Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s Australian tour – their first official overseas trip as husband and wife – is fast approaching.
The Duke and Duchess Of Sussex will be touring Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in October this year as part of their royal duties as a married couple.
Harry and Meghan were invited to visit Australia and New Zealand by the respective local governments, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office requesting that they also visit Fiji and Tonga.
Until now, we hadn’t been told the exact dates or duration of the tour across the four Commonwealth countries.
But this week, Kensington Palace revealed further information about their autumn tour Down Under.
The tour is set to focus on environmental and conservation efforts, youth leadership and the recovery and rehabilitation of servicemen and women Invictus Games.
Here’s everything we know about the Sussexes’ tour…
When is their Australian tour?
The first day of Harry and Meghan’s tour will kick off in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday 16 October. It will end in Rotorua, New Zealand on Wednesday 31 October.
How long will they be away for?
The Sussexes will be away for just over two weeks, with the flight to Australia from London being around 24 hours.
Given the distance they’ll be travelling, it’s likely that Meghan and Harry will be on their tour for at least a fortnight.
When the Duke and Duchess Of Cambridge visited Australia and New Zealand in April 2014, which was their first visit their as a married couple, they spent 18 days away.
However, when Harry’s parents Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, made the same voyage in 1983, they were away for more than double this length of time, spending 41 days overseas.
What will Harry and Meghan be doing on their tour?
One event we’ve known Harry and Meghan will be attending is the Invictus Games, which are taking place in Sydney from 20 to 27 October.
Kensington Palace has now released a full location schedule, showing they will be visiting Sydney three times, as well as travelling to Dubbo, Australia; Melbourne, Australia; Fraser Island, Australia; Suva, Fiji; Nadi, Fiji; Nuku’alofa, Tonga; Wellington, New Zealand; Abel Tasman, New Zealand; Auckland, New Zealand and Rotorua, New Zealand.
Harry and Meghan's Australia schedule
Tuesday 16th October: Sydney, Australia
Wednesday 17th October: Dubbo, Australia
Thursday 18th October: Melbourne, Australia
Friday 19th October: Sydney, Australia
Saturday 20th October: Sydney, Australia
Sunday 21st October: Sydney, Australia
Monday 22nd October: Fraser Island, Australia
Tuesday 23rd October: Suva, Fiji
Wednesday 24th October: Suva, Fiji
Thursday 25th October: Nadi, Fiji and Nuku’alofa, Tonga
Friday 26th October: Nuku’alofa, Tonga and Sydney, Australia
Saturday 27th October: Sydney, Australia
Sunday 28th October: Wellington, New Zealand
Monday 29th October: Wellington and Abel Tasman, New Zealand
Tuesday 30th October: Auckland, New Zealand
Wednesday 31st October: Rotorua, New Zealand
While we know now whereabouts the royal couple will be and when as they visit Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, more details on their specific day-to-day itinerary are to follow.
The Invictus Games will be a poignant event for the couple to visit, given the Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada, in 2017 are where they made their first public appearance together.
Prince Harry founded the games, which are for sick and wounded military personnel, in 2014.
Where will they stay during the tour?
We don’t know there accommodation details for each part of their tour but, according to Australian reports, the couple have picked out their rental property for the Sydney leg of their visit.
The newly parried couple are apparently set to stay in the luxurious A$40 million (£22.4m), six-bedroom Point Piper mansion Villa del Mare.
Situated in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney, the waterfront property will provide an idyllic retreat for the couple as they get on with their royal duties in Australia.
What’s this about Meghan having a tuxedo ban?
Meanwhile, it had been reported that Harry had banned Meghan from wearing a tuxedo during their Australian tour.
To many, a tuxedo on a female may be an unconventional outfit choice anyway, but given Meghan’s love of suits and the fact she’s sported a tux before, it was likely she may have chosen to wear one in Oz too.
According to the Daily Mail, a source from a fashion meeting at Kensington Palace said: ‘Meghan is being told she needs to stop dressing like a Hollywood star and start dressing like a Royal. Meghan wanted to wear a tuxedo-style suit but Harry said it wasn’t traditional enough.’
Back in February this year, Meghan famously wore a black and white tux – which featured a loose white bow tie – for the Endeavour Fund Awards at Goldsmiths Hall in London.
The £1,245 Alexander McQueen feminine tuxedo was teamed with a £285 white shirt by Tuxe that featured the large bow detail around the neckline.
And during the Sussexes’ recent trip to Ireland, she was seen wearing a smart Givenchy suit.
Diana was also a fan of a feminine tux, having worn one to Wembley Stadium in 1988, which featured a bright green waistcoat and XX bow tie.
She also wore a white tux with a classic black bow tie when she visited Florence duirng a British royal tour of Italy in 1985.
Former Buckingham Palace spokesman Dickie Arbiter, who worked for the Queen until 2000, has warned that Meghan will face her biggest challenge yet, with the eyes of the world on her and less allowances given to her now she is a royal wife.
‘She’s had a taste of the Invictus Games in Toronto last year but she was Harry’s girlfriend. Now she is his wife there will be much more expectation,’ he told The Mirror.
‘She’s a good communicator, she’s good at talking to people but it will be a real baptism of fire.
‘They will have a very demanding schedule and the Duchess will have to get used to local customs with the eyes of the world on her.’
Both Harry and Meghan have previously said that work in the Commonwealth will be a priority for them both.
As a pre-wedding gift to the prince, the Queen appointed her grandson a Commonwealth youth ambassador, his most high profile role to as a royal to date.
A spokesman for the couple reportedly said: ‘They are already planning for all the work that’s happening in the second half of the year which is going to be incredibly busy.’
MORE: Who is paying for Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank and when is it?
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