Meghan Markle, Prince Harry ‘Not As Popular’ As Queen Elizabeth In Australia

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were welcomed by massive crowds of people when they arrived in Australia. But their popularity was still nothing like Queen Elizabeth II’s when she visited the continent years ago.

Kat Hopps, a journalist for Express, Her Majesty spent 58 days touring Australia with Prince Philip in 1954. At that time, the Queen has just been crowned and an estimated 75 percent of the 9 million population showed up to see her in person.

But according to Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal biographer, the number of people that turned up to meet the Queen, Markle, and Prince Harry had nothing to do with their level of popularity.

“The era was different, the circumstances were different, the Queen had a million people in Sydney. I do not think there is any comparison at all. The period was not only an era of deference, but an era when Britain had different status in the world but also a time when you had a newly-crowned Queen and ties to Britain were tremendously strong,” he said.

During the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit to Australia, one of the notable things that they did was their modern way of interacting with people.

“There seems to be a tremendous amount of enthusiasm towards them and the way they communicate with young people and children is enchanting to see. What they are projecting is a representation of a monarchy who have meaning particularly for young people and particularly for dealing with issues. For Meghan, it is female empowerment and diversity, with Harry, of course, there has been a lot about conservation,” he said.

Fitzwilliams added that it is Prince Harry and Markle’s compassion and campaigning that will help modernize the monarchy for Commonwealth countries such as Australia.

“Meghan has been able to promote female empowerment and diversity, while she and Harry both project youth. This is very significant when you are talking about the monarch because Republicans always have an idea that it is the elderly and those who have ties with Britain one way or another who are pro-monarchy but in fact it is very different,” he concluded.