A number of moments from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s four-day Australia trip have gone viral – including one confusing detail from their visit to Sydney Opera House.
However, not is all quite as it seems…
The Duke, 41, and Duchess of Sussex, 44, spent time on the East Coast in a private capacity since they’re no longer working royals.
However, they still made time to meet fans, partake in charity engagements and professional appearances, and squeeze in a number of community visits.
Harry and Meghan met with young mental health charity advocates, took a trip to the national war memorial, and embarked on an Aboriginal walking tour in Melbourne, to name just a few activities on their jam-packed itinerary.
The Duchess also filmed an episode of MasterChef Australia and appeared at the Her Best Life wellness weekend retreat, which was held at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach.
On their final official day, the royal couple visited both Sydney’s Opera House and Bondi Beach.
At the beach, they met with survivors and volunteer first responders from the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club who were on the scene at the Bondi Beach terrorist attack in December.
The tragic Hanukkah attack killed fifteen people and injured dozens more when gunmen opened fire on a crowd of more than 1,000 in Bondi’s Archer Park on December 14.
After the emotional meeting, Harry and Meghan went for a walk on the beach, where they were absolutely swarmed with fans and camera crews.
So, a viral clip that was filmed shortly after this has sparked confusion online, as the poster claimed the Opera House was ’empty’ when they arrived.
It shows Harry and Meghan pulling up to the iconic landmark and walking past barricades that, at first glance, appear to be completely empty.
One X user brutally penned: “The embarrassment of putting up railings to hold back a non-existent crowd!!” while a second added: “Hahahaha, and they put all that fences for the non existing crowd”.
And a third wrote: “Look at all the metal barricades put up – expecting a big crowd! How embarrassing!”
However, it’s since been revealed that this was actually not the case at all, with pictures from the visit showing huge crowds behind the barricades, with whom Meghan and Harry took selfies with.
The perspective from which the original video was taken just doesn’t have the crowd in the shot, as they were behind a separate barricade.
An article in The Express even outlines how they were ‘mobbed by fans’ during the visit – so, it wasn’t ’embarrassing’ or empty at all, in reality.
Social media users also took to X to defend the royals, with one writing: “You notice how they keep the panning close to them so you can’t see the overall picture.”
A second added, “Lol, you can literally see that entire area is gated off and there’s no entry point for people. Here are the photos of them with the actual crowd gathered there, but don’t let the truth get in your way.”
