Meghan Markle is travelling to Australia next month (Image: Getty)
Meghan Markle is reportedly facing a new problem after her “ultimate girls’ weekend” at a luxury retreat in Australia, where she is scheduled to appear next month, was hit with yet another setback. The Duchess of Sussex will be the star guest at a women-only event in Sydney, where she will be interviewed on stage.
VIP tickets for the 300-person event from April 17 to 19 cost £1,700 and offer front-row seats at the gala dinner and a group photo with Meghan. However, new reports now claim that the hotel’s pool and spa are not finished and the beach below has been battling effluent ‘poop balls’ over the past two years, just weeks before the Duchess’s attendance.
Meghan’s appearance was announced by Gemma O’Neill, host of the Her Best Life podcast, which is organising the event.
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Meghan Markle in Australia in 2018 (Image: Getty)
She said: “I have admired this woman (Meghan) and what she has endured, how she’s risen above it and how she has demonstrated how a woman can be pushed down and she can still rise.”
O’Neill described the three-day event at the five-star beachside hotel InterContinental as “the ultimate girls weekend” and said Meghan had contacted her after being put in touch by a mutual friend.
“I feel so flattered that she’s effectively doing this as a favour because of our mutual friend,” she said.
“She’s doing it because she really loves what our community is about, which is women trying to grow, try to be their best selves and trying to help other women.”
However, the Daily Mail reports that since the announcement, the event has been “beset with problems” which began when it was reported that the organiser’s talent agency had gone bust with more than £373,000 of debt.
It also reports InterContinental’s pool, where guests will be expected to relax, is still under construction, as are the spa, bar and “leisure deck”.
A guest who stayed at the hotel last week told the outlet the refurbishment of the pool is a “work in progress” and a “blot on the view”.
Meanwhile, “foul-smelling balls made up of a mixture of chemicals, soap scum, cooking oil, hair and human excrement” have allegedly been washing up on the shore below the hotel.
The hotel’s website claims that its leisure deck, “featuring the ocean-facing infinity edge swimming pool, poolside bar, outdoor event terrace, Eliva Spa and Club InterContinental, is scheduled to open” in April 2026.
No exact date is given for the completion.
However, Meghan’s spokesman reportedly confirmed the Duchess’s appearance at the inaugural event.
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