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<\/p>\nThe Sussexes’ calendar is ramping up with their upcoming Australia visit and a raft of new TV deals, but they risk overshadowing their UK royal family<\/p>\n
Meghan and Harry’s upcoming trip coincides with a major milestone for Prince William and Kate Middleton<\/p>\n
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle\u2019s upcoming trip to Australia, coupled with the news of a raft of new TV and film projects, risks riling senior members of the royal family<\/a>, a royal expert has warned.<\/p>\n The Sussexes are due to land in Oz later this month for the first time since 2018<\/a> and royal author Richard Palmer says the pair might see the highly publicised visit as a way of silencing critics who have spent years \u201cputting them down\u201d.<\/p>\n But however well-intentioned their plans might be, Harry and Meghan also risk overshadowing some key moments for the royal family back in the UK.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Peter Phillips fianc\u00e9 Harriet Sperling’s secret life from NHS nurse to new royal bride<\/a>READ MORE: ‘I met late Queen 40 times and she made feelings clear on Prince Harry with one brutal comment’<\/a> The couple’s upcoming trip is shaping up to be one of the biggest royal events of the year(Image: Amy Katz\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n \u201cTheir Australia<\/a> trip is one of, if not the, most anticipated royal events of the year,\u201d says Richard. \u201cThey want to prove their critics wrong so will be hoping it is a huge success. If it is, it will be Meghan\u2019s revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n After landing Down Under, the Duke and Duchess will undertake \u201ca number of private, business, and philanthropic engagements\u201d, including Meghan\u2019s guest appearance at a women-only weekend<\/a> retreat, and Harry\u2019s keynote speech discussing workplace mental health at the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also been talk of Meghan launching her As Ever lifestyle brand over there.<\/p>\n However, April is already an extremely busy month for the monarchy, with the centenary of the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Louis\u2019 eighth birthday and his parents\u2019 15th wedding anniversary all falling within the same seven-day period. With this in mind, there are fears the Sussexes\u2019 trip could also be seen as a form of payback \u2013 not least because it will coincide with Kate and William\u2019s special day.<\/p>\n There is talk of Meghan launching her lifestyle brand As Ever while in Australia(Image: INSTAGRAM\/aseverofficial\/Compartes Chocolate)<\/p>\n \u201cThere still seems to be an awful lot of tension with other members of the family and the royal household,\u201d says Richard. \u201cClearly Buckingham Palace<\/a> and the Sussex camp are speaking, so there\u2019ll be a certain amount of deconflicting going on.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think it will also annoy the King and other members of the family if, as seems likely, Meghan and Harry garner a lot of media attention while they\u2019re out in Australia, and then that overshadows whatever\u2019s going on back here.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, since stepping down as working royals in 2020, Harry and Meghan have free rein to organise their diaries as they wish. But for the remaining working royals, that means any scheduling conflicts are no longer a consideration for the California-based couple \u2013 however ill-timed.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of their biggest frustrations when they were working members of the whole family was that they had to defer to the King and Queen, and to William and Kate,\u201d says Richard. \u201cThey found it really frustrating having to fit in with everybody else when, as far as they were concerned, they were the big box office attraction. But from Meghan and Harry\u2019s point of view, they don\u2019t have to worry about it any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n Richard says there is lingering tension between the various family factions(Image: UK Press via Getty Images)<\/p>\n With the Sussexes flying solo and free of the usual rules and regulations governing royals\u2019 money-making through private ventures, the stage seems set for a major \u2013 and lucrative \u2013 Sussex charm offensive in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a market for them and for the As Ever brand over there, but as they do over here, they divide the public,\u201d says Richard. \u201cThere are many staunch monarchists who really don\u2019t like them and see them as having betrayed the monarchy, but there are lots of people who have sympathy with them, who think they\u2019re glamorous and will buy into the idea of these products.\u201d<\/p>\n As well as the upcoming trip to Oz \u2013 which they\u2019re expected to make without Prince Archie, six, and four-year-old Princess Lilibet \u2013 it also emerged last week that their Archewell Productions company was working on at least one new TV show and two new films with Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of the most talked-about is a polo-themed series described by Deadline as an \u201cupstairs-downstairs drama\u201d revolving around the \u201cmessy dynamics\u201d between two rival teams and their familial owners in the high-flying equestrian town of Wellington, Florida.<\/p>\n It is being made with the production company behind hit shows Gossip Girl and The OC, and written by Francisca Hu, who worked on the 2017 Dynasty reboot. Confirming the news on X, she wrote, \u201cSomething horse-y and wildly fun this way comes! Very excited about this one and obsessed with everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Harry previously made a documentary for Netflix on his beloved sport(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n PR and entertainment expert Lynn Carratt tells us the Sussexes\u2019 shift from documentary-style shows into \u201cglossy, character-led entertainment\u201d is another huge step away from their former royal roles.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve very clearly repositioned themselves as media and entertainment figures in their own right, rather than working royals bound by protocol,\u201d says Lynn. \u201cIf both the Australia visit and new entertainment ventures land well, it\u2019ll certainly strengthen their positioning as global media figures.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Richard, Harry and Meghan\u2019s publicity drive is unlikely to go down well with the King, especially amid growing talk of a possible father-son reunion ahead of next year\u2019s Invictus Games.<\/p>\n He says, \u201cThey were heading in that commercial direction a long time before they actually quit, but I don\u2019t think the late Queen, Charles and William were ever keen on that idea.\u201d<\/p>\n With royal tensions still simmering, it sounds like Harry and Meghan\u2019s latest move risks jeopardising already-fragile relations at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n Get the inside scoop on the monarchy with Mirror Royal<\/p>\n WHATSAPP GROUP: <\/strong>Be first to get the biggest royal bombshells and exclusives to your phone by joining our Royal WhatsApp here.<\/a><\/p>\n We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. 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