Meghan's last chance saloon: Let's call this Australia tour what it plainly is - a career death rattle disguised as a girls' weekend: SHARON HUNT
The countdown is on until Meghan and Prince Harry arrive on Aussie shores – but ominous signs have emerged about the impending trip.
A Sussex spokesperson confirmed this month that they will 'visit Australia in mid-April to take part in a number of private, business and philanthropic engagements.' Since then, both Harry and Meghan have been announced as headline speakers at private events, both of which come with eye-watering ticket prices.
Harry will be keynote speaker at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit, which takes place in Melbourne from April 15 to 16. Attendees will be expected to stump up $2,378.65 each for the full conference, which includes the privilege of hearing the expat prince speak.
But what's really raising eyebrows is Meghan's speaking gig at the 'Her Best Life' Retreat – and not just because VIP experience tickets cost $3,199 per head.
The retreat is set to be held at the InterContinental Hotel in Coogee, hosted by former media executive Gemma O'Neill, whose talent agency went into liquidation last November with tax debts of $543,548 and whose star client, radio presenter Jackie 'O' Henderson, recently had her $100million contract terminated.
Doesn't sound too promising, does it?
Then there's the five-star venue in Sydney's eastern suburbs, which is still very much under construction. The spa, bar and leisure deck are all slated to be completed next month – precisely when the former Suits star is set to arrive.
In recent days, another potential reason has emerged for why the Sussex world tour is heading Down Under.
The countdown is on until Meghan and Prince Harry arrive on Aussie shores – but ominous signs have emerged about the impending trip
Meghan has been announced as the headline speaker at the 'Her Best Life' Retreat, where a VIP experience ticket costs $3,199 per person
In February last year, Meghan launched her As Ever product line in the US, designed to align with her Netflix lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, and done in partnership with the streamer.
This month, however, it was confirmed that Netflix would cease its involvement, and the As Ever brand would now operate 'independently'.
Ahead of their Australia trip, outlets picked up on the fact that 12 Australian trademarks for the As Ever brand were filed in September 2024 and approved in June 2025.
Australian Government IP records show Meghan's company has secured trademarks for skincare, pet products, candles, gardening tools, TV series, video podcasts, jewellery, stationery, furniture, educational classes, seminars and workshops - just to name a few.
A separate trademark record shows As Ever also registered in edible food and drink categories, such as jams, honey, sauces, teas, non-alcoholic cocktail mixes, and alcoholic beverages (excluding beers).
As Ever already has a product history in some of these categories from when they launched their US online store. They currently sell things like teas, fruit spreads, honey, candles, bookmarks and wine.
Meanwhile, a recent Variety report suggested that 'Netflix was sitting on a surplus of As Ever products' totalling more than $10million in value.
You might be forgiven for wondering if Meghan sees the Australian market as a way to offload some of that outstanding shelf-stable stock. The Sussexes are keen to downplay this suggestion, however, with a spokesperson telling People that Australia is simply 'one of many' jurisdictions where As Ever has its IP registered.
Meghan's Netflix lifestyle series served as a springboard for the launch of As Ever products
Meghan, pictured last year at the Fortune Most Powerful Woman Summit 2025, previously told People that she sees herself 'as an entrepreneur and a female founder'
But if Montecito-based Meghan is betting on Australia to deliver strong sales for her luxury products, she may have already missed her window.
Ordinary Aussies are in the grips of a crippling cost-of-living crisis that makes the so-called 'lucky country' not seem so lucky.
Interest rates continue to rise in Australia while major overseas banks hold steady, and global oil turmoil has sent fuel costs spiking, tightening the screws on households already under pressure.
Are the undeniably beautiful, finely curated, royal-endorsed As Ever homewares really what Aussies are prioritising right now?
Then there's the question mark hovering over the edible products Meghan is selling - namely jams, honey, tea and wine.
To put it bluntly, these are not the products the average Australian would ever think to import from the United States.
Edible products launched under the As Ever brand so far include honey and fruit spreads
A number of As Ever wines have also been released
Perfect grape-growing conditions in places like the Barossa, Yarra Valley and Margaret River mean we already make our own world-class wines.
Our abundant fruit produce is also crafted into Aussie-made jams and spreads, and is done so on a mass scale by brands like Beerenberg and Maggie Beer, plus an endless number of small-run producers.
Aussies also know their way around a beehive, producing excellent honey all the way from supermarket offerings under brands like Beechworth through to small-batch boutique makers like Maya Sunny Honey.
Quite simply, there's nothing As Ever offers that can't be found at a local supermarket or farmers' market here. And while Meghan's homespun offerings may have some appeal to the American palate, they are frankly unremarkable by Australian standards.
At the risk of sounding jingoistic, the truth is that Australia's homegrown products are of such high calibre that any imported celebrity line would struggle to make a dent in the market.
So if Meghan and Harry's hopes – particularly of the financial variety – are pinned on As Ever products being a runaway success Down Under, they might have to manage their expectations.
It follows a string of setbacks for the royal couple once considered Hollywood darlings after they sought refuge in the States in 2020.
The royal couple once considered Hollywood darlings after they sought refuge in the States in 2020. This iconic photo from March that year captured their sense of optimism at the time
After arriving to much fanfare five years ago, the couple were warmly welcomed with multimillion-dollar media deals from Netflix, Spotify and Penguin Random House.
After settling into their grand Montecito mansion, the couple's bid to become 'financially independent' and build a life beyond the Royal Family initially looked entirely within reach.
And it must be said that some projects born of these deals were undeniable hits - chief among them Harry's memoir, Spare, which became the fastest‑selling non‑fiction book in history.
Their first Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, was also a major success, pulling in huge viewing numbers. And love it or loathe it, the debut season of With Love, Meghan likewise attracted an impressive audience.
Even their debut Spotify project, a half-hour podcast released in 2020 under the Archewell Audio banner, was well-received.
But as the years after their royal exit rolled on, the trickle of output from those mega‑money deals signalled a clear change in momentum.
Rumblings of behind‑the‑scenes friction eventually gave way to blunt public criticism from key entertainment figures.
The watershed moment came after Spotify ended the Sussexes' deal in mid-2023.
Harry and Meghan are pictured here attending the ESPY awards in Hollywood in July 2024
Soon afterwards, Spotify executive Bill Simmons branded the pair 'lazy' and 'f***ing grifters'.
These comments were compounded when then-United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer said at a 2023 conference in Cannes: 'Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent. Just because you're famous doesn't make you great at something.'
In early 2025, a blistering 8,000-word Vanity Fair article interviewed dozens of former employees who'd worked with the couple during their Hollywood chapter – and it wasn't a flattering portrayal.
The latest blow came this month in a Variety exposé of the alleged cooling relations between the Sussexes and their biggest streaming platformer.
The title said it all: 'Inside Meghan and Harry's Falling Out With Netflix – and Why the Royal Couple Is Struggling in Hollywood.'
'The mood in the building is "We're done,"' a Netflix insider told the Hollywood bible - though I note Harry and Meghan do still have a first-look deal with the company.
One insider said that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is 'fed up', and two sources 'insist' that Sarandos has said he won't get on a phone call with Meghan unless his lawyer is also on the line.
While Variety clarified that these sources couldn't say whether Sarandos was joking, a Netflix spokesperson said the allegation was 'absolutely inaccurate'.
And Meghan's lawyer, Michael J. Kump, said in a letter to Variety: 'This is blatantly false. In fact, Meghan texts and speaks with Mr Sarandos regularly, and has been to his home, sans lawyers.'
The Sussexes' last trip to Australia was in 2018 (pictured) when they were still senior royals and at the height of their popularity
Whatever arrangement they might have today, it would appear the halcyon days of Harry & Meghan being Netflix's most-watched docu-series are long gone.
Which brings us back to the impending Australia trip - and the possibility of a second‑chance commercial play. We already know paid private speaking engagements are on the agenda, and perhaps even an Australian debut for As Ever products.
But what if the plan falls flat and the numbers don't stack up?
Do they pivot and try hawking their wares in other Commonwealth markets like Canada or New Zealand - and would their fortunes really improve there?
To my mind, the red flags are already flying over this upcoming private tour of Sydney and Melbourne.
And if it does all unravel, perhaps this misfire will be the moment that pushes the Sussexes to formally seek a return to the royal fold.
Whether that request would be entertained by an unforgiving Prince William is, of course, another question entirely.
