Royal tour Day 5: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are in Sydney again today
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex have officially opened the new Anzac Memorial in Sydney. And Meghan has turned heads in an eye-catching outfit.
A SOLEMN tone descended on the royal tour with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially opening the $40 million Anzac Memorial Centenary Extension at Hyde Park, a project taking 84 years to complete.
Prince Harry arrived wearing the tropical dress of his regiment, the Blues and Royals, with medals, KCVO and sword, while Meghan wore a black dress by New Zealand designer Emilia Wickstead, teamed with a Philip Treacy hat.
On an overcast Sydney morning, the couple were greeted by NSW Governor David Hurley and his wife Linda just before 10am before God Save the Queen was played.
A small crowd of fans lined Liverpool St while tradespeople working on nearby construction sites, had a birds eye view.
The Centenary Extension finally realises the vision of the memorial’s architect Bruce Dellit, after it was first opened by the Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester in 1934.
Arriving at the southern end of Hyde Park, Prince Harry and Meghan were escorted by Governor Hurley down a walkway in-between the extension’s new four-tier cascading waterfall, a feature included in the memorial’s original concept but was abandoned when the Depression hit and finances dried up.
They then entered into the new underground Hall of Service which houses a major artwork featuring 1701 soil samples taken from NSW towns and suburbs where young men and women enlisted for the First World War.
The couple, who announced earlier this week they were expecting their first child, continued their tour upstairs at the Hall of Memory.
Prince Harry and Meghan then rejoined the official opening party which included Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Veterans Affairs Minister David Elliott and his wife Nicole.
The Duke and Duchess then a laid a wreath before Prince Harry unveiled the commemorative plaque.
The memorial, which marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, follows more than two years of renovations.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will today maintain their whirlwind schedule by heading to Cockatoo Island for an Invictus event before the NSW Premier hosts a reception in their honour tonight at Bennelong restaurant at the Sydney Opera House.
From there, the popular couple will attend the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games on the Opera House forecourt with Prince Harry delivering an address.
He will then officially declare the fourth Invictus Games for wounded service personnel open.
BRUSH WITH THE ROYALS
Two lucky Sydney schoolgirls, nine-year-old twins Sienna and Krystal Dawson, met the Royal couple as they were leaving Hyde Park.
The sisters presented them with a silver and blue medallion, engraved with Play The Game, the motto of Beverly Hills Public School where they are both students.
Krystal also gave them an Aboriginal floral artwork she had painted.
The girls said they couldn’t wait to tell their classmates about meeting Prince Harry and Meghan.
“They came over to us and said ‘hi, what’s your name?’”, Sienna said. “And then I gave them the things I had and Krystal did too.”
Their mother Connie said her daughters, members of the Koormurri Performance Troupe which provided the official Aboriginal welcome for the royals, were “very overwhelmed”.
Later today, Meghan and Harry will attend an Invictus Games event at Cockatoo Island, before a reception with the Premier at Bennelong restaurant.
The day will be capped off with the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games at the Sydney Opera House.
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