Hundreds of patients, families and staff packed Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital on Tuesday to welcome Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, as the couple returned to a stop popular on royal tours, this time as private citizens.
Arriving shortly after midday, they were met with cheers as patients lined balconies and hallways to catch a glimpse of the pair. Some held handmade signs and small gifts, while others waited for a chat and a hug.
Novalie Morris, 12, who was just five years old when she was diagnosed with cancer, said she was “so grateful” to meet the duke and duchess.
“I gave Harry some flowers and Meghan told me to ‘keep being brave’. I am just grateful for the opportunity to meet them. They were both really nice,” she said.
Next to Novalie, four-year-old Lily held a hand-drawn sign she had made welcoming the couple.
“I was very excited,” she said, adding it took her “five or six minutes” to create.
The duke and duchess, who arrived in Melbourne from their home base in Los Angeles hours earlier, visited the adolescent medicine ward and met young people receiving care for acute and chronic conditions.
The duke stopped to talk about AFL with 17-year-old cancer patient Hamish, asking which team he followed.
They also joined patients in a therapeutic garden for an activity led by hospital garden therapists, smelling plants and flowers.
Opened by Queen Elizabeth II and later visited by Harry’s parents, King Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, the hospital has long been a fixture of royal tours, a role it reprised on Tuesday, even though the couple are visiting Australia in a private capacity.
Inside the hospital, however, the distinction didn’t matter as children and families relished the brief distraction from treatment for a chance to see the fifth in line to the British throne and his former actress wife.
Parents described the visit as a welcome break from routine. Courtney, who had travelled from Koo Wee Rup with her 11-year-old son Archer for an appointment, said it offered “a bit of excitement for the day”.
Alana Higgins, 22, met Queen Elizabeth II at the same hospital more than a decade ago and was given the chance to tell the duke about her encounter with his late grandmother.
“It’s like a full circle moment,” she said. “It’s really special. This hospital has done a lot for my brother,” she said. “It’s really important them coming here and doing this for the sick kids.”
The trip marks the couple’s first return to Australia since their 2018 royal tour as newlyweds, a nine-day trip that drew large crowds just months after their wedding. The duchess’ pregnancy was announced shortly after their arrival, further fuelling interest.
By 2020, the pair had stepped back from royal duties – a move widely dubbed at “Megxit” – and now live in California, where they pursue a mix of charitable work, advocacy and commercial projects.
This time around, their quasi-royal tour will span Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, pairing visits to charities focused on mental health, community resilience and veterans with private engagements and paid appearances.
After their hospital visit, the duchess visited a women’s refuge in Melbourne’s west, where she donned an apron and served frittata to people at the centre run by McAuley Community Services, which provide crisis accommodation for women and their children, before joining them for lunch.
Later on, the couple travelled to the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum, an organisation supporting current and former members of the defence force and their families.
On Wednesday, Prince Harry will attend a Movember event at the Whitten Oval with players from the Western Bulldogs, before flying to Canberra for events at the Australian War Memorial.
Later in the week, the duke will be the keynote speaker at a mental health summit in Melbourne, where tickets are priced at up to $2400. On the weekend, the duchess will appear at a women-only weekend retreat in Sydney, with tickets starting at $2699.
Though the visit is privately funded, extra policing costs are expected to be met by Australian taxpayers.
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