The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have touched down in Australia on the first day of their whirlwind four-day visit.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived in Melbourne early on Tuesday on a commercial Qantas flight from Los Angeles, reportedly flying in business class.

“I was sitting right in front of them and I didn’t even know,” one passenger told the Seven Network.

They will officially begin their visit later on Tuesday with a stop at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The duchess will be on her own for the second stop on the quasi-royal itinerary – at a centre delivering homeless services for women. It parallels Meghan’s long-standing commitment to community-led support for vulnerable women.

The couple will reunite for a tour of the Australian Veterans’ National Art Museum later on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Prince Harry will be at a Movember event with AFL club the Western Bulldogs. He will head solo to Canberra to visit the Australian War Memorial and meet members of the Invictus Games community.

But other planned appearances over the next few days are decidedly more commercial.

Organisers of a three-day women’s retreat say Meghan will headline the exclusive event – pitched as a “girls weekend like no other” – while Harry will deliver a keynote speech on workplace mental health at a Melbourne summit.

Tickets to the retreat start at $2699, while in-person attendance at the summit will set punters back about $1000 or more.

The privately funded trip is not an official royal tour; Harry and Meghan are no longer working members of the royal family after renouncing their status and moving to North America in 2020.

But Giselle Bastin, a Flinders University associate professor and expert on the British royal family, said the decision to use their titles to pursue private interests would be perceived by many as a conflict of interest.

“It’s well known that the Sussexes are in dire need of income and so a staging of a quasi-royal tour to Australia is being regarded as a rather desperate attempt to monetise their status as royalty,” she said.

“During the 2018 tour, Meghan was overheard to say that she couldn’t believe she ‘wasn’t being paid for this’, and the irony is that this time she is coming to Australia and being paid.”

Harry and Meghan at the Sydney Opera House on their last Australian visit. Photo: Getty

On their headline-grabbing trip almost a decade ago, adoring crowds clamoured to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds and much of the nation gushed as news of Meghan’s pregnancy was announced.

“By contrast, in 2026 the Sussexes have ceased to be working royals and have used media platforms to air their grievances about the royal family,” Bastin said.

“They are thought to have cast a shadow over the final years of the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, and for this they have attracted the ire of many a royal follower.”

Adding to the shift in public sentiment has been police confirmation taxpayers will cover additional security costs and public safety operations, contradicting repeated assurances from the couple’s team that the visit would be entirely privately funded.

An online petition calling for Australian taxpayers not to foot the bill has attracted more than 45,000 signatures.

“I imagine many Australians will feel offended by being used as a backdrop for a tour by a couple who are monetising their royal status for self-gain and not for the purpose of strengthening the ties between Australia and the monarchy,” Bastin said.

And what is next for Brand Sussex?

“Increased debt, I imagine, and not much money for jam,” she said.

-with AAP