Meghan Markle and Prince Harry met with veteran families at the Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum in Melbourne on Tuesday, April 14
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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are slated to attend both public and private events during their visit to the continent
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Their last visit to Australia, in 2018, was part of an official royal tour
Meghan MarkleandPrince Harryended the first day oftheir Australia tourwith a meaningful event.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met with veteran families at the Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum in Melbourne on the evening of Tuesday, April 14 (local time).
In keeping with the couple's often-playful approach to public events, during the visit they put on aprons to take part in a pottery class with the children of veterans, with Harry, 41, creating a one-winged bird.
Meghan, 44, constructed a clay ostrich during the pottery session with the children of veterans, known as “doves” by the museum. She told children at the class, “There’s an ostrich farm actually not far from our home."
When a young girl at the class asked her about birds, Meghan said, “My husband will know, my husband knows everything about birds.”
Meanwhile, Harry explained of his creation, “It’s a one-winged kookaburra, it’s very rare,” PA Media reported.
The prince then checked out an installation, created by Kat Rae and Kelly Manning, which was made of polystyrene, shredded paper and cable ties, that spelt out “curiosity."
The couple were surrounded by members of the media wanting to speak to them as they left the museum on the first day of their packed visit to Australia.
Harry and Meghan had changed into matching olive green outfits for the outing, with the duchess wearing a mock neck sleeveless sweater by Australian brand P Johnson, which she teamed with a skirt and bomber jacket by fellow Australian brand St. Agni and Aquazzura shoes.
The museum is a veteran-led charity and cultural institution set up to support the wellbeing of current and former Australian military personnel and their families through the arts.
Founded in 2013 by Tanja Johnston, it was established from the “need for innovation and community engagement to address the declining state of veterans wellbeing," and uses exhibitions, creative programs and public engagement to create a platform for veterans to share their stories and experiences.
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Prince Harry is a former captain in the British Army and served in the military from 2005 to 2015. He continues to support service personnel and veterans through theInvictus Games, an international adaptive sports contest he helped create in 2014.
Harry and Meghan have regularly made visits with military families, including a reception for military families and the widow association during their 2024 visit to Nigeria and anunder-the-radar outingin San Diego the year prior.
In their 2022 Netflix docuseries, Prince Harryopened up about his life in the military, saying that decade "gave me the lived experience that other members of my family wouldn't have had."
"Twotours in Afghanistan, flying Apache helicopters on a military base, means that you grow up pretty fast. Jeez, I went to war twice," he added in episode three.
In the same episode, Harry and Meghanvisited McGuire Air Force Basein New Jersey in honor of Veterans Day in 2021.
"I'm watching my husband over there — you see how much joy it brings him to be back on a base, and he immediately goes back into military banter," the Duchess of Sussex said.
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The first day of Meghan and Prince Harry's trip to Australia alsoincluded a visitto the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, where Prince Harry's mother,Princess Diana, visited on her own tour of Australia in 1983.
Meghan also stepped out for a solo event at a women's shelter in Melbourne in the afternoon.
During their trip, Prince Harry and Meghan are expected to attend a variety of other public and private engagements,including the Her Best Life podcast's "girls weekend" retreatin Sydney and the InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit in Melbourne, where Harry willserve as a keynote speaker on workplace mental health.
The couple's last trip to Australia came in October 2018 — just a few months after their May 2018 wedding — when they embarked on a 16-day royal tour. The coupleannounced Meghan's pregnancywith their first child, Prince Archie, on that tour.
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