With large parts of Australia burning and an unprecedented bushfire crisis that has already caused so much carnage far from over, along came a force that muscled the fires and critical safety messages out of prime position across many news sources.

"Megxit" had arrived. Australia, for so long interested in little but flames and smoke, was suddenly rocked by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to "step back" as senior royals.

In short, two royals who are also celebrities have made a decision that might one day make them two celebrities who also happen to be royals.

Considering all the things we have on our minds in this country at the moment, you'd think this would be quite low on the list of concerns.

Even the deaths of 176 people in a plane crash in Iran and fears of a new war in the Middle East - sparked by US strikes and retaliation from Iran - did not receive the same attention from Australians.

Australia is facing perhaps its greatest ever test, with rampant bushfires killing people and animals, throwing the livelihoods of many into turmoil and destroying property and habitat.

We're less than halfway through summer, meaning now is definitely not the right time to become complacent and turn our attentions elsewhere.

So why did the "Megxit" story gain so much traction at a time that otherwise featured almost wall-to-wall coverage of fires?

Maybe it was a bit of light relief from all the death, devastation and destruction.

It could be that it's nice to read about someone else's problems for a change, especially if your problems have recently included flames heading for your home or smoke clogging the air wherever you go.

After all, underneath all the fancy phrasing that told us the Duke and Duchess of Sussex planned to "carve out a progressive new role", this was simply a story about two people on the other side of the world deciding to do things a bit differently.

The impact on the lives of Australians is really non-existent, just as it would be if our country was not on fire.

And it's not like the royal family has suddenly been plunged into crisis. It was already well and truly there, thanks to a disastrous BBC interview in which Prince Andrew addressed his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to ditch royal duties.

So maybe this story just serves to remind us that while the fires have deservedly taken so much of our focus, it's OK to allow yourself a bit of time to keep up with less urgent matters.