Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have hit back at a “ridiculous” petition opposing their upcoming Australian tour.
The couple are due to arrive Down Under next month for a four-day visit, their first to the country in eight years.
However, a small group of vocal critics have taken umbrage with the trip and launched a petition to block public funding for the tour.
The petition, titled “No Taxpayer-Funding or Official Support for Harry & Meghan’s Private Visit to Australia”, has garnered more than 36,000 signatures.
“As this is a private visit, Australian taxpayers must not fund security, logistics or government coordination,” it argues.
However, according to the Daily Mail, Harry and Meghan’s representatives have now hit back at the petition, firmly denying that taxpayers will have to pay for the trip.
“It’s a moot point. The trip is being funded privately, so I’m not sure what this petition hopes to achieve,” a spokesperson for the couple told the publication in a statement.
When is Harry and Meghan’s Australian tour?
Harry and Meghan are expected to touch down in mid-April for a string of public engagements.
From April 17-19, Meghan will be in Sydney attending a “girls weekend like no other” with Jackie O Henderson and Gemma O’Neill’s Her Best Life podcast.
She will speak at an in-conversation event and attend a gala dinner at the InterContinental Hotel at Coogee Beach.
Tickets start at $2699, with VIP packages cost a staggering $3199 per person.
Meanwhile, from April 15-16, Harry will be a keynote speaker at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne.
It has not been confirmed whether their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will be joining them on the trip Down Under.
When did Harry and Meghan last visit Australia?
Harry and Meghan last visited Australia back in 2018, touring for 16 days on their first major joint overseas tour.
During the trip, they promoted the Invictus Games in Sydney, visited Bondi Beach and Taronga Zoo, and took part in community projects.
At the time, they were newlyweds and working royals, whereas now they are travelling as private citizens.
They stepped down as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California, where they are now raising their two children.
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