The tour, which lasted 16 days and took the then newlyweds not only to Australia but also to New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga, seems like a lifetime ago considering what has happened since. In her new book, "Courtiers: The Times" (opens in new tab), Valentine Lowe, royal correspondent for The Times, wrote in her new book, "Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown" (opens in new tab) that Meghan's first royal tour In her new book, "Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown," Valentine Lowe writes in the Mirror that Meghan "failed to grasp the significance of so many outings" on her first royal tour.

During the tour, the couple became so popular that "huge crowds thronged to see them as they visited countries and attended an impressive 76 events," the paper wrote. Meghan "enjoyed the attention," Lo wrote, and the Duchess of Sussex displayed a "refreshingly casual approach to the royal visit," which was "well received by the Australian public." Lo adds that Meghan was seen as an "inspirational role model" during the tour.

"When Princess Meghan went out to one farmhouse, she brought banana bread she had baked herself. When the couple visited a school to observe the work of a program to improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal youth, she was hailed as an inspirational role model."

Behind the scenes on the tour, however, "it was a different story," Lo wrote.

"Although she enjoyed the attention, Meghan did not understand what it meant to walk around shaking hands with countless strangers," Lowe writes. Quoting an unnamed member of the royal staff, Lowe claims that at one point Meghan said, "I can't believe I don't get paid for this."

The book also quotes a former member of the tour party as saying that Meghan "wanted to call on her own people rather than relying on the traditional Buckingham Palace crowd," but found it "very difficult." According to a source quoted in the book, upon seeing the fans waiting outside the Sydney Opera House, Meghan told her team, "

The team's response was something like, 'They're here because they admire and support the monarch and the institution you represent.' "

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Courtiers will be released on October 6.