bitchy | There’s a Change.org petition about Prince Harry & Meghan’s Australian visit

It took less than five days for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s planned trip to Australia to be completely hijacked by royalists, royal commentators and at least one royal court. Prince Harry and Meghan really are the center of their world, but I kind of wish that these people would find something more constructive to do with their time? Alas, thousands of people have now signed a Change.org petition demanding that no Australian taxpayer dollars go towards supporting or protecting Harry and Meghan in Australia. Jesus, these people.

Australians are not happy about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming trip Down Under and don’t want their tax dollars to support the trip in any way. Jaws dropped in Oz when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were headed to Australia for what they called a series of “private, business and philanthropic engagements.”

Harry will be the keynote speaker at the InterEdge in Melbourne Psychosocial Safety Summit (where people are being charged upwards of $1500 to attend and Harry will likely collect his $50,000 speaking fee) while Meghan is going to be the guest of honor at a three-day “Girls’ Weekend” beach retreat in Sydney… for wealthy women.

But outside of this select crowd, regular Australians are furious about the duo’s trip.

On Harry and Meghan’s last visit to Australia, during their official royal tour in 2018, Meghan ruffled Aussies feathers the wrong way. Royal author Valentine Low, in his book “Courtiers,” claimed Meghan “failed to understand the point of all those walkabouts” and was overheard saying, upon seeing throngs of fans outside the Sydney Opera House: “What are they all doing here? It’s silly” to which staff had to explain that, actually, people turn out because they respect the monarchy.

Then there’s the now-infamous quote: “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this” (to shake hands and speak with people).

And Aussies are still mad. Especially as no one has come out and said who will be paying for the duo’s trip — or their security, which will likely include a police escort.

A Change.Org petition was launched this week, noting:

“Prince Harry and Meghan are planning a private visit to Australia in April 2026. If they come as private individuals, Australian taxpayers must not be expected to fund security, logistics or government coordination. Their visit is understood to involve media appearances, business activities and private events. Since stepping down from royal duties in 2020, Harry and Meghan no longer represent the Crown and now operate private commercial ventures from the United States. Because of this, any visit to Australia must be treated strictly as a private trip.

At a time when Australians are facing serious cost of living pressures, public resources must be used responsibly. Taxpayer-funded security, government coordination or any form of official status should not be provided for a private visit.
Reasons:
They voluntarily resigned from royal duties and forfeited official privileges
Their visit is reportedly connected to private business and media activities
Security and government coordination would come at significant public cost
Australia should reserve official support for working royals on official tours
Taxpayers should not fund a private celebrity visit
If Harry and Meghan choose to visit Australia, they should do so as private individuals without taxpayer-funded support or official treatment.”

So far, the petition has garnered over 4,500 signatures. Ouch. I reached out to reps for Meghan and Harry and did not hear back.

[From NewsNation]

I included the stuff from Valentine Low because that’s been cited repeatedly as “evidence” that Meghan hates Australia. Low repeated those manufactured quotes years after the fact when he acted as stenographer to Kensington Palace. Low was, after all, the one who got the exclusive on Jason Knauf’s infamous “Meghan is bullying staffers by looking at them” memo. The Sussexes’ 2018 South Pacific tour broke something in Prince William and Kate’s brains and they’ve spent eight years trying to reengineer “reasons why Harry and Meghan’s tour wasn’t a huge success.” That’s what the KP clownshow came up with – Meghan didn’t understand walkabouts and she thought she should be paid! The dumbest oppo dump ever.

As for the Change.org petition… imagine throwing a tantrum-via-petition over two people visiting your country privately to do some business and charity work. It’s even funnier when you consider that the left-behind Windsors’ popularity is in the toilet in Australia.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, poster courtesy of Instagram.