the monarchy, underscoring how contentious the issue remains.
Against that backdrop, the Sussexes are likely to be lightning rods in Australia’s ongoing debate about the royal family and the country’s constitutional future.
Expect questions to be raised about why Harry and Meghan are visiting while more senior royals such as the Prince and Princess of Wales are not.
Any new polling commissioned ahead of or during the trip will offer a clearer picture of how Australians now view the couple compared with the rapturous scenes of 2018, when Meghan’s pregnancy announcement added to the sense of excitement around a pair once seen as bringing modernizing energy to the monarchy.
For now, one thing seems certain: Harry and Meghan will need thick skins when they arrive in a country where they are no longer assured of a warm welcome.
Outspoken
Sports players routinely cover their mouths when they talk so that nobody can lip-read them. Senior royals might want to think about doing the same when they’re having conversations in front of cameras.
We all recall that moment in 2025 when Prince Andrew sidled up to King Charles and Prince William outside the Duchess of Kent’s funeral. It was the moment when we saw the depth of William’s contempt for Andrew, and we witnessed in real time the very different approaches William and Charles adopt to dealing with him.
You’ll recall how Andrew tried to engage William in conversation. William stared straight ahead, stony-faced. Andrew said something; William did not respond. Andrew looked embarrassed, glanced down at the ground, and shuffled away.
This came shortly before the first tranche of Epstein files emerged, and now we have a lip-reader’s account of what was said in that awkward exchange.
According to lip-reader Nicola Hickling, speaking in the Channel 5 documentary Lip-Reading the Royals, Andrew approached his nephew and said: “I’ve learned from what I’ve done but, before I forget, and if I can, I’d like to ask you if you can forgive me.”
William did not reply. Andrew moved away.
Catherine then apparently said, “He seemed very sorry.”
William replied: “Do you think I deserve that? Is that what you mean?”
Catherine simply repeated that he seemed very sorry.
Even allowing for the limitations of lip-reading, the exchange goes to the heart of the current dynamics inside the royal family: the transfer of power toward William that began when King Charles announced he had cancer.
The Andrew encounter is therefore revealing. Andrew was not appealing to his elder brother or to his sovereign; he was asking forgiveness from his nephew.
That is because he understands that William—the next king—is now the one calling the shots.
More Bad News
There has also been more bad news for Andrew this weekend. Events in the Middle East make it unlikely he will be traveling there in the near future. It has long been assumed that the region—most likely the United Arab Emirates, where Andrew has done extensive business and has access to a villa—was effectively a fallback refuge. It is unclear whether Sarah Ferguson is already there, but the current conflict complicates the situation.
His daughters have also built extensive connections in the region and travel there frequently, so the instability is likely affecting them as well.
Meanwhile, another development has placed Andrew under further pressure. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, described Andrew’s links to Jeffrey Epstein as “deplorable” and suggested he should be removed from the line of succession.
This matters because the British monarch is Canada’s head of state. Canada is one of fifteen Commonwealth realms, and any significant constitutional adjustment to the succession would require agreement among those countries.
In practical terms, there is unlikely to be meaningful opposition to Andrew’s removal from the line. But the symbolism is significant.
Carney made the remarks in Tokyo when asked whether Andrew should retain any public role. He suggested Andrew’s conduct makes him unfit for public office and indicated he should be stripped of his titles and responsibilities—steps that would logically extend to removing him from the line of succession.
Carney is not a peripheral figure making an off-hand remark. As a former governor of the Bank of England, he has longstanding relationships within the British establishment and has connections, via marriage, with the British aristocracy.
Andrew will eventually be removed from the line of succession. And with William increasingly acting as the gravitational center of power inside the monarchy (see above), his daughters—Beatrice and Eugenie—may also be pushed further away.
Recent events suggest William does not want them anywhere near the monarchy— another flash point with “Pa.”
The day after Andrew lost his military titles and HRH status, King Charles appointed Princess Beatrice as patron of the Outward Bound Trust, a charity closely associated with Prince Philip.
William was deeply unhappy with the move. Developments since then suggest the King has had little choice but to accommodate his son’s view.
Never Ever
And finally, another royal story that has been attracting attention this weekend: Meghan Markle’s lifestyle venture, As Ever, has parted ways with Netflix.
Meghan’s team insists she chose to walk away because Netflix was holding the brand back. This has been met with some scepticism, but time, of course, will tell.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source theroyalist.substack.com ’
