Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made their tour debut with a 16-day visit to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga shortly after announcing they were expecting their first child in October 2018. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attracted a multitude of supporters during their Australian stay but the pair have been warned their popularity down-under could wane after their decision to step away from their roles as senior members of the Royal Family. Royal expert Juliet Rieden told the HeirPod podcast: “The Queen here is incredibly popular, there’s a deep, deep sense of affection.

“She came here in 1954 and there are still people who were there, watching that tour. Three-quarters of the population turned up to see the royal couple.

“I don’t think anything will happen whilst the Queen is still the monarch.”

Ms Rieden suggested Meghan and Harry could see the popularity they enjoyed during their tour of Australia slowly fade away the longer they stay away from public duty.

She continued: “The young royals are very, very popular here – the idea is we have lost Harry and Meghan from visiting regularly, which is essentially what will happen because it will be too expensive for them to fund their own visit here.

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“That will definitely affect their popularity here because we won’t see them in the headlines linked to Australia and that’s what’s important with regards to having them as our monarchy. We want to feel they are a part of us as well.

“Now that they’ve turned into something separate from Australia, not linked to us, there will be a massive interest in the headlines but they will not be Australia’s royals anymore.”

The Royal Family has long had a very close relationship with Australia. King George VI’s brother, the Duke of Gloucester, was the first and only royal Governor-General of Australia and Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to visit the Commonwealth nation in 1954.

Prince Charles attended one term at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in 1966. The Prince of Wales returned on several occasions, including with Princess Diana and nine-month-old Prince William in March 1983. The visit marked the now-Duke of Cambridge’s first overseas tour. 

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The traditional connection with Australia has since continued through the Duke of Cambridge, who also had eldest son Prince George make his touring debut in the spring of 2014 during a visit to Australia and New Zealand.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visited the Commonwealth nation during their first overseas trip as a married couple in 2018.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have since stepped down from official duties and moved with their son Archie to Canada.

In a statement released upon their return from a six-week break in North America, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry unveiled plans to create a more “progressive” role for themselves within the Royal Family.  

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Following talks with the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William, Buckingham Palace announced the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had agreed to end their career as working royals representing Her Majesty on official engagements.

The Palace agreed to have the couple maintain their HRH titles with the proviso they do not use the style in their new, independent capacity.

Meghan and Harry also agreed to refund the royal purse of the £2.4 million used to refurbish their home at Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate.

The debate over the cost of security Meghan and Harry will receive now remains ongoing but Mark Stephens of the London law firm Howard Kennedy told PEOPLE the Duke and Duchess will receive the same amount of protection regardless of “whether or not they are active members” of the Royal Family.

Mr Stephens said: “If you take the Dutch royal family for example, where a number of them work — the King is an airline pilot — they still have diplomatic immunity because of their status as a member of the royal family.

“The same is the case in the Middle East — Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or the UAE. So it’s perfectly normal. There are no exceptions for Harry and Meghan.”

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