Harry and Meghan's 'rival' ventures are 'nightmare' for Buckingham Palace (2024)

Prince Harry and Prince William avoid each other at Diana Awards

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle embarking on a long royal tour around the world is "the stuff of nightmares for Buckingham Palace," according to one royal journalist.

The Sussexes recently spent three days in Nigeria where they were treated like rock stars - and Harry said they’d like to use the adventure as a template for future trips. Many likened the circ*mstances and details of their visit to a traditional royal tour.

Tom Sykes, Royal Editor for The Daily Beast, told Daily Express US: “Buckingham Palace would prefer that Harry and Meghan retire into quiet obscurity, but that is not going to happen. They are private citizens so they cannot be banned from going or not going anywhere.

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“The idea of Harry and Meghan going on a world tour, to Australia or anywhere else, is the stuff of nightmares for Buckingham Palace because it effectively sets up a rival royal court.”

However, he believes some nations would not allow what critics describe as a "quasi royal tour" - such as Australia.

The visit was to promote the Invictus Games, but it came across as a quasi-royal tour (Image: Getty)

Sykes added: "They are private citizens so they cannot be banned from going or not going anywhere.

"But practically speaking they would not be able to do a quasi royal tour of Australia because the Australian government would not facilitate it."

While in Nigeria, Harry talked about future travel plans, saying: "There's only so much one can do from home and over Zoom, so we look forward to travelling more because the work matters.”

If Harry and Meghan are to travel the world, and not make it known that they are travelling as private citizens, they could easily be confused as official representatives of the British monarchy.

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Harry and Meghan have not announced specific plans for their world tour (Image: Getty)

"The thing that is very important to remember is that while a small number of people who follow the royals story somewhat attentively understand that Harry and Meghan no longer officially represent the royal family, that distinction is lost on the vast majority of people who get their news on social media," Sykes said.

"To them, Harry and Meghan are every bit as royal as Kate and William, if anything, they are significantly more interesting because of their habit of saying and doing such precedent busting things in recent years."

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