Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s lowkey arrival in Australia on Tuesday marked a stark difference from all the fanfare we’ve come to know from a traditional royal tour.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex touched down at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport shortly after 6.30am on Tuesday, much to the surprise of their fellow passengers onboard the same Qantas flight.
While the high-profile couple had enjoyed the luxuries of a first-class suite for their 16-day official royal tour to Australia in 2018, this time they opted for business class seats on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Traditionally, royal tours begin with a photo call of the glamorous couple stepping off a plane – usually a Royal Australian Air Force or chartered Qantas aircraft.
This time, the plane landed 10 minutes early, with the couple quickly whisked away in a convoy of vehicles without stopping to pose for the assembled media.
It meant TV networks waiting at the arrivals gate for a glimpse of the Sussexes were left bitterly disappointed.
Members of the couple’s security team were later spotted exclusively by the Daily Mail exiting discreetly through a side door, flanked by Qantas staff.
The guards were seen pushing a trolley laden with four suitcases, including one attached with a tag of the US flag.
It had been rumoured the pair might arrive Down Under via a private jet, but perhaps wisely they chose a commercial airline as everyday Australians grapple with fuel shortages, high prices and a surging cost of living.
A standard business ticket on the same Los Angeles to Melbourne direct Qantas flight, departing Tuesday night California time, costs just over $10,000.
It comes as some of Meghan and Harry’s fellow passengers expressed their surprise at having the former Royals onboard.
‘It wasn’t until we got off the plane that we realised it was them,’ an American passenger told The Age.
Another described the couple as ‘beautiful people’ following a quick chat with them.
‘I said, “I hope you have a lovely time in Melbourne and I’m sure you’ll enjoy Sydney”,’ she told reporters. ‘And we spoke about their children and that they were here for a couple of days.’
But not everyone was happy to see them.
‘I don’t like her (Meghan) at all,’ another passenger told the outlet. ‘Don’t come here. You don’t belong here in Australia. We don’t want them here.’
The Duke and Duchess are now safely ensconced in their luxury city centre hotel as they prepare for a full slate of engagements today, beginning with a visit to the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital.
Meghan will later undertake a solo visit to a women’s shelter before she and Harry visit veterans and their families at the Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum.
The couple’s children, six-year-old Prince Archie and four-year-old Princess Lilibet, have not joined their parents on the privately funded visit – which will not include any walkabouts to meet the public.
The tour, which the couple’s spokesperson insists is ‘privately funded’, will also see the Sussexes attend an Invictus Australia event on Sydney Harbour.
Harry is also expected to make a brief visit to Canberra without his wife.
Notably, the official four-day itinerary does not include Meghan’s appearance at the ‘Her Best Life’ retreat at the InterContinental Hotel in Sydney’s Coogee Beach, which runs from April 17-19.
According to a source, this indicates that the Sussexes are keeping ‘pseudo-royal’ engagements separate from Meghan’s latest commercial foray into the lifestyle world.
Their 2018 royal tour cost Australian taxpayers just under $411,000, according to documents released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in 2019.
