During a royal visit, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Bondi Beach. Prince Harry and Meagan Markle were in Australia for the Invictus Games, an international competition for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans.

In Bondi, the royal pair were greeted by cheers as they made their way to the beach at 8.30am. Here they attended One Wave, a mental health support group founded in Bondi. As they traversed the beach they were accompanied by the colourfully dressed founder and co-founder Grant Trebilco and Sam Schumacher. One Wave’s aim is to encourages discussion of mental health issues. They established the worldwide meeting sessions known as Fluro Friday in which participants meet to share struggles and finish the session with a surf. Prince Harry sat barefoot on the sand with a blue garland and Megan had a pink garland which complimented her Australian designer, Martin Grant dress.

Charlotte Connell, who was seated in the anti-bad vibe circle said, “Harry said each and every one of us will experience poor mental health at some stage in our lives …it took me not six months but eighteen months to find the right person to speak to -you’re not going to find the right person to speak to straight away.” Mark Micelli, also a participant of the circle, asked the Prince if he had ever waxed a surfboard before and handed him a lump of wax. Prince Harry declined to go swimming at the beach as it was “too cold today.”

The royal couple were popular with the crowd and were gifted teddy bears, a lifeguard jacket and a bunch of carrots!

Images courtesy the Commonwealth of Australia.