Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi-royal tour of Australia is underway amid  questions from locals on ‘why they were actually there’.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed in Melbourne early on Tuesday aboard a business class flight from Los Angeles ahead of a four-day commercial trip.  

The visit – which the couple insist is ‘privately-funded’ – will see Harry and Meghan attend an Invictus Australia event in Sydney before the Princess’s ‘Her Best Life’ retreat at Coogee Beach. Tickets for the weekend cost upwards of £1,400. 

After arriving this morning, the couple spoke to children and posed for photographs outside the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne amid surprise from locals. 

One parent, Pina Roberts, told the Daily Mail. ‘I just came here and was like, what is going on?’ Anything that acknowledges us (patients and parents at the hospital) is good thing.

‘But I didn’t even know they were coming, so I would wonder why they are actually here.’

Four-year-old patient Lily held up a hand-drawn sign that said: ‘Welcome Harry and Meghan’. She presented a flower to the duchess as they arrived.

Meghan hugged Lily after being presented with the gifts and told her: ‘Oh my gosh, this is so sweet. I love it.’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s quasi-royal tour of Australia is underway amid bafflement from locals who questioning: ‘Why are they actually here?’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex landed in Melbourne early on Tuesday aboard a business class flight from Los Angeles ahead of a four-day commercial trip

The couple were greeted by swathes of crowds upon their arrival 

After being shown Lily’s sign, Harry said: ‘Nice to meet you, Lily. That’s beautiful. How long did it take?’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took part in a garden therapy session with patients at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, smelling plants and flowers.

Asked if he would like to take some gumtree home, Harry, wearing a navy jacket, white shirt and metal bracelets, joked: ‘I would, but I think I’d probably get arrested at some point.’

Meghan, wearing a Karen Gee navy sleeveless dress, asked the patients: ‘Do you find that different stories and memories come out that you weren’t expecting?’

The couple visited wards at the hospital and met patients with eating disorders.

Following the Royal Children’s Hospital visit, the Duchess of Sussex visited a women’s refuge in Melbourne.

Meghan donned an apron and served frittata to people at the centre, run by McAuley Community Services for Women, which supports women and children experiencing family violence, homelessness and related challenges.

After serving several people, the duchess asked ‘is anyone else hungry?’, while looking and smiling at the press and other people gathered in the centre.

Meghan then sat down at a table and joined people eating food, telling them: ‘We landed here this morning so my jet lag hasn’t quite hit yet.’

The centre provides round-the-clock crisis accommodation, refuge services and longer-term housing, alongside programmes focused on recovery, wellbeing and independence.

While greeting crowds at the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Duke of Sussex hugged Christina Parkes, who works as an academic at the University of Melbourne.

Ms Parkes, whose 13-year-old daughter Adelaide is a patient at the hospital, said it ‘means an enormous amount’ to have the couple visit Australia.

Speaking before Harry and Meghan arrived, Ms Parkes told the Press Association: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to see the couple. Harry’s grandmother actually opened the hospital originally, and her portrait and his grandfather’s portrait are in the hallway.’

Asked what she would say to the couple, she said: ‘Welcome to Australia, we hope they enjoy their time here.

‘Thank you for taking the time to visit the hospital and see the work that the doctors and nurses are doing.

‘I cannot overstate how important the work is that they do here at the children’s hospital because my daughter wouldn’t be here without them.’