Harry and Meghan to visit Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in their first overseas royal tour

  • Royal
The Duke and Duchess are expected to be at the Opening Ceremony of the Invictus Games. Credit: PA

Newlyweds the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will carry out their first major royal tour together on the other side of the world.

Harry and Meghan will travel to Australia and New Zealand as well as the island states of Fiji and Tonga in the Pacific.

The trip will coincide with the fourth Invictus Games – the event Prince Harry founded for wounded and injured military veterans.

No date has been given for the tour but the Games start in Sydney on 20 October.

Harry and Meghan cheer on this year's Invictus hopefuls. Credit: Team Bath / University of Bath

The Duke and Duchess are expected to be at the Opening Ceremony but unlike the Games in Toronto last Autumn – where Harry first introduced Meghan to the world’s cameras – the couple are not thought to be planning to stay for the entire week.

A visit to some of the Commonwealth countries furthest from Britain will be welcomed by the Queen – who no longer travels but cares about the Commonwealth of nations she has nurtured throughout her reign.

There are 53 member countries and their leaders met earlier this year in London.

The trip will coincide with the fourth Invictus Games. Credit: PA

Harry’s father, the Prince of Wales, has now been confirmed as the organisations Head when he becomes King.

Harry’s brother and sister-in-law, William and Kate, travelled to Canada, another member of the Commonwealth, for their first tour as a married couple.

The Queen remains the Head of State in Australia and New Zealand and the younger royals are extremely popular in both countries.

Their wedding in Windsor last month was watched by millions of people down under and they are sometimes referred to as the ‘republican slayers’ because their own popularity boosts support for the British monarchy there.

Australia last had a referendum on becoming a republic in 1999 when the country voted to keep its ties with the British Monarch.

The state of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean is a former British colony and has been a republic since 1970.

There are fewer than a million people on its islands.

Neighbouring Tonga is the only monarchy in the Pacific and has a King – Tupou VI.

Prince Harry and Meghan sent crowds wild in Cardiff earlier this year. Credit: PA

The country’s population however – at 106,000 - is smaller than most British towns.

Both island nations are worried about the threat from rising sea levels caused by climate change – and it is likely that the visit by the Duke and Duchess will highlight some of those concerns.

Kensington Palace said: “Their Royal Highnesses have been invited to visit the Realms of Australia and New Zealand by the countries' respective governments. The Duke and Duchess will visit the Commonwealth countries of Fiji and Tonga at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”