Meghan spends two hours at ‘Megstock’ festival posing for photos with fans who had paid £1,700 and telling them about her ‘very hard life’

Meghan Markle spent just two hours with female fans who paid up to £1,700 to ask her questions and pose for pictures at a money-spinning ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ in Sydney where she bemoaned her ‘very hard’ life.

The Duchess of Sussex will reportedly net up to £130,000 for turning up to the women-only Her Best Life retreat on the final day of her Australian tour with Prince Harry. 

After 120 minutes at the gala dubbed ‘Megstock’ due to its guest of honour, Meghan departed the InterContinental Coogee with her husband shortly after 7pm, in the back of a luxury Range Rover. 

Excited paying guests had started turning up at the five-star beachside hotel in Sydney’s eastern suburbs from 3pm due to the strict security arrangements, with the official event kicking off at 5pm.  

On stage at the gala dinner, where paying guests ate kingfish, beef tenderloin and coconut crumble, Meghan bemoaned her ‘very hard’ life in the public eye, claiming she has been ‘attacked’ ever since marrying Prince Harry.

The duchess said she had enjoyed ‘amazing moments’ since meeting the British royal, including getting married and having two children, but insisted she had also ‘endured’ constant attacks for a decade.

Before she began speaking, Prince Harry, who was one of the few men in the audience, reportedly gave his wife a standing ovation as she arrived in the room.

He apparently gave her a kiss and then helped her on to a stage that looked remarkably like an Oprah-style US TV set. Harry then sat and watched in the front row.

Meghan, who enjoyed vocal support from the audience, said Archie and Lilibet are her ‘inspiration’ and said criticisms of her were based on ‘projections.’

Meghan admitted that becoming a parent had taught her patience, adding this skill was something important ‘given what our life is like.’

The Sydney Daily Telegraph managed to get a reporter inside and wrote a piece entitled: ‘Meghan Markle bemoans public life at exclusive Sydney retreat with $2600 tickets.’

People at the event, who had already been asked to have a bag search and body scan to enter, were told there was a ‘no recording policy for the duration of her interview’, calling it a ‘non-negotiable security requirement’.

But attendees had also paid an extra $500 for the ‘VIP experience’, which included a picture with Meghan at the event organised by broadcaster Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and Gemma O’Neill’s Besties company.

Participants at the women’s retreat were left to enjoy an evening without the duchess, and will spend the weekend relaxing at the hotel where they can lounge by the pool, do yoga, meditate, try ‘sound healing’ and listen to inspirational guest speakers.

After leaving the gala on Friday evening, the Sussexes made their way to a match between the NSW Waratahs and Moana Pasifika.

They sat in the VIP section and Meghan smiled as she placed her hand on Harry’s knee at the Allianz Stadium as her rugby-mad husband took in the game.

Meghan’s lucrative meet-and-greet came on a day where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spoke to and hugged survivors of the Bondi terrorist attack in December.

They then sailed around Sydney Harbour at an event to promote Invictus Australia next to the Opera House. 

The tour, which ended on Friday, mixed lucrative events and charity visits.

A source close to the Sussexes insisted that the Australian adventure has been a success – and that the ‘half in, half out model’ opposed by the late Queen and the Royal Family can work.

‘We’ve tested the playbook, it worked,’ a source close to the Sussexes told The Daily Telegraph in Sydney as the couple head back to LA.

‘They’re doing the right thing. Whether you want to call it half in, half out or – as they would probably describe it – just doing what they want to do and doing it in a really positive way, this week has given us reassurance that it is the right course of action. This could absolutely act as a blueprint for the future.”

A member of Harry’s close circle added that he is ‘philosophical’ about some of the criticism he and Meghan have received Down Under.

‘One thing that Harry often says is that the truth will always out’, they said.

‘The more they do of this, the more that people see them, interact with them, the more they see that there isn’t an agenda here’.

As the couple departed the InterContinental Coogee, a young Aussie man rushed at their car armed with a longneck beer bottle and a workman’s boot, asking Harry to ‘do a shoey’ – an Australian tradition where booze is necked from a shoe.

A plainclothes police officer forcefully pushed him away, so the man did the ‘shoey’ himself.

VIP tickets for the Her Best Life event at the five-star InterContinental Coogee Beach hotel cost £1,670 and included a group table photo with the duchess.

Meghan spoke at the event on Friday on the final day of her trip to Australia with the Duke of Sussex.

There was extensive security at the hotel for the duchess’s visit, with media access to the event strictly limited.

Event staff gathered in the hotel’s reception as the venue prepared to welcome guests to the exclusive retreat on Friday afternoon.

The event’s website described the retreat as ‘an unforgettable weekend for women ready to reconnect, recharge and have some serious fun’.

A profile of Meghan described the duchess as a ‘mother, wife, entrepreneur, and humanitarian’ and ‘one of the world’s most influential women’.

The retreat also included a ‘women’s coaching session with renowned therapist Dr Justine Corry, yoga, sound healing, time by the pool, lunch, beautiful dinners and a dance-floor-filled disco night’.

Meghan’s appearance was announced last month by Gemma O’Neill, host of the Her Best Life podcast which is organising the 300-person event.

Hours earlier, on a packed Bondi beach, Harry hugged a man wearing only beachball-patterned budgie smugglers before the couple met survivors of the terrorist attack late in 2025. 

Hotel security had been increased with the arrival of plainclothes and uniformed New South Wales Police officers supported by a dog squad amid a furious row in Australia over whether taxpayers should pick up the bill.

A vehicle parked nearby suggested that counter-terrorism officers were also involved.

Before the money-spinning commercial event, the Sussexes took in the delights of Sydney on the final day of their Australian tour.

They sailed around the world-famous Sydney Harbour after a police escort and posed for selfies with fans at the Sydney Opera House at an Invictus Australia event.

After he looked angry yesterday when asked for a selfie by someone blocking Meghan’s path, today Harry moved away a camera crew who came too close. 

Harry and Meghan looked much happier when they were gifted matching custom-made pairs of Invictus Australia-branded flip-flops, known as thongs Down Under. Harry’s were emblazoned with ‘G’day Hazza’ while Meghan’s had ‘G’day Megs’.

Some of the group they spoke to were among the first responders to the Bondi terrorist attack, in which 15 innocent lives were lost on December 14. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex looked deeply moved and chatted to Jessica Chapnik Kahn, who survived while shielding her five-year-old daughter after attending a Hanukkah party. 

Ms Chapnik Kahn, who was embraced by Meghan, said it was an ‘honour’ to meet the couple during their visit to the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club.

She said: ‘The greater problem in the world right now is hate.

‘Hate is a human problem that we’re facing, a very big problem. So to highlight that, to be able to connect with them on this heart level, I think is very special.’

Discussing the attacks, Ms Chapnik Kahn said: ‘When the gunshots started, we started running towards the beach, and it became very clear we weren’t going to make it to the beach and stay alive. So we hid in a picnic area.

‘I didn’t want my daughter to die with gunshots and sirens and wailing mothers – I just couldn’t reconcile that those would be her last moments.

‘So I spoke really clearly into her ear, and I said: ‘My darling, go inside yourself where all the love is, and stay there. Stay in your heart, my baby’.

‘And she heard me, and we laid there together in this heart space in the middle of horror for who knows how long, and we survived’.

Lifeguard Jonathan Botts, who responded to the attacks, said Harry and Meghan’s visit ‘means a lot’.

‘We had about 50 people at a Christmas party upstairs here at the surf club,’ he said. ‘We unfortunately witnessed the whole shooting massacre unfolding in front of our eyes.

‘They’ve taken time out of their pretty brief visit to Australia to visit the site and meet with some of the people that were involved and a lot of the people who are affected.’

Harry and Meghan also examined artefacts that will make up the new exhibition at the Sydney Jewish Museum, including well-wishing messages and illustrations of members of the public who were hailed as heroes for helping people during the attack.

The couple met Shannon Biederman, the museum’s senior curator, who said it was ‘really special’ to have them visit.

She said: ‘This event has not only changed the Australian Jewish community, but the Australian community at large.

‘It (the exhibition) is ensuring that it’s not forgotten.

‘When we start the memorial, in addition to the three tonnes of flowers that we were able to salvage, there were thousands of other items left – there were plush toys, there were crochet flowers, there were Lego flowers.’

Naveed Akram, 24, is accused of 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act over the attack in which dozens of people were injured at Sydney’s Archer Park in December.

New South Wales Police allege Akram and his father – Sajid, 50, who was shot dead by police at the scene – carried out Australia’s worst mass shooting since 1996, targeting the Jewish festival of lights.

Discussing Harry and Meghan’s visit to Bondi, Ms Biederman said: ‘I think it’s really special and I’m really grateful for them coming out.

‘It’s been a really challenging time for the community and all of these expressions of unity and support are greatly appreciated.’

On Bondi, Harry and Meghan delighted the public as they headed onto the sand, removing their shoes before walking towards the sea on a gloriously sunny morning, followed by an ever-increasing scrum of media and beachgoers who tried to snap selfies with the couple.

The duke and duchess examined inflatable rescue boats used by lifeguards on the beach, while photographers got their shoes wet in the waves as they chased the perfect shot of the famous pair.

A heavy NSW Police and private security presence guarded the doors as the Duke and Duchess spent 30 minutes inside meeting 40 surf life savers. 

Meghan kicked off her first day in Sydney with a stroll along the Tamarama-Bronte coastal walk, where she was joined by close friend Markus Anderson, surrounded by NSW Police officers.

At lunchtime Harry and Meghan were escorted by police protection again as they sailed around Sydney Harbour.

Having spent several minutes shaking hands and taking selfies with fans when they arrived at the Sydney Opera House, as a heavy police and private security presence watched on.

The couple then boarded a boat for a sail around the iconic harbour with Invictus Australia – similar the one they enjoyed the last time they were here in 2018 for the Invictus Games.

They were escorted by NSW Police officers, funded by Australian taxpayers.

The Duke of Sussex danced with a four-year-old Australian girl before sailing around Sydney’s world-famous harbour with the Duchess of Sussex and Invictus Games supporters.

Harry and Meghan delighted the public by posing for photos next to the Sydney Opera House’s Man O’War steps, before taking to the water on a boat containing past competitors in the biennial games.

Before jumping on their boat, the couple met veteran Joel Vanderzwan, who presented them with custom thongs (flip-flops) featuring the playful inscriptions ‘G’day Hazza’ and ‘G’day Megs’.

After receiving the gift on Friday, Harry joked that he normally receives ‘budgie smugglers’ from Invictus Australia.

The couple also met Mr Vanderzwan’s four-year-old daughter, Charlotte, his wife Alexandra and his nine-month-old twin sons – who, in a remarkable coincidence, are named Harrison and William.

Meghan told Charlotte her husband was ‘very good at twirling’, before Harry stood up to twirl the girl around after she asked to dance with the prince.

The couple then took to the water, with their vessel being surrounded by media boats attempting to film the couple, as a helicopter flew above them amid intense press interest in the couple’s visit to Australia.

The boat that Harry and Meghan boarded was specially designed to be accessible for those with wheelchairs, so injured veterans could board.

A large boat that went past the couple’s sailing vessel beeped its horn as passengers waved at Harry and Meghan on a sunny day on the water during the last day of their Australia visit.

While sailing around the Harbour, Invictus Australia said participants would share ‘first-hand accounts of how the organisation provides year-round support, using sport as a vital tool for recovery, rehabilitation, social connection and proactive wellbeing’.

Michael Hartung, chief executive of Invictus Australia, said: ‘Having the Duke and Duchess return to Sydney Harbour, where sailing first joined the Invictus movement, is a full-circle moment.

‘It’s a chance to show that Invictus in Australia isn’t just a biannual event – it’s a daily, grassroots movement. By the end of 2026, we will have supported over 30,000 veterans and their families through community-based sport.’

Harry previously visited the Sydney Opera House during his 2015 army secondment and his 2018 royal tour with Meghan.

Hundreds gathered at the famous landmark in 2015 to greet Harry during a farewell walkabout, after he came to the end of a month-long attachment with the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

While in Australia in 2015, Harry spent time training on helicopter simulators at barracks in Sydney, trained with the Special Air Service in Perth, and in Darwin, he worked with members of Norforce, the mostly Indigenous unit which patrols northern Australia.

The Invictus Games involve 22 nations and around 500 competitors, with inspiration for the games coming from Harry’s 2013 visit to the Warrior Games, which brings together hundreds of injured American military personnel to compete in adaptive sports as part of their recovery.

Australia hosted the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018 and the next Invictus Games will be held at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre in July 2027.