Like chocolate teapots, toilet bowl night-lights and ‘It’s prosecco-o’clock!’ coasters – you have to wonder what the point of some useless objects is.
Now with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle having landed Down Under for their four-day ‘commercial tour’, it seems some baffled Australians seem to be asking that very same question.
In fact, it’s worse than apathy – some angry Aussies have even blasted the Sussexes for treating their country ‘like an ATM cash machine’ as they embark on their quasi-royal tour.
The couple – no longer working royals and visiting privately – are blending charity visits alongside money-making events.
As they landed in Melbourne they looked thrilled as they received cheers and applause on a trip to Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne to meet cancer patients. (PR box ticked!)
One baffled parent said: “I didn’t even know they were coming, so I would wonder why they are actually here.”
Meghan then went solo as she served frittata at a women’s refuge before the couple reunited for a family craft session at the National Veterans Arts Museum.
I’m saying nothing.
But just like Putin downplays his invasion of Ukraine by calling it a ‘special military operation’, the Sussexes are confusingly framing their visit all around “listening, learning, and supporting communities”.
Yet interspersed with that listening and learning is clear and obvious ‘money-making’.
Harry is due to give a keynote speech at a summit where tickets cost up to £1,260 per person while Meghan is holding an “in-person conversation” at a women-only “girls weekend” in Sydney hosted by the producers of the Her Best Life podcast.
Although figures have not been confirmed, it’s been reported Meghan’s fee has been described as a ‘fat one’, in the region of $250,000.
I can hear the cash register now – Cha-ching!
The Sydney Morning Herald said: “Australia was good to Harry and Meghan. Now they want to use us as an ATM.”
One woman who was on board their Qantas flight from LA said of the duchess: “I don’t like her at all. Don’t come to Australia. You don’t belong here. We don’t want you here.”
And amid a row over how their security is being paid for, Victorian opposition leader Jess Wilson said: “Victoria Police are there to provide security and safety for Victorians. Any suggestion that officers are going to be pulled off duty to provide security and protection for Harry and Meghan’s visit is absolutely unacceptable.”
Angry Libertarian MP David Limbrick added: “If people want to spend thousands of dollars on former royals, that’s fine. But Victorian taxpayers should not be on the hook to provide the security of millionaires.”
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, are marking their first trip Down Under since they flew in as newlyweds in 2018 and are desperate to recreate the magic of that first 16-day tour and turn it into cash.
But they are not working royals. This is a faux royal tour. This is no different to a UK pop group visiting the country and popping into a couple of charities while they are there.
And that is perfectly fine – there is no crime in going on a commercial tour. But don’t frame it as a trip championing the cause of veterans or mental health. It’s about creating wealth.
Australian business leader Hilary Fordwich bemoaned the Sussexes for using their royal links “to make money” for themselves.
She told Sky News that while the couple claim the visit is “private”, she believes it is “to fund that 16-bedroom house they have in Montecito”.
We’re not fooled – and the canny Australians aren’t being fooled either.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
