DARLINGS OF AFRICA

Meghan and Harry’s charm offensive on their recent tour has rescued their floundering public image – and little Archie did his bit too!

- NICI DE WET & NICOLA WHITFIELD

AFTER Prince Harry and Meghan’s Down Under tour last year they received a personal thank you from Queen Elizabeth for a job well done.

Which makes you wonder: what will she say to the couple after their sojourn in Southern Africa?

Because, yes, the tour to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga was great – the young couple, the darlings of the world after their fairytale wedding, were newly pregnant, flush with love and utterly delightful.

But their trip to our neck of the woods was something else. And after the queen’s summer of shame, in which her family was dogged by drama and scandal, it must have been more comforting than a nice cup of tea and a walk with the corgis. The Sussexes’ trip down south was a charm offensive second to none and has made the world fall in love with them all over again. And, heaven knows, they needed it.

They were called hypocrites for bemoaning global warming while leaving a large carbon footprint by using a private jet and lambasted for spending large amounts of public money on their Frogmore Cottage home. And they came in for criticism for Meghan’s extravagant baby shower in New York, the confusion and secrecy around son Archie’s birth, the petulant refusal to name the godparents . . . the list goes on and on.

To fans entranced with the couple, it read like a dossier of disappointment. But people can be quick to forgive – and even Meghan and Harry’s biggest critics have softened. “This could be the start of a smoother path for them,” royal commentator Ingrid Seward says.

“The couple knew this tour could make or break their reputation,” says Charlotte Wace, the Daily Mail’s royal correspondent. They seized the chance to unleash some of their famous “star power”, she adds – and no prizes for guessing what the silver bullet in their arsenal of charm was.