Newlyweds’ autumn trip Down Under

PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle plan to launch themselves on the world stage with a major tour Down Under later this year.

Aides say the second half of this year will be ‘incredibly busy’ with official visits, and a trip to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga has been mooted for October.

The couple have already announced they are delaying their honeymoon to return to work next week. It is anticipated Miss Markle – who by then is likely to be an HRH and Duchess – will undertake her first official engagement as a married woman on Tuesday when she joins Prince Charles for his 70th birthday garden party at Buckingham Palace.

The royals will also undertake a couple of short overseas visits before the start of the summer, including a two-day trip to Dublin. But they plan to really showcase their work as a new royal ‘power couple’ later in the year, starting with a visit to Australia, where Harry’s Invictus Games for injured servicemen is being held in Sydney this October.

They will then travel on to New Zealand, a country the prince fell in love with a number of years ago, followed by Fiji and Tonga.

It is understood Miss Markle has been schooled in royal etiquette and traditions by diplomatic staff in recent months ahead of joining the Royal Family.