Harry and Meghan head Down Under for first major trip
THE DUCHESS of Sussex is to take part in her first major overseas tour as a member of the royal family when she joins her husband on a visit to the Pacific region.
Meghan and Harry will spend 16 days travelling around Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga, and New Zealand from October 16 to 31, Kensington Palace has announced.
The couple are expected to attend Harry’s Invictus Games, a Paralympics-style championship for injured or sick servicemen and women and veterans, which is being staged in Sydney in October.
The Duke and Duchess, who made a brief visit to Dublin during the summer, will spend much of their time in Australia visiting Melbourne, Sydney, the popular holiday town of Dubbo in New South Wales and the country’s Fraser Island, a destination for eco-tourists.
The palace said in a short statement: “Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit the Commonwealth Realms of Australia and New Zealand by the countries’ respective governments.
“The duke and duchess will visit Fiji and Tonga at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
“The programme across these four Commonwealth countries will focus on youth leadership, environmental and conservation efforts, including the dedication of several new Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy projects, and the recovery and rehabilitation of servicemen and women through the Invictus Games Sydney 2018.”
The couple will visit Suva, the capital of Fiji and of Nadi, and in Tonga they will spend time in the capital Nuku’alofa.
In New Zealand Harry and Meghan will tour the capital Wellington and visit Auckland, Rotorua, famed for its Maori culture, and the Abel Tasman National Park.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toured Australia and New Zealand in April 2014, when Prince George was just eight months old on his first royal engagements. The three-week visit saw the couple visit the Australian capital Canberra, plus Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Uluru. The final day of the trip saw the royal couple attend a service to honour Australia’s war dead on Anzac Day.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said then that the couple were “bowled over” by the extraordinarily warm welcome shown to them.