What to Know
Sometimes when there’s a feud within a family, there is inevitably going to be people who are going to choose sides. When that icy estrangement is between none other than Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William, you’re bound to see some lines get drawn. Allegedly, when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were on their recent Australian tour, they hoped to visit the Australian Zoo in Queensland and spend some time with conservationist, Robert Irwin, and his family. Only, it’s reported that Robert rebuffed their royal invitation after taking part in several engagements with Prince William over the years.
Meghan Markle and Harry were “rebuffed” by Robert Irwin while visiting Australia due to his relationship with Prince William.
Even though it’s a fairly different thing to do a royal tour rather than a typical family vacation, it doesn’t mean that there’s not similarities in the sense that you may have places and people that you hope to visit on your trip abroad.
According to RadarOnline.com, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were trying to make plans to visit the Australian Zoo in Queensland during their April 2026 Australian tour, but they were “rebuffed” by 22-year-old, Robert Irwin, due to his loyalties to Prince William.
Robert Irwin is the late Steve Irwin’s son, who has carried on the family legacy of working as a conservationist and doing husbandry work with apex predators and reptiles.
The entertainment news outlet reported that the Irwin family are “staunch monarchists and fiercely loyal to the The Firm,” so they didn’t want their very public visit with Harry and Megan to upset William.
Hmmm… that’s interesting. Has Robert officially picked a side or is there perhaps a little more to this story?
Prince William and Robert Irwin have a history and have made a few public appearances together.
RadarOnline.com reported that Robert developed more of a relationship with Prince William when he flew to South Africa to support William’s Earthshot Prize in 2024 when he served as a global ambassador.
The environmental award obviously meant a great deal to the 22-year-old as he told People that “It’s hard to put into words just how massive Earthshot is for wildlife conservation, for climate action, for the world. For Prince William, who has such a great platform, to lend his voice, his resources into creating positive change is such a refreshing, wonderful thing to see.” It’s easy to see that there’s certainly a level of respect and admiration there.
Even though it’s reported that the Irwin family actually holds no “ill will” towards Meghan and Harry, as it just “wasn’t possible” to meet during their four-day trip to Australia, you have to wonder if there is a blind sense of loyalty there to Prince William and the royal family that’s developed through the years.
It is interesting to see that King Charles met with the Irwins during his 2018 Australian royal tour.
There certainly may be something to this whole idea of the Irwin family being loyal to the royal family because King Charles, who was just Prince Charles at the time of his visit, spent the day with the Irwins during his Australian tour in 2018.
People reported that Charles met with Terri, Robert, and Bindi Irwin, on Lady Elliot Island, which is just off the coast of Queensland.
During their public appearance, the family and King Charles attended a meeting on marine life and coral resilience. The Irwins even showed Charles some baby sea turtles before they went off to their meeting. That sounds like some serious bonding, doesn’t it?
It will be interesting to see if the Irwins make time for Prince William and his family in the future!
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