Four days into their first private visit to Australia since stepping back as working British royals in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, made a meaningful stop at Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach to connect with those impacted by the December 2024 antisemitic shooting that left 15 people dead and dozens more injured.
The couple’s first official engagement on Friday morning brought them to the Bondi Surf Bathers’ Life Saving Club, where they held private conversations with two survivors of the attack: Jessica Chapnik Khan and Elon Zizer, both of whom credited quick thinking and community support for saving their children’s lives during the mass shooting at an on-beach Hanukkah gathering.
They also sat down with the club’s volunteer lifeguards, a group that has been widely celebrated as national heroes for their quick, brave actions to shield beachgoers and move civilians to safety during the chaotic attack. Representatives from the Sydney Jewish Museum, which is currently preparing a special commemorative exhibition honoring the victims and first responders of the tragedy, also joined the meeting. A spokesperson for the museum described the royal couple’s gesture of solidarity as “really special” for a community still processing the attack.
After the heartfelt meeting at Bondi, the Duke and Duchess moved on to their next engagement, where they were greeted by crowds of cheering fans lining the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The couple boarded a private vessel for a sailing event hosted by Invictus Australia, the national affiliate of the Invictus Games — an international adaptive sporting competition Prince Harry founded in 2014 for wounded, injured, and sick military veterans and service personnel. It was during Harry and Meghan’s 2018 official royal tour that the pair first announced Australia would host a future iteration of the Invictus Games.
This visit marks the couple’s first time back on Australian soil since that 2018 official tour, and they are undertaking the entire trip in a private, non-working capacity, separate from the formal duties of the British Royal Family. The stop at Bondi Beach, however, has drawn widespread praise from Australian community leaders for centering the needs of the affected community rather than formal ceremonial obligations.