Meghan Markle Is Heading to Australia — but Sources Say It’s Not Just About the Retreat
With the club's Sydney launch looming and key players connected at every turn, speculation about the true purpose of the Duchess's visit refuses to go away.
Meghan Markle is set to touch down in Australia as the headline guest of the inaugural Her Best Life Retreat — a three-day wellness and empowerment experience organized by Besties, the events company co-founded by celebrated radio personality Jackie 'O' Henderson and her manager Gemma O'Neill. Billed as the ultimate girls' weekend, the April 17 to 19 event promises connection, well-being, and personal development for the roughly 300 women expected to attend. But it is being speculated that there is something more to this.
Whispers have been growing that Markle's Australian visit serves a dual purpose, with speculation mounting that the trip is also tied to the imminent launch of Soho House Sydney, The Daily Mail reported. The members-only club, which has cultivated a global reputation as the spiritual home of the creative elite since its founding in London in 1995, is set to open its first Australian outpost, a five-level venue in Darlinghurst, sometime in 2026. No official opening date has been confirmed. But the timing of Markle's arrival has not gone unnoticed.
Much of the scrutiny has centered on the overlapping connections between the retreat's organizer and the exclusive club. The outlet also noted that Gemma O'Neill is not merely the entrepreneur behind Besties; she also serves on the Soho House Sydney advisory committee. That detail has fuelled pointed commentary online, with one Reddit user writing that "O'Neill isn't just some random podcast host fangirling over Harry's SoHo rental," adding: "She's on the Soho House Sydney advisory committee, which means this Girls Weekend retreat is Soho House business disguised as women's empowerment."
The same commenter suggested that Markus Anderson, the Soho House senior executive widely credited with helping broker Markle's visit, was operating in a professional, not merely personal, capacity. "Markus arranging it from Madame's house isn't friendship," they wrote. "He is the Soho House consultant, and he is coordinating promotion for their Sydney opening." Others speculated that the retreat itself could function as a pipeline for prospective Soho House members. "Do you think they'll try to recruit members from the women's retreat?" one Redditor asked — a question that prompted another to respond, "Yes, I think so. Twerkle may have negotiated a commission for every new member from the retreat who may sign up."
With annual memberships to Soho House Sydney reportedly priced at $2,285 for under-27s and $4,750 for those older, the financial upside would be considerable. Markle's ties to Soho House are, by any measure, longstanding. It was at the company's London Townhouse in 2016 that she and Prince Harry went on their first date — an encounter that Anderson is said to have helped facilitate. The two have remained close ever since, and it was Anderson who first floated the idea of Markle appearing at the Australian retreat, reaching out to O'Neill directly. "Markus messaged me because he was at Meghan's house," O'Neill said. "Markus is also a very close friend of Meghan and has been for many years, long before she was married, and they have a beautiful friendship too."
