There’s a lot happening behind the scenes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Australian tour, but it looks like the couple has a lot more to worry about. Because there’s a petition going up on Change.org right now asking for a trip down to safety or anything like that, without using taxpayer money.
The petition explains its stance in the following words, “At a time when Australians are facing significant cost-of-living pressures, including rising grocery bills, fuel prices, mortgage stress driven by interest rate rises and rising energy costs, public resources must be used responsibly and applied fairly, without special treatment for high-profile individuals.”
It’s coming up between April 15 and 19, and will mark the first time they’ve returned since stepping down from working as royals in 2018. For this particular visit, the Prince is coming to Melbourne to speak at the InterAge Psychological Safety Summit for a mid-five-figure fee. Whereas, as far as Meghan is concerned, she will serve as host for a luxury ‘Her Best Life’ retreat in Sydney.
Full statement on the petition from a Sussex spokesperson:
Despite the trip being labeled a private matter, many who signed the petition believe that taxpayers’ money will be used to protect them, and this has forced their representative and spokesperson to put out a statement reading, “This is a controversial issue. The trip is being privately funded, so I’m not sure what this petition hopes to accomplish.”
But that’s not where his rep ended as he also said, “Of course, if you want to dive into the ridiculousness of this petition as having an agenda to spread misinformation, one could equally speculate that there are about 26.5 million Australians (99.98% of the population) who haven’t signed it, so they should be okay with the taxpayer picking up the tab for their travel… This is another equally silly claim, but hey, common sense prevails. Why let a good story get in the way of it…”
The government has also strengthened its stance on the matter, particularly the offices of the Prime Minister’s Department and the Department of Home Affairs. He claims he has “no involvement in Harry and Meghan’s journey.”
