The Duke and Duchess of Sussex posed for selfies while on an Aboriginal walking tour in their most public engagement yet during their visit to Australia.
Harry and Meghan took part in Melbourne’s Scar Tree Walk, which connects traditional and contemporary Aboriginal cultures and the histories of the local Kulin Peoples on Thursday morning.
Joggers and cyclists looked stunned to see the duke and duchess strolling through one of the city’s most popular running routes along the banks of the Yarra River.
The couple were surrounded by a scrum of local press photographers and video journalists, as a helicopter flew above.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex take part in the Scar Tree Walk in Melbourne, Victoria (Jonathan Brady/PA)
PA Wire
Five police officers arrived as growing ranks of media encircled the couple on a gloriously sunny morning in Melbourne.
Harry and Meghan, who was wearing a camel trench coat, blue jeans and a white top with “Mama” written in a red heart, smiled as they were stopped by numerous locals for selfies, with a woman holding her baby in one and telling the couple “Welcome to Australia”.
After a boy told Meghan he loved Suits, the television show the actress starred in, Harry made way so the fan could get a photograph with his wife.
Wearing a blue shirt and jeans, Harry stopped to talk to Rohan Davies and his three-year-old daughter, Heidi, who said hello to the duke.
Mr Davies, 40, said it was “surreal” to see the couple on one of Melbourne’s most popular walking routes, adding “it’s not something you see every day”.
The duke asked Heidi what her favourite colour was as he bent down to speak to her.
The Duke of Sussex meets Heidi, three, and her father Rohan Davies at the Scar Tree Walk in Melbourne, Victoria (Jonathan Brady/PA)
PA Wire
Discussing the conversation, Mr Davies said: “Heidi asked him and he said blue.
“She said dark purple – he said that she had a beautiful top on and I just asked whether I could take a picture and he said ‘yeah’.”
Mr Davies added: “I just live across the river, and we do a morning walk down here.
“Usually the playground is open, and they’ve got a food festival happening, and we just ran into them coming down here.”
Sofia Rocha, 29, stopped to take photos of Meghan and Harry after jogging past the couple while she was running along the river.
Ms Rocha, who is from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, told the Press Association: “I was running here for five kilometres, and then I saw some people looking around and I was like ‘wow!’”
The runner, who was in Melbourne for her sister’s wedding, added: “I was very surprised – in my whole life, I never imagined I’d be so close to a very important couple that has a lot of influence worldwide.
“They were looking very nice and seemed patient and really open to talking to people.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex pose for a photo with representatives of the Koorie Heritage Trust at the Scar Tree Walk in Melbourne (Jonathan Brady/PA)
PA Wire
As the couple departed while being followed by an ever-increasing media scrum, Harry shouted at one TV journalist “I love your tie!”
A scar tree, also known as a canoe tree or shield tree, has had bark removed by Aboriginal Australians for the creation of bark canoes, shelters, weapons, tools, traps and containers.
Scar trees may also be created as a form of artistic and spiritual expression by some Aboriginal peoples, to mark places of significance such as burial sites, and provide a link to 60,000 years of continuous culture.
The walk was led by local Indigenous guides, beginning at the Koorie Heritage Trust in Melbourne’s Federation Square. Koorie is a term which refers to Indigenous people from Victoria and parts of New South Wales.
The walk follows the Birrarung (Yarra River) and meanders through Birrarung Wilam (river camp) Aboriginal art pieces and contemporary installations.
