Prince Harry travels to Canberra without Meghan

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have touched down in Melbourne! It marks the first stop of their four-day Australian visit.

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will attend a series of engagements in Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra. The focus, they say, will be on mental health, community resilience and support for veterans and their families.

There are no planned opportunities for the public to meet the couple. The Sussex spokesman said this was to “minimise disruption to members of the public and host organisations”. However, both the Duke and Duchess will appear at ticketed events.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Sydney on their last Australia tour in 2018. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

What events are Prince Harry and Meghan attending?

The Melbourne leg of their tour centres on frontline services, youth mental health, community organisations and commercial engagements.  

After the couple visit the children’s hospital, Meghan will visit a women’s homeless and family violence shelter.

This is the first time the former Royals have visited Australia since their successful royal tour in 2018. The visit coincided with the announcement of Meghan’s pregnancy with their first child.

The couple returns under significantly different circumstances. Their office has stated the visit is privately funded. However, media reports that Australian taxpayers will be covering the cost of additional police security for the tour. A Change.org petition rejecting taxpayer-funded support for the visit had attracted 46,000 signatures as of Monday morning.

The schedule of events officially ends on Friday night, when the couple will attend a rugby match in Sydney, and Meghan will speak at a private wellness event in Sydney. Her appearance, advertised as an “in-person conversation with one of the most discussed, most written about, and most fiercely herself women on the planet right now”, is part of a two-day retreat in a luxury hotel in Coogee. Tickets start at $2,699.

Day 1: Melbourne

The crowd warmly welcomes Prince Harry and Meghan

Hundreds of patients and families eagerly lined up to meet the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. The crowd cheered as Prince Harry and Meghan greeted patients, sharing hugs and brief chats.

One patient, Lily, 4, presented the couple with a hand-drawn sign that said, “Welcome Harry and Meghan” and gave a flower to the duchess.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, meets a young patient on a visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital with Harry, Duke of Sussex. Photo by Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images.

Harry hugged Christina Parkes, whose 13-year-old daughter, Adelaide, is a patient at the hospital. She said it “means an enormous amount” to have the couple visit Australia.

The couple met an oncology patient named Hamish, 17, who discussed AFL with Prince Harry, and Maya, also 17, who said the hospital does “amazing” work.

Maya told the Press Association she was excited to meet the former royals, and that her grandmother was a big fan of them.

“It means a lot. Just to know that they’re worried about us, they love us, just to know that they love Australia and Melbourne, it’s really nice,” she said.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex visit the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Photo by Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images.

Meghan visits a women’s refuge

After the meet and greet, Prince Harry and Meghan took part in a sensory garden therapy session.

Prince Harry was asked if he would like to take a gum tree home. He replied that he would, “but I think I’d probably get arrested at some point.”

Following the hospital visit, Meghan went to a women’s homeless and domestic violence refuge where she served frittata to residents. Once everybody had been served, Meghan sat down to eat with the residents. She also explained that her jet lag hadn’t quite hit yet.  

Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, visited the Royal Children’s Hospital in 1985. At the time, they were on a visit to the state of Victoria.

With PA  

Day 2: Melbourne and Canberra

The Duke and Duchess continued their visit in Melbourne, but today, they tried their hand at some AFL!

Meeting with veterans and their families

They started the day at the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (ANVAM) in Southbank. While there, Meghan and Harry took part in a model-making activity with veterans and their families. From the photos, it looks like Meghan was making a flamingo (or perhaps an emu?).

Tanya Johnston, founder of ANVAM, showed the Duke and Duchess an art exhibit by veterans, including army reservist Keith Ross, who was also in attendance.

Tanya Johnston, founder of Anvam, shows Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, an exhibit by veterans. (Photo by Jonathan Brady-Pool/Getty Images)

Harry shows his footie skills

Footie fans and royalists both delighted in Prince Harry demonstrating his own footie skills at a Movember event at Witten Oval in Melbourne. The Prince even held up a Western Bulldogs scarf. He was also presented with jerseys for his children, Archie and Lilibet, by the club.

The Duke joined Dr Zac Seidler, Global Director of Research at the Movember Institute, for a discussion on the realities of modern fatherhood.

“Becoming a dad makes you think differently about everything. You want to be the best version of yourself for your kids, but there’s no manual for it.”

“That can be confronting at times,” Harry continued. “Because you’re figuring it out as you go.”

Britain’s Prince Harry (2/L), Duke of Sussex, is presented with Western Bulldogs Archie and Lilibet jerseys during a visit to a Movember event at Whitten Oval in Melbourne on April 15, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan Brady / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

According to Movember’s research, three in five dads don’t discuss their mental health during their partner’s pregnancy or early parenthood.

“There is no version of where you can bottle something up, and it just disappears. It builds, it snowballs – and you can get to a point where you’re no use to anybody, and that’s a place you never want to be,” Harry commented.

“For me, it became about doing the work on myself – almost cleansing the past – so I could show up as the best version of myself for my kids. You don’t have to wait for a crisis to do that work; it can be about getting ahead of it.”

“You’re not alone. This [Movember] report shows so many dads are feeling the same things – it’s messy, it’s a rollercoaster, and there are moments where you question yourself, but we shouldn’t judge ourselves for that.”

Prince Harry takes part in a smoking ceremony in Canberra

Prince Harry, unaccompanied by Meghan, visited the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where he took part in an Aboriginal smoking ceremony at the “For Our Country” memorial, honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service personnel. He laid a wreath, met Indigenous veterans and listened to a Welcome to Country by Ngunnawal/Gomeroi man Michael Bell.

Dressed in a suit with military medals, Harry also toured a gallery dedicated to Captain Reg Saunders, the first Indigenous Australian commissioned as an army officer. Travelling solo without the Duchess of Sussex, he flew commercially from Melbourne, surprising passengers and crew.

Stunned members of the public waved and said “Hi Harry” as he left Canberra Airport, as reported by Sam Hall, Press Association in Canberra.