Every single photo of the Duchess of Sussex in Australia just reinforced something I’ve always believed: as soon as Meghan arrived in that staid, pearl-clutching, racist institution, they were mad as hell. They were mad because she’s so beautiful, so charming, so real. They were incandescent with rage at her luminosity. She was never going to get a fair shake from those people. These are photos of Meghan from her appearance at the Her Best Life retreat. Per her OneOff account, Meghan wore a Scanlan Theodore cashmere tank, Scanlan Theodore trousers, Aquazzura pumps and Cartier jewelry. She looked gorgeous! (Note by CB: Vera Wang for Kohl’s has an affordable sleeveless sweater tank with scarf. Target has wide-legged pants that are similar.) This was my favorite outfit of the whole Australian tour. Meanwhile, you know how Salt Island was screaming and carrying on over Meghan’s appearance at this retreat? Well, Meghan turned up, did exactly what she was paid to do, and left. The tabloids are furious because they worked themselves into a lather, lying for weeks about how Meghan would be personally robbing wealthy yoga moms and shoving jam down people’s throats.
Fans paid upward of $3,199 to see Meghan Markle at a weekend retreat in Sydney on Friday, but the Duchess of Sussex only attended the pricey event for a mere two hours. The 44-year-old “With Love, Meghan” star and Prince Harry, 41, showed up to the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach resort at 5 p.m. local time just to drive away 120 minutes later in a luxury Range Rover.
Markle was reportedly paid $150,000 for her special guest appearance, per Daily Mail, while attendees dished out big bucks for the chance to ask her questions and pose for pics.
While the duchess joined “Her Best Life” podcast co-host Gemma O’Neill — who organized the annual retreat with co-host Jackie Henderson — onstage for a Q&A session, she complained about her “very hard” public life during the in-person conversation. Markle also gushed about the “amazing moments” she’s experienced since meeting Harry in 2016, like getting married and welcoming two kids, but emphasized the attacks she’s had to “endure” ever since.
Critics of the Sussexes have since rushed to social media to share their thoughts about Markle’s brief two-hour stay at the retreat dubbed “Megstock” because of the duchess’ expected participation.
“Why did Meghan Markle not even share a meal with women who had paid $3000 to spend ‘retreat’ time with her? How is that kind?” one person tweeted.
“She didn’t go down there to spend time with any of those people, just to get a few PR photos and collect her share of the takings,” claimed another.
However, a rep for Markle clarified that the former actress was never scheduled to attend the entirety of the retreat.
“Meghan was always confirmed only to attend the retreat for her Q&A portion of the weekend,” Markle’s rep told Page Six in a statement. “She had a lovely time sitting down and talking to Gemma in front of such an engaging audience.”
The official Her Best Life website referred to Markle as a “special guest” in a promo for the retreat and only advertised a Q&A.
“Join us for an intimate luxury weekend by the ocean designed to bring women together for powerful conversations, relaxation, laughter and unforgettable experiences,” it read. “The highlight of the weekend will be an in-person conversation with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.”
They were always going to be mad about something, and it’s hilarious that they were ranting and carrying on for WEEKS about this and it turned out that Meghan was basically just paid to do a friendly Q&A session and take photos with people who knew exactly what they were getting. Only the tabloids and haters genuinely believed that Meghan would be doing hot-yoga and tea-parties all weekend.
Incidentally, it’s amazing that Harry showed up as well – some suggested that Harry decided to come because there was so much dark energy devoted to Meghan’s appearance. That’s possible, but it’s also possible he just wanted a meal and he likes to support his wife. I saw some stuff on social media where all of the ladies were absolutely thrilled to see Harry too, and I’m sure some of those ladies got photos with him.
“An evening I’ll never forget ✨”
“It was such an honour to meet and hear from Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Who shared such a powerful and meaningful experience. A beautiful reminder of the impact kindness, strength, and authenticity can have” – 🎥 Meghan Towner#HarryandMeghan🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/Vs1Q6qUUti
— ChrisBaronSmith (@ChrisBaronSmit1) April 19, 2026
Photos courtesy of Her Best Life’s Instagram. This post contains affiliate links.
Oh noooo, just wait until they find out how long Kate actually stays at her rare patronage appearances…
Right? But that’s a whole 15 mins of super special princess Kate! I mean she’s only seen once every 3 months for 15 mins . So special.
Exactly. Kate doesn’t even take her coat off.
Would anyone pay any amount for a weekend retreat where Khate shows up for 15 minutes, mumbles something incoherent in her fake posh accent and then leaves because reasons? People who attended the weekend were thrilled to see Meghan and then they went to the next part of the scheduled program.
Not only that…They got Prince Harry too! So the retreat got even more bang for their bucks! 🙂
Real-life encounters with Meghan are always a bit anticlimactic and soothing and life-affirming, in a strange blend, because you realise that the tabloids, having built her up into a crazy caricature of some hybrid man-eating harpie, have blown her up to Godzilla proportions, and the truth is, she’s just a lovely, genuine, decent human being.
I believe that whole heartedly…
Curious,have you met her?
Have the folks in the british press met her???
Shelley now that is the real question. These people stalk her wherever she goes, including flying across oceans to maybe see where she has been or where she lives or speaks at. All while never having the opportunity to meet her because of their horrible treatment of her and the people she loves. Everyone who is a genuinely good hearted person who has had the honor of meeting her has always said wonderful things about her and that goes from childhood to now. Her character has never faltered even when most would collapse under the weight of all this pressure and hate. That’s why when you look at the character of those who hate her, their words about her are always a projection of who they are and never who she is.
The media were well aware that Meghan was only due to take part in a Q&A session and then photos with the individuals who paid for the VIP tickets. Nowhere in any of the information and comments released by the actual Her Best Life retreat organisers did they say she was due to stay the whole weekend or be involved in any of the other activities at the event. The likes of the Daily Mail just want to twist things to have something else to attack the event and Meghan for. They came for the organisers (they’re in debt! They’re linked to OnlyFans!), the venue (it’s unfinished, the beach is covered in sewage!), the ticket prices (it’s too expensive!) the tickets sales (it failed to sell out!) the attendees (Sussex Squad members are coming!) the amount of time Meghan spent there (only 2 hours! She didn’t sleep over!), Harry’s surprise appearance (why is he there?!), what Meghan talked about (she complained about her life!) and now they’ve moved on to the damn gift bags (the items only cost $200!). Throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks.
I find it funny that anyone thought Meghan would stay for longer than two hours.. that’s pretty typical for headliners at retreats and events I’ve attended in the past.
Reading comprehension is not their strong suit. I’ve also noticed Daily Fail writers are remarkably devoid of any life experiences that might inform their writing.
Or that she needed to eat meals with them, stay for the whole day, etc.
Have these journalists ever been to a retreat before? Do they just not understand how events with multiple speakers/workshops/etc. work?
I’m just so confused – I know the anger is performative, but don’t they ever feel embarrassed by how ignorant and uncultured they make themselves sound when they write these things?
I read somewhere that the press were acting like Meghan was going to braid everyone’s hair while all the pajama-clad women sat around breathing in soothing candle scents in the dark.
Instead they got two (!) hours and Prince Harry. A pretty good deal, if you ask me.
The attendees sure appeared to have enjoyed this retreat. Harry walked his wife to the stage, stayed as an attendee, appeared to have enjoyed the conversations , then helped his wife off the stage at her conclusion. I believe Prince Harry was there because of the dark forces. The dark forces were loud and proud before the event. From what I read, lying Kate Mansey was in attendance and lied, with the attendees presenting evidence to rebuke her lies.
Was Kate Mansey in attendance or did she just describe what happened from a supposed source who claimed to have attended?
@Jais Kate Mansey wasn’t there she just repeated some second hand information that turned out not to be true.
Yeah, Kate Mansey more than likely got her info from a deranger that wasn’t there. How sad. I know some hate accounts claimed they got tickets to go but it’s clear that was all a lie.
I’m laughing bc the deranger source probably wasn’t even there either. Just told Mansey they were, collected a check and then made something up.
So? She was the keynote, most keynote speakers don’t stay in the entire conference they come the day of or maybe the night before and then they bounce. This isn’t odd, or out of line with how most conferences and retreats work unless they’re specifically hosted by an individual the entire time like Tony Robbins.
She wasn’t hosting this event, she was a guest. They just have this constant need to pretend that normal business stuff is odd and out of line with normal practices when it comes to Meghan. And I think with Harry it was probably a little bit of both. Wanting to support and wanting it to be visible he was there in case people got silly ideas in their head.
Exactly i went to a conference last year for workers compensation and the keynote speaker was the PM(not UK) and he literally dipped about 30 mins later.
Yeah, the criticisms are desperate at this point. “she did what anyone else in her position would have done” – oh no, call the police!!!!!
and it doesnt even matter what she does – they’ll attack her no matter what. And she’s risen way above that.
As someone who has hired event speakers including some BIG names (former name brand athletes) her appearance is what I have negotiated – show up and speak, meet and greets and photos with VIPs and out. Her price is reasonable! I had “superstars in their own mind who wanted quite a bit more and private transportation).
Just to add something. Meghan wasn’t paid for this event. She attended as a favor to Marcus (her BFF) who is friends with Gemma the organizer.
“… who organized the annual retreat with co-host Jackie Henderson” – This is clearly not true? There was no sign or mention of this Jackie person in the run-up to the event, and Gemma did not mention her at all in any of her videos. And though I saw one report that claimed she was there, I did not see her identified in any posts or photographs.
Reporters just lie and lie and lie… have they never heard of fact-checking? Is this no longer on the curriculum at journalism school?
Jackie Henderson is a major radio star nicknamed Jackie O and she is currently in the midst of a massive legal case because she and her shock jock co-host had a spat and the radio station used it to try and get out of their $10 million a year each for 10 years contracts. There was no way she was ever showing up to this, even if she did originally plan to.
It was well known that Meghan was only there for a q&a. It was in the announcement. The BM did call it Meghan’s retreat and Megfest.
I agree with @Dee(2) 100%. They wilfully and gleefully move the goal posts because if they were comparing Harry & Meghan’s operating method to normal business practices, there would be no story. They compare them to the royals, because they aim to set them up to fail that particular comparison. And they still knock it out of the park, every time. Better yet, they have now evolved a blend of royal / business / personal endeavours, and their bespoke model really has no benchmark, they are the only ones operating this way, at this level.
Lol, it’s like the Peanuts cartoon where Lucy always, always, always pulls the football out from under Charlie. He never learns, and the media never learns.
An event is announced, the event is described, the media refuses to believe it and makes up a giant story full of mythical details that outrages them for weeks – then the event happens just as originally advertised and the media is big mad at Meghan for not making it happen the way they imagined.
That is a perfect description of how this cycle with the media coverage of Meghan and Harry has been for ages. They make their own assumptions, even with facts and the details provided and then crash out when their lies don’t come to fruition.
I have said this before but this is because they can’t control her and seeing that they can’t control her they will do all in their power to try to bring her down. She did what she was supposed to do and it appears all had a great time. Meg is winning!!
If she had eaten food it would be “Meghan using hosts for free food” or sth
Did they want her to do yoga, prayer circles or perhaps some mud baths the whole weekend to justify her attendance? You couldn’t get 2 HOURS of any productive conversation from the Keens ANYWHERE!!!
It’s so hilarious to me that this was described as a spa weekend when it was clearly a series of corporate and networking events at the intercontinental at Coogee.
Meghan never promised to stay the whole weekend and braid peoples hair, it was always just a Q&A with photos for VIP only.
From what I read or heard somewhere, the organizers requested 1 hour for the speech/ Q&A plus half hour for meet/greet. However, Meghan insisted on 1 hour for the meet /greet, because she felt those people paying for the VIP package deserved at least that much, plus she wanted to meet and talk to the people not just shake hands and take a picture.
What matters is if the attendees were satisfied.
This wasn’t a paid event.
Not sure how many times Gemma needs to state that.
That is an important fact that the Fail and others seem to keep ignoring because it goes against the narrative they have been trying to paint about her from the very beginning. She married into that family as the only self made millionaire and they still tried to label her as a grifter who was only marrying Harry for his money. Money that Harry didn’t really have. They lived in a cottage that she furnished with her own money. She paid for her own clothes while also wearing clothes and accessories she owned and paid for before Harry. They left the royal family where they had a home that they weren’t paying for, to move to the another country and pay for everything without any taxpayer funding. Grifters don’t leave a situation where presumably everything is allegedly paid for them, just to have to pay for everything on their own with no guarantee of where their finances are going to come from. A grifter would have stayed with the real grifters in the UK royal family. Gemma has said several times that this wasn’t a paid for event. Their statement even said as much.
Thr press and the derangers deluded themselves into believing that Meghan was going to be there for the two days when she was only going to be there a segment of the retreat. They only have themselves to blame.
Squaddies who were there wrote that they had an amazing time. One was also careful not to reveal everything that Meghan said knowing how often her words get twisted.
Also loved Kate getting dragged for something so easily disproven. Harry is not William, ofcourse he helped her on an off a stage
Helped her offstage! William wouldn’t even hold an umbrella over Kate’s head while it was raining.
I think Gemma made it clear that Meghan was not paid. This was basically a favour arranged by Marcus Anderson who appears to be a mutual friend, and according to reports, attended along with Harry. Seems like Marcus was with them for other events as well. Meghan wasn’t even advertised to give a keynote- it was a Q&A. It was Harry who gave a keynote at a conference in Melbourne, who apparently was also not paid.
Gemma said Meghan was not paid. Some spokesperson said she was paid a nominal amount. “News” reports said $150,000 or $1,000,000. Similarly for Harry, I read he wasn’t paid. Same for the chef show.
Maybe these events just shared the cost of travel for them & their staff & security. Whatever, I wish a reputable media source would clear it up so the claims of “They made millions” & “using Oz as an ATM” would be shown to be lies.
There was a post on reddit by an attendee who gave a pretty comprehensive review of Meghan’s appearance. She talked in detail about what Meghan said, and how she answered questions. It’s worth a read on the royaltytea subreddit (not a redditor myself–I just lurk).
Since when have the Wales spent 2 hours anywhere? Have they ever? Have they ever given a keynote and then stayed for a Q and A? Kate can’t even speak for 3 minutes, much less two hours. I’ll give Workshy Will about 5 minutes before he goes incandescent.
lanne – thanks for the update info.
Did they expect Meghan to pad around the resort in a terrycloth robe and slippers after the Q&A, sharing chai lattes with other attendees?
Someone needs to write a “How Normal Things Work for Dummies” guide for the rota.
According to Gemma, Meghan was not paid. Meghan did it out of courtesy/promotion/free. Where the Gutter Rat DM gets 150k from? Every week the amout paid goes up.
EXACTLY!!!
The media insist Meghan organised the retreat, multiplying the number of attendees with the ticket price and saying that’s what she “pocketed”.
Who cares about facts? She didn’t organize the retreat, it wasn’t “hers”. Hotel and catering didn’t come for free. Security and staff had to get paid. What was left was donated. Meghan didn’t ask or get any money. It was a favour for a friend of her friend Marcus.
But of course “Meghan organizes overprized retreats, cashes in the big bucks, and isn’t even there all weekend” makes a much nicer headline to rile up the derangers.
They read and then included the websites own description of Meghan being a special guest who would be there for Q&A as well as photos. All of which happened within that two hour timeframe she was there. Nothing about what they said about the retreat or Meghan’s part in it implies that she was going to be there longer than she was, nor did it imply that she was going to sit down and have dinner with them. Were they expecting her to make rounds at each table and sit and eat with each guest? Why would anyone need her to be in the room eating with them in order for it to be a real women’s retreat? Everyone who was genuinely there so that women could really relax and be supportive of each other, was elated by Meghan and Harry being there. The only people complaining are the ones who didn’t care about any of the women there or their wellness. For the people complaining, they were going to find something to complain about because it was about abusing a specific woman instead of supporting women in general. As far as Harry being there, I don’t think that it has to be a one or the other. The man clearly loves his wife and on this trip he even referred to enjoying spending time with his wife. As parents, sometimes it’s nice to have a little get away that allows you to decompress together. He also obviously knew that deranged people were trying to disrupt this event for his wife and other women so he went there to support the wife he loves as well as protect her if necessary. Harry is that man.
I personnally would never pay that kind of money for a retreat, let alone a wellness retreat, but as long as this is how the programme was communicated to attendees I don’t issue what the issue is. Supply and demand, here is what you get, here is the price tag, you’re free to go or not go as a customer. Unless there was false advertising there’s no ground for complaint.
Page Six is quoting randos on twitter. That tells me everything I need to know about this “article.”
When Gemma announced that Meghan would be a guest speaker, she clearly stated that Meghan’s appearance would be complimentary. But the so-called journalists, reporters, etc., pretended not to hear that part because it didn’t fit the grifter category. I doubt Harry cares about a free meal but was there to assure his wife would be secure. I’m glad the royal reporters weren’t in the audience. It’s amazing how many of them rely on trolls for their information, because anyone with pride and dignity wouldn’t talk to tabloid muppets.
So someone who was there said the Sussexes stayed overnight at the hotel.
I wish I had gone. Bonus Harry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!