EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle Mercilessly Mocked After 'Luxury' Retreat's 'Gala' Setup Is Revealed — It's 'Giving Low-End Real Estate Conference Vibes'
Meghan Markle's luxury retreat setting isn't very upscale.
March 27 2026, Published 2:20 p.m. ET
The organizer of Meghan Markle's pricey Australian "wellness retreat" has given the first look at the room where the ex-royal will be holding court at a "gala," and it's received a heap of mockery from critics, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Several people remarked on how incredible the comedown was for Markle, who once toured the world on behalf of the royal family at glitzy events, to give a speech to a handful of paying fans in a basic beige hotel conference room.
First Look at Meghan Markle's Retreat 'Gala' Setting
At least Markle is a fan of beige, as that's the color of the conference room's chairs and carpet.
The Her Best Life retreat organizer, Gemma O'Neill, gave fans a tour of the event space at the InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach's windowless hotel conference room in an Instagram post while discussing the shindig.
"What really dawned on me this morning is the actual space where we're doing the gala dinner, and part of the gala dinner will be a Q&A and conversation with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the room is actually quite small," O'Neill noted on her podcast.
However, she put a positive spin on it, saying it would be more "intimate" for the 300 paying attendees.
"Like it's a really intimate feeling, you know, which is really nice," the podcaster shared.
O'Neill said she has guests arriving from all over Australia, with some "coming with their besties" and "heaps of women coming by themselves" who "really want to meet more friends."
Hotel Conference Room Tour
The stage will feature two chairs for Markle and Gemma O'Neill.
In the video, O'Neill showed off the stage, noting it was the "actual design," with the black platform rising about a foot off the ground, with two white chairs and a small table in between them.
Looking out at the conference room where the "gala dinner" and Markle's appearance will take place, there were several rows of round tables, each with eight beige chairs.
The tables at the front of the room are reserved for VIP ticket holders who paid $2,288 to be closer to the former TV actress, while those in the back of the room forked out $1,930.
'It Looks Very Low-End'
Royal fans mocked the 'gala' setup once the video hit social media.
Royal fans the setup for the "gala" dinner on X.
"From Royal banquets to a lowly hotel conference room. Downgrade complete," one person laughed about the California native's changes in fortune since quitting the royal family in 2020 and moving to California with Prince Harry. "The aura reminds me of the dining room of an assisted living facility..." a second person snarked.
"That looks very low-end Holiday Inn real estate conference," a third user observed.
A fourth person pointed out, "My office monthly meetings have better set-up than this."
"I've been in that conference room before Intercontinental took over the hotel; it's stuffy and claustrophobic," a fifth person shared.
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Selected Ticketholders Needed to 'Write Why We Would Like to Attend'
VIP ticket holders will get a group photo with Markle at their table.
The initial promotion for the weekend said that those paying for the VIP setup would get "Seating at a table in front of two rows for the gala dinner with "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex" and a "Group table photo with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex," being sure to use her royal title at all times.
However, no one-on-one photos with Markle were being offered to the lucky people who were able to convince organizers that they were worthy of attending
One woman who got a ticket shared that people needed to explain why they wanted to take part after it was revealed on X that she'd been "selected" to be present.
"We needed to write why we would like to attend. I got chosen. Then we were allowed to take a friend with us, so I chose to invite another Meg supporter on here," the user shared in a post on X, as it appears guests were being allowed to bring a plus-one.
