A petition against Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming visit to Australia has gathered more than 38,000 signatures with taxpayers questioning who will foot the tour bill?
In three weeks, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in Australia where Meghan will headline a $3,000-a-ticket women’s retreat in Sydney and Harry will speak at a workplace mental health summit in Melbourne.
The online petition features an image of the former working royals alongside the message: “We don’t want you here.”
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It is calling for no taxpayer funding or official support for the visit.
However, 7NEWS.com.au understands this is a private visit and there is no government funding or support being provided.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the couple called the petition “ridiculous”, confirming the trip will be privately funded.
The petition on Change.org was launched by a group called Beyond Australia in November 2025, when rumours first emerged the couple were planning a trip to Australia.
“Prince Harry and Meghan are visiting Australia in April 2026. As this is a private visit, Australian taxpayers must not fund security, logistics or government coordination,” the petition states.
“Since stepping down from royal duties in 2020, they no longer represent the Crown and now operate private commercial ventures based in the United States.”
Harry and Meghan’s spokesperson said the petition was “a moot point”.
“The trip is being funded privately, so I’m not sure what this petition hopes to achieve,” the spokesperson said, according to the Daily Mail.
“Of course, if you wanted to dive into the ridiculousness of this petition as an agenda for spreading misinformation, then one could equally hypothesise that there are approximately 26.5 million Australians (99.98 per cent of the population) who haven’t signed it, who must therefore agree with the taxpayer picking up the tab for their visit.
“Of course, that is another equally stupid assertion to make.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex previously visited Australia in 2018 when they were senior working members of the royal family.
At the time, the couple received police escorts throughout their tour and also stayed at the Governor-General’s residence.
