A royal larrikin, his lady and their Aussie love affair
It has been a royal tour like no other as Australians open their hearts to Harry and Meghan’s message of kindness and hope.
- Former Commando kicks off Australia’s Invictus Games
- Prince Harry and Meghan attend first Invictus event
They’re the beard-stroking, banana-bread-baking, group-hugging royal couple, the likes of which we have not seen before.
Appearing like royal superheroes to bring joy to an increasingly negative world, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex managed to knock the misery and politics off Australia’s front pages and replace it with hope and happiness — spreading kindness, optimism and empathy, celebrating a new baby and the heroes of Invictus. They even brought rain to drought-stricken Dubbo.
It’s no wonder we have embraced the pair — their visit melting the hearts of even the hardest republicans.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first tour Down Under was always going to be a success — the nation couldn’t wait to welcome the new wife of the man Governor-General Peter Cosgrove described “almost a son of Australia”.
Australia has long had a special affection for Diana, Princess of Wales’ second, somewhat wayward son. If Prince William embodies the quiet formality of Britain, then Harry and his larrikin tendencies is more akin to Australia. Add in the Invictus Games, a sporting tournament with true heart and valour, and this was slated to be one special royal tour.
But the world didn’t know quite how special — or that Harry and Meghan were planning to choose to announce their much-anticipated pregnancy the moment they touched down on Australian soil on Monday. It was a masterstroke — and made the future baby a little Aussie forever.
The week’s excitement began with another royal wedding, that of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on October 12. Eugenie was a picture of joy, resplendent in her Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos gown, the Queen’s emerald tiara atop her head.
It had the feel of a family wedding, love and happiness resonating through the chapel, from Princess Beatrice’s sentimental reading from The Great Gatsby, to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge beaming with pride at Prince George and Princess Charlotte in the bridal party, and Robbie Williams’ daughter Teddy loudly asking a bewildered Sarah Ferguson if she was the Queen.
Harry and Meghan were notably circumspect, Meghan in a plain navy Givenchy coat and entering by a side door. It turned out she had very good reason to keep quiet, hiding a huge secret she had just revealed to the rest of the royal family. The only giveaway in retrospect, was the fact she and Harry were extra affectionate, smiling and holding hands.
Meghan’s happiness was still evident when she touched down in Sydney on Monday morning, again holding hands with Harry. Indeed, the two barely let go of one another the whole week. Then it was game on when they announced their exciting news while staying at Admiralty House. “Their Royal Highnesses are very pleased to announce the Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in Spring 2019,” the official statement said from Kensington Palace. “Their Royal Highnesses very much appreciate all of the support they have received from people around the world since their wedding in May and are delighted to be able to share their happy news.”
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Australia erupted at the news — and presumably a member of the Cosgrove staff was sent hotfooting it down to The Rocks to buy some baby Uggs and a toy kangaroo. “Our first baby gift!” Meghan, said in delight, unaware those mini slippers never stay on tiny feet.
Everywhere they went, their happiness infected the crowds. They cuddled kids, hugged fans, reduced people to tears.
When they walked around the Opera House on Tuesday, Harry made straight for his “favourite Aussie”, 98-year-old Daphne Dunne, a war widow who has twice met and kissed her prince, in 2015 and 2017. As he bent to chat to his pink-haired super-fan, he called over to Meghan to meet her.
“Oh my goodness, is this Daphne? I’m so happy to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you — all good things,” she said.
Whether it is acting as critics suggest, charm, or genuine emotion, it works. Harry and Meghan are unlike any other royals, less formal even than William and Catherine and incomparable to your average actor, footballer or reality star.
Smitten Daphne declared Harry will make a fabulous father. “He will be a marvellous dad. He won’t let anything stand in his way and he will be so gentle and loving. This should be an Australian baby,” she said.
Parenting experts agree. “I think Harry will be a great get-down-and-dirty type of dad,” says Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas. “He is a very attentive, physical type of person with a great sense of fun, which would help him relate to kids.”
The pair have gravitated towards children throughout the tour — Meghan told nine-year-old Sydney girl Sethunya Gibbons she looked like her at her age, breaking protocol and taking a selfie.
Those eagerly awaiting Meghan’s style choices had the bonus of a baby bump — albeit minuscule — in her first outfit, a cream dress by Australian designer Karen Gee. The brand’s website immediately crashed when the $1800 frock was identified. Poignantly, she accessorised it with butterfly earrings and a gold bracelet that had belonged to Diana.
They were more casual for their trip to Dubbo on Wednesday — Harry wore a chambray shirt and chinos and Meghan jeans, Boss blazer by Serena Williams, Maison Kitsune shirt and J. Crew ankle boots. Along with stylist friend Jessica Mulroney, Meghan’s choice of clothes is masterful, often selecting items that have the power to do good, like her $199 jeans from Aussie brand Outland Denim, an ethical company set up to give vulnerable young women work and stop sex-trafficking in Cambodia.
Their laid-back style evidently goes deeper than their clothes — with Meghan bringing banana bread she’d baked the night before and a tin of Fortnum and Mason tea to the Woodley family in Mountain View Farm. Despite the downpour they were radiant, Meghan gazing fondly at Harry as she held an umbrella over his head while he gave a speech.
Call it good PR, call it breeding, they simply enchanted Dubbo. The sight of five-year-old Luke Vincent hugging Harry and stroking his beard and hair, before cuddling Meghan too, brought tears to the most hardened of news hacks’ eyes.
The pupils at Dubbo College were also enthralled. Kieasha Ross, 17 said Meghan was “a role model” to Aboriginal girls. Even the crowd at the Royal Flying Doctor Service were won over by Harry’s “Aussie salute” impression and the fact he licked some icing off a cake knife, which general manager David Charlton described “in Australian parlance ‘is going straight to the pool room’.”
“Sixty-four years ago my grandparents, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, were right here visiting the war memorial,” Prince Harry said. “So it’s a great pleasure to be able to visit this area now and be able to report back how much life has changed in the Great Western Plains region since then.”
But the most obvious change was embodied by him and his family — Harry has the dignity and grace of his grandparents, but the genuine warmth of his mother.
“You must not silently suffer and, if I may speak personally, we are all in this together, because asking for help was some of the best decisions I ever made,” he told the farming community. It was classic Diana, openly speaking of his own mental health in the hope of helping others.
“Meg Mania” continued throughout Thursday when the couple visited Melbourne. They were besieged with teddies and flower. So overwhelmed was 19-year-old India Brown, she burst into tears when Harry hugged her at the Royal Botanic Gardens. “He is someone I have looked up to for many years,” she said. “Everything he stands for is amazing.”
They couple played Aussie rules, ate at Mission Australia restaurant Charcoal Lane, took a tram and walked along South Melbourne beach, where Meghan swapped her Dion Lee dress and Manolo Blahnik heels for a Club Monaco frock, Martin Grant trench and black Rothy flats.
The shoes were fittingly made of recycled plastic as the couple joined environmental organisation BeachPatrol. But it was lost on the British press who dubbed the dress and shoe combo her first fashion “faux pas”. They were also annoyed she needed a coat — as the fabled Aussie sunshine wasn’t coming out for the sun-starved British royal correspondents who rankled at the rain, although they did concede Harry and Meghan have been a blaze of sunshine throughout their tour.
There was one exception — Piers Morgan — who tweeted “Once an actress” to the image of Meghan holding an umbrella over Harry that had been splashed on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Perhaps no one has ever looked at him like that.
Relationship expert Dr Karen Phillip disagrees. “The tour is so successful because we cannot only see their love and connection in their eyes and body language, we can feel it,” she says. “We all love Harry and now Meghan because she makes Harry so completely happy.”
She also made a lot of other people happy. On Friday the pair kicked off their shoes and sat in a circle on Bondi Beach with fluoro-clad OneWave members to discuss mental health. Cradling her baby bump in a Martin Grant maxi dress, it was a veritable love-in as Meghan and Harry hugged the crazily-clothed surfers.
Harry then climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and four Invictus competitors, before he and Meghan joined pupils at Parramatta’s Macarthur Girls High School and teens from the NRL’s In League In Harmony.
Meghan revealed one of her first jobs was taking out the garbage — something no other royal has probably either experienced or admitted.
“You guys all remind me so much of myself when I was growing up,” she said. “You have an intention set to really do something to change the world, and you have to keep it up. It makes me so emotional. You’re doing really, really good work and I’m so happy that we’re here.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Harry. “We’re so lucky that wherever we go in the world, we’re finding young people like you guys” he said. “This sweeping wave of kindness and optimism and empathy that seems to be lacking in some of the previous generation. You guys get a kick out of that, right?”
Clearly so does he.
“Has there ever been a better Royal tour? It has everything — Meghan’s surprise pregnancy announcement, the pathos of Harry’s pet project, the Invictus Games, and drought-breaking rain during the Dubbo visit,” says Sunday Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine. “Harry’s empathy for people down on their luck, whether drought-stricken farmers suffering depression or wounded war veterans, has really touched a chord in Australia.
“He founded the Invictus Games to help give meaning and hope to people who had lost so much and their success has exceeded anyone’s expectations. It makes this visit so much more than a Royal tour.”
Harry and Meghan and the other young royals have the power to make people and more importantly corporations care about things they haven’t previously. They cross borders. They cross politics. They are so much more than stars in fancy clothes.
“Kindness and empathy lacks big time in the world,” Harry said on Friday. “You realise this is the generation that’s going to make all the difference?”
And he’s going to be at the head of it.
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