Meghan Markle can’t stop smiling as she and Prince Harry meet koala in Australian zoo

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Olivia Tobin16 October 2018

Meghan Markle struggled to hold her laughter in as she and Prince Harry met a koala during their Australian tour.

The Duke and the Duchess of Sussex were introduced to two koalas and their joeys, who were named after the couple.

Their special meeting has taken place during the couple’s royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga - and is the couple’s first since announcing they were expecting a baby.

During the visit to Taronga Zoo, in Sydney, Meghan called the animals “so, so sweet”, while Harry confidently reached out to stroke one of the koalas, with the encouragement of keepers at the zoo.

Harry also asked keeper, Suzie MacNamara about the koala’s diets and sleeping habits.

The couple met joeys, Meghan and Harry
AP

Meghan could not hide her delight at meeting the animals, even raising her hand to her mouth at the animal’s behaviour.

The couple were presented with traditional flowers and platypus pins as they opened the Taronga Institute of Science and Learning.

Prince Harry joked along with children who were there to meet the couple, as Finley Blue, four, and Sasha Gallagher, six, gave Meghan a bouquet of flowers.

Harry said: “Oh, you’re giving them both to her!”

Harry and Meghan will take part in 76 engagements in Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand
PA

The duke spoke of the importance of zoos, telling donors, zoo staff and 20 volunteers aged 13-19 from the Youth at the Zoo programme: "Zoos in the 21st century, they have to modernise with everything else that's going on around them.

"Taronga Zoo seems to be leading the way. Zoos across the world, those that are still going, who have still got the funding, have got a lot to learn from a place like this."

Before the ribbon-cutting, Meghan appeared to realise she was still holding her coat and moved towards an aide to take it as a member of the crowd shouted: "I'll look after it!"

As Cameron Kerr, director of the Taronga Conservation Society, gave the couple the platypus pins, which are the logo of the zoo, he spoke of how zoologists originally thought the mammal was "a joke" when it was first brought to the UK.

He said: "When the first people from England came to Australia and sent one back to a British museum, they rejected it and said 'they are making fun of us. They've sown a couple of different animals together'."

The couple’s visit to the zoo was followed by a visit to the Sydney Opera House later that afternoon.

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