One week later, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Australian “tour” is still making headlines. It’s a reminder that we only saw a fraction of their activities in real time – Meghan’s MasterChef episode still hasn’t aired yet, various behind-the-scenes videos are still being uploaded, and clearly, crashouts over the tour are still ongoing. Well, when Meghan and Harry were in Sydney, they met TONS of people across several events. At one point, a man asked Meghan to film a message to his daughter, and the moment was so lovely:
Meghan Markle shared some advice for a bride ahead of her wedding during her trip to Australia. The Duchess of Sussex, 44, offered her take in a fan footage shared to Instagram Stories on April 23, with the clip filmed during her trip Down Under with Prince Harry last week.
“Ellie, I’m here with your dad. I just wanted to say congratulations on your wedding. Enjoy the wedding, but it’s more about the marriage,” Meghan said. “Have a wonderful, beautiful marriage and a lifetime of love.”
“Sending you love all over the world. Your dad is awesome,” the Duchess of Sussex added, pointing at the man next to her, and blew a kiss before the camera cut.
The video appeared to have been filmed during Meghan and Harry’s visit to the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club in Sydney on April 17, where they met first responders, survivors of the December 2025 Bondi Beach terror attack and representatives from the Sydney Jewish Museum. The emotional stop was one of several on the couple’s schedule during their trip to Australia, where they mixed private, business and philanthropic engagements during their four-day stay.
You can see the video below. “Enjoy the wedding, but it’s more about the marriage. Have a wonderful, beautiful marriage…” That’s a good message and it’s a message a lot of people need to hear. Don’t turn into a bridezilla or groomzilla, think longterm and ensure that you have a strong marriage! Yes, I’m using this as an excuse to talk about a book I read last weekend – Belle Burden’s Strangers: A Memoir of a Marriage. It should be required reading for all engaged people! Recognize when you’re being love-bombed! Don’t make wild financial decisions before or during your marriage! Listen to legal counsel!!
#Meghan's 💫🩷 message.🤗 pic.twitter.com/YpxaJgaFyH
— Nova🌼♎️🦋🪷 (@ThatFamilyBS) April 23, 2026
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Sydney, AUSTRALIA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Bondi Beach Life Guards and greet the public at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 17 APRIL 2026 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Sydney, AUSTRALIA Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – Visit Sydney, Australia – Sydney Harbour sailing with Invictus Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 17 APRIL 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: Brandon Voight / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Sydney, AUSTRALIA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spend the afternoon on Sydney Harbour sailing with Invictus Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 17 APRIL 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: KHAP / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Sydney, AUSTRALIA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spend the afternoon on Sydney Harbour sailing with Invictus Australia. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 17 APRIL 2026 BYLINE MUST READ: KHAP / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex leave the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club after meeting volunteer first responders, during a visit to Bondi Beach, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Volunteers from the organisation, founded in 1907, played an integral role in protecting beachgoers and saving lives during the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on December 14 Featuring: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Where: Bondi, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Sussex hugs Michael Hartung, CEO of Invictus Australia, at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Rushcutters Bay, after taking part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke and Duchess of Sussex after taking part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duchess of Sussex poses for a selfie photo with wellwishers at Man O’War Steps, next to the Sydney Opera House, before taking part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- A wellwisher presents the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with a framed photograph of Harry with her mother Daphne Dunn, as they arrive at the Man O’War Steps, next to the Sydney Opera House, before taking part in a sailing event with members of Invictus Australia in Sydney Harbour, on day four of the royal trip to Australia. Featuring: Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Where: Sydney, Australia When: 17 Apr 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
That Belle Burden book is WILD – and I think the biggest lesson of all is for women to de-center men. Because all the signs were there for her and she married him anyway because she wanted to be married. She gave up her entire identity for that man.
LOVE that message. I’ve known more than one young woman who sunk into a malaise after planning their dream wedding and then not adjusting well to the daily humdrum of marriage.
Nothing makes the derangers more deranged than when Meghan is right.
This is excellent advice. I’m at the age now where a lot of my friends that got married in their mid to late twenties and early 30s, are now separating, divorced, or on their second marriages. A lot of those cases were because they should have never gotten married in the first place.
Society, socialization, and thinking about the wedding more than the hard work that goes into staying married, puts a lot of people in relationships or keeps them in relationships that should not have progressed.
I think the messaging has changed over time and I appreciate that Disney movies don’t advertise fantasy weddings to little girls as much these days, but your point has been my observation too many times. The idea that you should be planning a wedding at a certain age has led to many an unfulfilling marriage, I’m afraid.
Yes and the idea of the goal without the hard work causes lots of heartache and often money. This was a very sweet and wonderful message.
What great advice!! When I got married in the church I had to do an engaged encounter weekend to get married in the Catholic Church. They had a banner and it read A Wedding is a day a Marriage is a lifetime. I asked to have that banner at the alter on my wedding day. It for me was the best advice.
The Catholic Church deservedly gets a lot of crap (from me, too, a cradle Catholic!) but requiring pre-wedding counseling is something it really got right.
We did ours at a Catholic church in London and the priest was great. When asked if he considered couples living together before marriage to be sinful (as my soon-to-be-husband and I were), he said the real sin was that housing was so expensive.
They had us write a budget and put down our long-term financial priorities. It was excellent.
And Meghan’s advice is perfect!
Meghan is so good at this, so quick on her feet. I can’t imagine what Kate would have done…well, I can..
Woman states the obvious.
LOL
If it was so obvious, why are women still being sold the notion that their wedding day “Is the most important day of their life;” and being told that its supposed to be “the happiest day of their life.”
If it was so obvious, the same amount of time and energy wd be spent on messages about expectations about marriage in the 21st century.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Amen.
The reason most Christian churches require mandatory counseling of new couples prior to their wedding is because what Tikichika says “Woman states the obvious.” NOT. Where are the Hallmark cards saying “Have a happy marriage”? Sounds like the message here is it’s better someone can pat themselves on the back for sounding superior, than it is to give a thought to a world where many children are raised by divorced parents who frequently act badly toward each other and triangulate their squabbles through their innocent children.
I’m morbidly fascinated by clips of Say Yes To The Dress. Every one of those women saying the same things – “Ever since I was little girl I’ve dreamed of my perfect wedding.” And $7,000 later, “Now, I feel like a bride!”
Agree @Kingston. Also, women are told the best & most important day of their life is when they give birth! Which is cruel to women who can’t or choose to not have children.
The wedding day is the start. Love and work for the marriage is what matters. Going on 30 years of marriage next month. We didn’t have a big fancy wedding.
I’ll say our wedding day was a very fun dayl Our marriage hasn’t been perfect, but we know the other is who we want to go to sleep with at night.
It’s not obvious to all what a wedding and marriage equates to. H & M seem to have a very good understanding.
I listened to the audio of Belle’s book and am conflicted, as I know someone mentioned in her book well enough to know that some of what she describes does not square with what I know of them. That said, there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from the way she writes about not de-selfing in a relationship to the point where there’s so little of you left that you have to re-learn yourself. ( Been there/done that.)
I follow a couple of wedding-related sub-Reddits, just for fun.
This is the baseline of most of the good advice offered that I see there, and how I always sign off if I comment to a bride:
Wishing you a lovely wedding day, and a long and happy marriage!
Of course Princess Meghan, of all people, would focus on this. She knows better than most how little a huge, splashy wedding has to do with how you live together as a family after that.