South Pacific Tourism Organization, May 21 – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan to launch themselves on the international stage with a major tour to New Zealand later this year.
A high-profile trip to New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Tonga in October is being discussed at the highest level and aides are promising that the second half of this year will be “incredibly busy” with official visits, the Daily Mail reports.
The couple have already announced that they are delaying their honeymoon to return to work the week after their nuptials.
It is anticipated that Markle – now the Duchess of Sussex – will join the Queen at the Chelsea Flower Show for the first time and make an appearance at one of her annual garden parties in the coming weeks.
The royals will also undertake a couple of short overseas visits before the start of the summer, including a two-day visit to Dublin.
Prince Harry, 33, is yet to visit Ireland but Markle, 36, spent time in the country as an ambassador for the One Young World summit in 2014.
But the couple plan to really showcase their work as a new royal “power couple” later in the year, starting with a visit to Australia, where Harry’s inspirational Invictus Games for injured servicemen and women is being held in Sydney this October.
They will then travel onto New Zealand – a country the prince loves and where Markle has travelled before as a backpacker – followed by Fiji and Tonga.
Their visits to New Zealand and Australia are particularly important. Harry’s father Prince Charles was recently nominated as the next head of the Commonwealth, and it is hoped that Harry and Meghan will boost the popularity of the royals in the Southern Hemisphere.
The prince has also wanted to visit both Fiji and Tonga. He met with the Fijian Prime Minister during March’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. Read in south Pacific Tourism Organization
