The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to wrap up their four-day Australian tour this Friday in Sydney with the salt air of the Harbour and a rugby crowd.
The past three days, Harry and Meghan’s visit has been dominated by conversations on mental health and the personal pressures of their public life.
“After my mum died just before my 13th birthday – I was like: ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want this role – wherever this is headed, I don’t like it’,” Prince Harry said on Thursday.
The visit to Australia is a private four-day tour focused on veteran welfare and mental health advocacy. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman.
It is this lifelong grappling with the public gaze that informs the couple’s final day in Sydney.
On Friday, the Sussexes – who are no longer working royals and live in California – will pivot from these heavy reflections to sport which Harry has often cited previously as “a conduit for healing”.
The afternoon kicks off at the Man O’War Steps, where the couple will board a boat to join members of the Invictus Australia community.
This is a return to the roots of the 2018 Sydney Games and serves as a reminder of how much has changed since their first visit, back then, they arrived as senior working royals and a newly married couple.
Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games, an international adaptive sporting event for wounded, injured, and sick service personnel and veterans.
He established the game in London in 2014 and now, Invictus Australia has also transitioned from a one-off event into permanency, supporting nearly 30,000 veterans through the rehabilitative power of sport.
The couple will both attend a rugby game later in the evening, marking it the last event on their trip. Picture: Jonathan Brady/NewsWire/ Pool
The couple are expected to spend time on the water with veterans and their families highlighting the Duke and Duchess’s continued commitment to supporting mental health, strengthening support for the Armed Forces community.
As the tour moves from a scenic boat ride to the high-stakes rugby game at Allianz Stadium, Meghan will be making a pit stop as she headlines the Her Best Life retreat.
Dubbed as the ultimate girls retreat, the event is held by host Gemma O’Neil at Coogee, with tickets starting at a staggering $2699.
The VIP experience costs even more at $3199.
After her speech, the Duchess will return to Moore Park where she and the Duke will attend a game between the NSW Waratahs and Moana Pasifika.
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