Royal watchers swamp Opera House for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s tour
WEARING a stunning green Brandon Maxwell dress, Meghan Markle joined Prince Harry at a reception at Admiralty House to chat with Australians from a broad range of sectors including singer Missy Higgins and model Samantha Harris.
Confidential
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THE first day of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Australian tour concluded with a reception hosted by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and his wife Lady Cosgrove at Admiralty House.
Here the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had changed into a stunning green Brandon Maxwell dress with gold button detail and a full pleated skirt, were able to engage with Australians from a broad range of sectors including charity and community, business and industry, arts and culture, sport and entertainment.
Invitees included comedian and author Anh Do, Indigenous model Samantha Harris, former AFL player, Indigenous advocate and 2010 Australian of the Year Adam Goodes, Dr Richard Harris, the diver who helped saved Thai football team from their cave ordeal, Olympic hurdler Sally Pearson, Olympic gold medalist Jessica Fox, maths teacher and 2018 Australian Local Hero Eddie Woo, rugby player David Pocock and singer Missy Higgins cradling her two-month-old daughter Luna.
Looking thrilled to be at Admiralty House, Prince Harry delivered a short, warm and confident speech.
“G’day, Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is great to be back in Australia. And especially even more so this is my wife’s first visit here, so I’m very excited to show her this incredible country of yours, perhaps not Kangaroo Flats military training area in Darwin though!”, Prince Harry opened with.
“You’ll also notice we had a roof on our boat earlier after last year’s downpour! Luckily Sydney’s sun is shining today so thank you for organising the weather.
The royal couple then split up to meet the invitees individually. It seemed inevitable that one person Meghan would make a beeline for would be singer Missy Higgins who was holding her baby Luna.
Looking lovingly at the two-month-old Meghan asked Missy how old she was and said “you look great” stroking her arm. The mum and expectant mum then chatted at length.
Maths teacher Eddie Woo told Meghan “our kids are 5, 7 and 10. It takes a lot of energy.” Meghan gave a broad smile and replied “we’re excited to join the club”
LOVED-UP ROYALS WOW SYDNEY
MEGHAN’S just-there baby bump was on show when she stepped out alongside Prince Harry to chat, shake hands and even cuddle excited members of the public at the Sydney Opera House.
It was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first public appearance since Kensington Palace tweeted overnight that the couple were expecting.
The couple, who wed in May, put on a loved-up display, holding hands and sharing smiles and giggles together throughout the engagement.
The Opera House was the centre of a huge police operation. Police snipers were positioned atop the landmark and water police and divers conducted regular sweeps of the harbour.
Greeting hordes of loyal fans, the Prince suddenly spotted a familiar face in crowd … 98-year-old war widow Daphne Dunne who was pictured first meeting Harry in 2015.
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He beckoned to Meghan to meet Daphne, who told them they made a “lovely couple”.
“I got a hug and a kiss from both of them, but this time it was different, he’s married, I’ve lost my chance!” Daphne joked.
“He said he liked the colour of my hair this year, he recognised me straight away, he knows me because of the Victoria Cross I have, from his county.
“Meghan said she had heard all about me, she’s got beautiful skin.
“They said they were very excited to start a family of their own. He said ‘I can’t wait to be a daddy.’”
The Duchess covered up against the windy morning, adding a trench coat to the white Karen Gee dress she began the day in, hiding any sign of her barely there bump.
The couple was running behind schedule after meeting koalas and opening a new science facility at Taronga Zoo and made a quick dash to the Opera House, avoiding any scenic drifts near the Harbour Bridge.
FIRST GLIMPSE OF THAT BABY BUMP
MEGHAN Markle and Prince Harry held the first engagement of their first Australian tour at Admiralty House.
Markle wore a striking white Karen Gee dress, revealing her just-there baby bump, and prompting the Aussie designer’s website to crash moments later.
The royal couple were met by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove who presented them with a pair of baby Ugg boots, a stuffed kangaroo and a pair of Akubra hats.
‘BEAUTIFUL ROLE MODEL’
Dozens of mothers and children in prams gathered around a security cordon inside Taronga Zoo in the hope of seeing the royal couple who visited a koala enclosure.
St Leonards mum Alicia Slee took her daughter Mila, 21 months, to see Meghan and said she was thrilled to learn of her pregnancy as she tries for another baby with her husband.
“She’s just a beautiful role model for my little girl,” Mrs Slee said.
“We’re trying to get pregnant as well so it’s pretty amazing. I feel so happy for them. It’s the first start for her tour and it’s perfect to kick it off. She does dress beautifully, she’s just immaculate. She seems real and she’s bringing some normality to the royal family to make them more relatable.”
Mosman mum Stephanie Martin said she had bought tickets to the zoo with her children in the hope of seeing the royal couple.
“We’re local, we’ve come to have a little stalk — we want to get a glimpse of them,” she said.
“It’s Prince Harry, we grew up with him — it’s nice to see him progress into the young man that he is and now he’s married with a baby on the way — it’s very exciting.
“(Meghan’s pregnancy) was well timed just to be straight after the wedding to not outshine Eugenie on her day. I think it was planned and everyone was expecting an announcement, especially after what she wore at the wedding.”
YOUNG ROYALISTS ‘SUPER EXCITED’
Christine McMonnies joined the crowd with her three-month-old daughter Harper as her secret weapon.
“I’m going to hold her up like Simba when they come past,” she said.
Schools may be missing a few students with many choosing to skip class for a chance to meet the royal couple
Emerson Yee and Lulu Hogan, both 15 from Newtown, took their first ever “sick day” just see the royals.
YOUNG FLOCK TO SEE COUPLE
Tyra Bowers, 18, starts her HSC exams on Thursday and is using the long wait before the royals arrive at the Opera House at 12pm to cram in some last-minute study.
“There could be worse places to study,” she said.
Another royal fan Michelle Feeney caught a three-hour train to ensure she was first in line to catch a glimpse of the Duke and Duchess.
“I finished work at midnight and caught the 2.56am train from Oak Flats to be here,” she gushed.
Feeney hopes to have a quiet word with the royal pair and tell them “they are doing a great job and the whole world is proud of them, especially Australia!”
Darian Adriano, 20, who is on exchange in Sydney from Miami, said: “I’m super excited! I’m speechless! I was up at 3am and came down here by myself to wait for them,” he said.
Kimberley Pfeifle, 23, who was also among the first to arrive on the Opera House steps just before 5am, came clad with a backpack full of essentials.
“I’ve packed snacks, water, umbrellas and blanket,” she said.
Jordan Ilencik, 13, begged his parents for the day off school to try and score a selfie with his “idols”.
Ilencik has a handwritten letter, along with baby photos of himself and his sister and a bunch of flowers picked from his own garden to gift to the Duke and Duchess.
“You have no idea how excited I am. If I don’t meet them, I’ll be so sad,” he said.
By 6.30am, there was a sizeable group of self-confessed royal tragics lining up to score prime position for when Prince Harry and his newly pregnant wife Meghan Markle visit one of Sydney’s most iconic landmarks around lunchtime.
