Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (remember them?) have an April tour of Australia poised for a rocky start as tickets struggle to sell and the couple are warned the trip could build tensions with King Charles due to its timing.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are slated to land in Australia on Thursday to take part in a mid-April tour that will see them participate in a number of “private, business, and philanthropic engagements,” marking their first trip trip to Australia following their October 2018 visit to Sydney and after the pair departed from the British Royal Family.
Some of the items in their agenda include keynote speech on workplace mental health by Prince Harry at the InterEdge Summit in Melbourne, with Meghan hosting a three-day “in-person conversation” at a luxury Sydney hotel addressing a broad range of subjects.
Sky News reports that their events appear to be facing attendance troubles, as tickets for Prince Harry’s speech at the Melbourne summit have been slashed by half in the final week before the event, going from $1,978 to $997. Prince Harry will join retired tennis champion Jelena Dokic and other speakers at the mental health keynote.
According to Sky News, Prince Harry will be paid $50,000 for his upcoming keynote speech — an amount significantly lower than the $1 million he was reportedly paid to attend a JP Morgan event in February 2020.
Meghan Markle, for her part, is reportedly expected to receive $250,000 for “Her Best Life,” the in-person retreat that she will host at the Intercontinental Hotel in Coogee, Sydney, from April 17-19 and which has an entry fee of $3,000. While the event’s organizers radio star Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and her manager Gemma O’Neill initially claimed that Meghan’s event had been “sold out”
Sky News noted that the O’Neill recently announced through Instagram that the hotel had “kindly released a handful of additional rooms”, encouraging interested guests to enquire via direct message.
Additionally, according to royal commentator Richard Palmer, Markle has been warned that, with her Australia trip, described as her “revenge” might risk escalating tensions with King Charles, as the pair’s trip to Australia coincides with what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday on April 21.
“Their Australia trip is one of, if not the, most anticipated royal events of the year,” Palmer reportedly said. “They want to prove their critics wrong, so will be hoping it is a huge success.
“If it is, it will be Meghan’s revenge,” he continued.
