The Duke and Duchess of Sussex traveled to Australia for the first time since their official royal tour of the continent in 2018
Credit: Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty;Meghan Markle/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry visited Australia for a four-day trip focused on mental health and veteran support
- The couple’s schedule included stops in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, with private meetings and philanthropic events
- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex returned home to California to find a sweet surprise from their kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have returned from the Land Down Under — and they were welcomed home with a sweet surprise.
On Sunday, April 19, the Duchess of Sussex, 44, shared a glimpse of her and Harry's arrival home to California on her Instagram Stories, including a clip showing a "Welcome Home" banner adorning their doorway.
Credit: Meghan Markle/Instagram
She also posted a clip displaying a pile of Australian souvenirs and goodies — seemingly for kids Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet — including Tim Tams, various picture books, stickers and coloring books, as well as some handwritten cards.
As Meghan panned the camera over the items, she could be seen sneaking a Tim Tam for herself.
Credit: Meghan Markle/Instagram
Harry, 41, and Meghan traveled to Australia for a trip mixing private, business and philanthropic engagements, with a schedule that began on Tuesday, April 14.
The agenda took them to the cities of Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, where they embarked on outings highlighting mental health, community resilience and support for veterans and their families.
Prince Harry and Meghan both candidly spoke about their own mental wellness during separate events, with Harry sharing that he "didn't want" his royal role following the 1997 death of his mother, Princess Diana, and Meghan reflecting on being "the most trolled person in the entire world" after coupling up with her husband a decade ago.
Credit: Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also undertook private meetings and special projects while abroad, most notably Meghan's headlining appearance at Her Best Life podcast's "girls weekend" retreat.
The excursion was not a royal tour, as Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back from their royal roles in 2020 and moved to California. However, there were plenty of parallels to the traditional trappings of an official royal tour.
The couple's first stop was at Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, which Queen Elizabeth, King Charles and Princess Diana all previously visited, and they sailed around Sydney Harbor with Invictus Australia like they did during their royal tour there eight years ago.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's 2026 Australia trip marked their first return to the continent since their official royal tour there in October 2018.
The newly minted Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Australia, Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand for a 16-day tour of the South Pacific, which marked their first major overseas tour as newlyweds.
Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images via Getty
Prince Harry and Meghan had married that May, and Kensington Palace announced the day before they touched down that the Duchess of Sussex was pregnant with their first child, son Prince Archie, now 6.
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The couple's children, Archie, 6, and Lilibet, 4, did not join them in Australia, and the kids similarly didn't tag along for their humanitarian trip to Jordan in February.
While Archie and Lilibet were not with them, they were likely top of mind for Meghan and Harry.
The Duchess of Sussex met a young cancer patient named Lily at the Royal Children’s Hospital and spoke about how she was the same age as her daughter, The Telegraph reported, while the Duke of Sussex received jerseys emblazoned with his children's names from the Western Bulldogs, a professional Australian rules football club.
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