The last time Australia hosted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they were the fresh new faces of the royal family, ready to walk the path set by decades of tradition.
This time, there was no royal walkabout, but a mix of quasi-regal public engagements and private commercial events for a tour that’s part-celebrity, part charity. A tour by Harry and Meghan to Australia—where his father is still the king—was always going to be controversial given their deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the family yet retain some vestiges of royal status. Even before they arrived, some complained about the cost to taxpayers of police security and the couple’s attempt to cash in on their titles—as one newspaper column put it, to use Australians “as an ATM.” Yet, for all the headlines about their money-making exploits, it’s unclear how much cash they’ll make from the privately funded tour that includes many unpaid appearances.
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