The royal event that ‘broke’ Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed

and ‘s tour in Australia in late 2018 has been described as the event that “broke” them before they decided to step down from duties.

The couple, who had tied the knot just five months earlier, travelled to Australia in October 2018 – a visit that came shortly after announcing Meghan’s pregnancy with their son.

As reported by , Harry and Meghan had “expected more praise” over the trip, which was deemed a huge success at the time.

Despite their success – and Meghan’s apparent popularity after the visit – the Daily Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers said that the couple had expected more praise when they returned to the UK.

He claims that Australia “broke” them and was one of the main catalysts for their departure from the Royal Family.

Mr Myers said: “Australia broke Harry and Meghan and was one of the catalysts for them leaving the Royal Family.

“She and Harry had expected they would get much more praise and recognition from that royal tour.”

Meghan and Harry themselves agreed that “things really changed” after the Australia tour in their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The Duke told the chatshow host: “My grandmother has been amazing throughout. You know, my father, my brother, Kate and all the rest of the family, they were.

“They were really welcoming. But it really changed after the Australia tour, after our south pacific tour.”

Within a year and a half of the tour, the couple “stepped back” from royal duties – and soon moved to the US with Prince Archie, who was then less than a year-old.

Angela Mollard also previously agreed that Meghan held a growing frustration over a perceived lack of praise by the royals boiled over after Australia.

She said: “She was part of a big institution and she wasn’t the hero of it, she was a cog in the wheel and that became clear [after Australia].”

The couple now reside in California with their son Archie, aged five, and their three-year-old daughter Lilibet, who was born in America.