Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could face chaos in Australia next week — as they prepare to use their royal branding in a country that still counts King Charles as its monarch, Page Six is told.
“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. They have no control,” royal writer Robert Jobson, author of “The Windsor Legacy,” told Page Six. “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.”
“They yearn for the catnip of attention,” one palace source told us of the couple.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex kick off their four-day faux-royal visit on Tuesday and will tour Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney where, we’re told, they will meet sick children, mental health charities and the Australian branch of Harry’s beloved Invictus Games.
But Markle is also expected to hold meetings about launching her lifestyle brand, As Ever, as she has now trademarked 12 products in Australia.
Meanwhile, tickets for Markle’s heavily publicized luxe “girls weekend like no other,” at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach from April 17 to April 19, are still on sale despite reports the 300-person event is sold out.
The website for the Her Best Life retreat now says “a handful of additional rooms just released.”
Tickets start at $2,699 (AUS) per person, which converts to just over $1,900 USD. For an extra $500, guests get a “group table photo” with Markle and podcast hosts Gemma O’Neill and Jackie ‘O’ Henderson.
Journalist Ariana Pezeshki wrote for 7News Australia that her purchased ticket was canceled, allegedly because of her job.
The last time the Sussexes were Down Under, back in October 2018, Markle, 44, made an assistant cry and as she was navigating public engagements — and reportedly told her staff, “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.”
This trip, which comes on the heels of the couple’s recent humanitarian visit to Jordan, could be equally tumultuous.
Even though they are non-working royals — and rarely speak with King Charles — Harry and Markle will use their titles to boost themselves and their fortune in a land that is one of the major Commonwealth realms.
“It does get confusing,” writer Robert Hardman, author of “Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story,” admitted. “If they are traveling as celebrities — which is what they are — that’s fine, but if there is any royal or official apparatus then that’s going to invite criticism.”
The Sussexes, who will pay for their own travel and security, are not expected to meet any government officials unless, sources say, their host organizations invite them. But wading into a country which has plenty of anti-monarchy campaigners is fraught.
“Things are all the more awkward because not that long ago, Australia was debating become a republic,” Jobson said.
Australia last held a referendum to become a republic back in 1999, voting to retain the monarchy. Current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has now put plans for a new referendum on hold.
Harry is scheduled to give a keynote address at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, with in-person tickets costing $997 AUS (($706 USD). Sales support Lifeline Narrm services in Victoria, including community education programs, crisis support and suicide prevention initiatives.
The last time the Sussexes went to Australia was in 2018, and Markle had just announced she was pregnant with Prince Archie.
It was her first royal tour and, as Valentine Low wrote in “Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown,” Markle did not understand why she had to shake people’s hands or do walkabouts. Staff reportedly heard her say, “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this.”
Low also described a meeting where Markle allegedly lambasted a young female member in front of colleagues over a plan she had presented.
After the woman told her that it would be difficult to execute a new plan, the duchess said, “Don’t worry. If there was literally anyone else I could ask to do this, I would be asking them instead of you.”
Daily Mail royal editor Rebecca English also revealed that, when the Sussex tour moved on to Fiji, she witnessed Markle “turn and hiss at a member of her entourage, clearly incandescent with rage about something, and demand to leave.”
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