Prince Harry and Meghan Markle grabbed attention for their emotional gesture during their much-talked-about visit to Australia.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex never fail to make headlines as their every move attracts attention from both the media and social media users.
Meghan and Harry, who are no longer active members of a royal family, have been accused of exploiting sick children during their hospital visit in Melbourne; The couple’s tour is also being called “pseudo-real.”
The California-based spouses caused a new storm shortly after landing in the country, where Harry’s parents, King Charles III and his late ex-wife, Princess Diana, visited together in 1985.
The parents of Prince Archi and Princess Lilibet were excited when they met the children. They posed with “visibly ill” children at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
However, their act was criticized as a media opportunity, as cameras and phones captured the Sussexes posing with the young people, giving them hugs and taking selfies.
Critics of the couple, as usual, began judging their move soon after the clips and photos went viral, calling it a publicity stunt, with one criticizing the move as “performative nonsense.”
Harry, 41, and Markle, 44, chose a location with a very storied royal history to mark their first appearance in Australia since their 2018 tour as royal newlyweds.
The now private citizens toured the hospital that the prince’s late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, first visited in 1963. She returned in 2011, along with her husband, Prince Philip, to officially open the hospital on its current site.
The Sussexes toured the facilities as private citizens after leaving the royal family in 2020.
Critics, however, criticized them for allegedly using children as “props.” One user wrote: “It’s really disgusting to put all those babies, some with compromised immune systems, in the room for a photo shoot.”
Another responded: “I’m at a loss for words. The Royal Children’s Hospital is a place very dear to the hearts of Victorians. I’m disgusted that they’ve used this place for PR scams!”
Someone went on to accuse them of hypocracy, saying: “So your own children are too important for no one to have seen their faces, but these poor children are fine to be used as props. Absolutely disgusting.”
