Prince Harry flies solo on tour after pregnant Meghan steps back
Prince Harry is carrying out several engagements without his wife after the Duchess of Sussex decided to scale back her plans on the royal tour.
Kensington Palace announced that Meghan will not attend some of the scheduled events in the programme over the coming days.
Harry has told his wife to slow down.
A source told us that “she is fine but resting.”
Meghan is at least 12 weeks pregnant and the schedule on the royal tour has clearly had an impact on her.
She was due to attend a cycling event on Sunday morning for the Invictus Games – the tournament for wounded military veterans which Harry founded – but he turned up on his own.
Meghan did attend an Invictus reception and a sailing event on Sunday.
Yesterday, the couple were at the Opening Ceremony, in an open air auditorium in front of Sydney’s famous Opera House.
The event was delayed by more than an hour after heavy storms.
A Palace source said: “She is not sick, just tired.”
Royal aides are now trying to rearrange the schedule so that Meghan can get more rest.
One added: “We have to try to pace her. She had a very late night last night.
"She wants to do everything, but Prince Harry is encouraging her to pace herself.”
It means that Meghan will travel with her husband to Fraser Island in Queensland tomorrow but he will visit the internationally recognised conservation site on his own instead.
The statement said: “After a busy programme, The Duke and Duchess have decided to cut back The Duchess's schedule slightly for the next couple of days, ahead of the final week and a half of the tour.”
No decisions have yet been taken about the Duke and Duchess’ plans in Fiji and Tonga, where they are due next.
There was already some surprise that Meghan was travelling to both those Pacific islands.
The UK government advice is that pregnant women should not travel there because there is a ‘moderate risk’ of the Zika virus from misquitos.
The Palace said earlier this week that medical advice had been sought and the Duchess of Sussex would still travel.
The Royal Tour is due to end on 31 October in New Zealand.