It was the first time the couple had gone to Australia since 2018, when they visited as working royals. The trip had a different approach but still had royal influences, with Harry and Meghan even meeting members of the public in a controlled environment.
But a PR expert said the lukewarm “faux royal tour” failed to impress, with nothing positive or negative about the Montecito couple, and the Australian market was seen as a tough target to win over.
Australian-born Renae Smith, founder of PR agency The Atticism, told the Daily Express: “My overall take is that it was… fine. Nothing went dramatically wrong, which in itself is a win in today’s media environment.
“From a PR standpoint, if I were on their team, I’d be calling it a success purely because there were no major controversies, no big missteps, and nothing that spiralled out of control. That bar sounds low, but realistically, that’s often how these tours are judged internally.
“That said, did it move the needle? I don’t think so. It felt very ‘steady state.’
“Culturally, Australia is still a tricky market for them. The biggest ongoing tension is that they position themselves as private individuals, yet continue to operate in very public, almost royal-adjacent ways when it suits them. That contradiction hasn’t gone away, and it was definitely part of the conversation again this time around.”
Ms Smith said their trip raised questions about whether they can shift public perception or acquire new fans in the long run, following their royal fall from grace six years ago.
The Sussexes’ popularity has taken a nosedive since they quit as working members of the Royal Family in 2020.
Ms Smith added: “If you’re not growing or repairing, are you actually succeeding, or just standing still?
“That depends on how they define success, but from an external PR perspective, it was more “meh” than meaningful.”
‘ 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 ’
