The royal duty Meghan Markle 'hated every second of' when she married Prince Harry

Meghan Markle 'hated every second' of her and Prince Harry's 'pointless' Australia tour when she first became a member of the royal family.

• A royal author claims that Meghan Markle was not a fan of her first royal tour in Australia and didn't understand its 'purpose'.
• She reportedly hated the gruelling agenda, despite their big trip being hailed as a success.
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes after Prince Harry's special warning to Prince William before he married Kate Middleton (opens in new tab) was revealed. 

A royal expert has claimed that Meghan Markle ‘hated every second’ of her and Prince Harry’s first royal tour to Australia, with the Duchess of Sussex being confused by the mass attention from royal fans. 

Before stepping back as senior royals (opens in new tab), the pair were active members of the Firm for two years and took part in several royal tours. Their first, which saw the couple embark on a traditional trip around Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji, came just six months after they got married (opens in new tab), in 2018.

The trip was hailed by many as a huge success, but according to royal author Tina Brown, Meghan ‘hated’ the whole experience.

In her new book, ‘The Palace Papers’, Tina Brown quotes a former Palace employee who revealed that Meghan "apparently hated every second of it".

Explaining Meghan’s thoughts on the arrangements and agenda, they said, “She didn't understand why things were set up in that way. Instead of being excited when thousands of people showed up at the Opera House, it was very much like, 'What's the purpose? I don't understand this.'”

Following their trip to Australia, the pair also embarked on a royal tour to South Africa in 2019, after the birth of their first child, Archie (opens in new tab). 

It was during this visit that Meghan made her feelings about the tour clear again after famously being asked if she was ‘okay’ by royal journalist Tom Bradby.

In response, she revealed that she was struggling with the press attention that came with being a royal family member, and said, “Thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.

"Any woman, especially when they're pregnant, you're really vulnerable. So, that was made really challenging. And, then when you have a newborn, and especially as a woman, it's a lot.”

The pair then announced in 2020 that they were stepping back as senior royals (opens in new tab) and relocated to LA where they would give their bombshell Oprah interview (opens in new tab). Since then Meghan has returned to the UK only once, for a secret meeting with the Queen (opens in new tab) ahead of the Invictus Games.