British royals arrive on landmark trip Down Under

AFP  |  Sydney 

and touched down in on Monday, kicking off a bumper Pacific tour that is the British royals' first major abroad as a couple.

They were seen leaving the airport with staff, looking relaxed, as clutched a pair of purple binders and carried a brown and green manbag.

Their more-than-two-week official visit will take in multiple stops in Australia, Fiji, and -- all parts of the Commonwealth, a group of predominantly former British colonies.

is still the although there is significant support for the country becoming a republic.

Recent polls show Australians fairly evenly split on the issue, with only the slimmest of majorities in favour of ditching the British and nominating an Australian

During the trip, the royals plan to pet koalas, watch soldiers perform the haka and attend the Invictus Games, a multi-sport tournament for military service personnel and veterans who have been wounded or suffered injury or illness that opens on Saturday 20 October.

The whole visit will be keenly watched by the British and Australian media. Meghan, a photogenic US actress, married the grandson of in May, becoming the newest royal to attract in Britain and beyond.

The 37-year-old made waves recently by bucking protocol and closing her own

The couple will be accompanied by a staff of 10 and a substantially larger swarm of reporters from all the major British papers and TV broadcasters.

The official visit begins on Tuesday in Sydney, where they will be welcomed by Australia's -- the queen's -- and his wife

The royals will meet two koalas and their joeys at

After sailing Harbour and visiting the famous Bondi Beach, meeting flying doctors, attending functions at the Invictus Games and meeting Australian Scott Morrison, they jet off to on October 23.

will get a chance to speak at a UN women's empowerment in marketplaces event and meet some female vendors in the project in the capital

They will meet the local royals in both and Tonga, which are members of the Commonwealth.

The final leg coincides with the 125th -- the first country to give women the right to vote.

Meghan is expected to speak at a suffrage anniversary celebration in on October 28.

The couple will have a chance to watch members of the defence force perform the haka -- the traditional warrior dance popularised globally by the nation's rugby team -- at a governor's reception earlier that afternoon.

The trip officially ends in New Zealand on October 31.

Meghan has previously visited New Zealand as a tourist in 2014. has been to all four countries, but on his own.

The couple's first trip abroad saw them dash off to shortly after their wedding.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, October 15 2018. 10:10 IST