The 2018 tour remains a high-water mark for the Sussexes. They were greeted with massive crowds, genuine enthusiasm, and overwhelmingly positive media coverage — particularly in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga. Meghan’s fashion choices, speeches on gender equality, and natural charisma made her an instant favourite. But the landscape in 2026 is dramatically different. Public opinion in Australia has cooled considerably since the couple’s departure from royal duties, the Oprah interview, the Netflix docuseries, and Harry’s memoir Spare. Polling conducted by YouGov Australia in late 2025 showed only 28% of Australians viewed the Sussexes favourably — down from 68% in 2018.

Behind the public talk of “fame and popularity,” sources claim Meghan is chasing something far more specific from Australia: the validation and mass adulation she last felt during that tour. Insiders say she has privately expressed frustration that no other country — including the United States — has matched the scale of welcome she received Down Under. “She believes Australia is the one place where the ‘Meghan magic’ still works,” one source told The Australian. “She wants to recapture that feeling — the crowds, the headlines, the sense of being truly wanted.”

The reported outreach has already sparked fierce backlash. Conservative Australian commentators have branded it “tone-deaf” and “opportunistic,” pointing to Harry’s past criticisms of the Commonwealth and Meghan’s comments about feeling “silenced” in royal life. Progressive voices, however, argue that Australia should remain open to the couple, especially given their work on mental health and women’s issues.