July 4, 2025

13 Explosive Encounters Between America and the British Royal Family

Show Notes
Transcript

This episode counts down the 13 most explosive, romantic, and scandalous encounters between America and the British royal family. Highlights include Princess Diana's final American mission in 1997, Michelle Obama's break in royal protocol in 2009, and iconic moments like Diana dancing with John Travolta at the White House in 1985. The episode also covers historical events such as Queen Elizabeth sending a scone recipe to President Eisenhower in 1959, the awkward interactions between Nixon and the Queen, and Reagan's horseback rides with the monarch. It delves into major moments like King Edward VIII's abdication for Wallis Simpson in 1936, Meghan and Harry's 2020 exit from royal duties, and culminates with the #1 item (no spoilers here).

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Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, and welcome to Palace Intrigue Game.

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Your host Mark Francis. Well, today we're serving up something

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extra special for our July fourth listeners. In honor of

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the thirteen Colonies, we're counting down the thirteen most explosive, romantic,

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and downright scandalous encounters between America and the British Royal family.

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Coming in at number thirteen. Princess Diana's final American mission

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nineteen ninety seven, Just months before her tragic death, Diana

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visited Washington, DC to support the American Red Cross's anti

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landmine initiative. It was Diana at her most powerful, using

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her global celebrity to champion a cause the establishment didn't

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want her touching. Diana met First Lady Hillary Rodin Clinton

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in the White House on June eighteenth, nineteen ninety seven,

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and the photos tell the whole story. Two strong women,

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one royal, one political, united in their mission to change

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the world. Diana's work on land mines was so influential

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that it's been described as influential in the signing of

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the Ottawa Treaty, which created an international ban on the

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use of anti personal land mines. What makes this moment

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so poignant, Diana was finally free from royal constraints. Using

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her American style approach to activism to tackle global issues.

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She was becoming the international humanitarian she always wanted to be. Tragically,

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just weeks before her death. At number twelve, Obama's Touch

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that Broke Protocol two thousand and nine, during the Obama's

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visit to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth putting her arm around

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First Lady Michelle Obama became one of the most talked

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about royal moments of the twenty first century. At number eleven,

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Reagan and Diana Danced the Night Away nineteen eighty five.

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The dinner for Prince Charles and Princess Diana was a

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great success, with everyone dancing like a junior prom but

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the moment that stall headlines worldwide John Travolta dancing with

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Princess Diana at the White House, Washington, DC, nineteen eighty five.

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This wasn't accidental. It was a well orchestrated moment put

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together by Missus Reagan. Nancy knew exactly what she was doing,

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peering a Hollywood's golden boy with the world's most photographed woman.

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The image of Diana twirling in her Midnight Blue Victor

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Edelstein gown became a conic and showed how the Royals

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were embracing American celebrity culture like never before. Fun fact,

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the star studded guest list included Neil Diamond, Clint Eastwood,

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and Tom Selleck. At number ten, Queen Elizabeth's drop scone diplomacy.

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Nineteen fifty nine, President Eisenhower visited the British royal family

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at Balmoral in Scotland following his return to the States.

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The Queen mailed him a recipe for her drop SCons,

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which they enjoyed during his visit. This might sound quaint,

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but it was revolutionary. The Queen of England sending a

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handwritten recipe to an American president that level of personal

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warmth was unprecedented. Eisenhower was so charmed by this gesture

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that it helped cement the special relationship between the two

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nations for decades to come. The recipe, by the way,

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is still in the Eisenhower Presidential Library, proving that sometimes

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the most powerful diplomacy happens over breakfast. At number nine,

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Nixon's Awkward Royal Encounters. Richard Nixon dined with the Queen

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and visited Prime Minister Harold Wilson in February nineteen sixty nine.

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But the real drama happened later when the Queen and

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then British Prime Minister Edward Heath met with former President

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Richard Nixon and First Lady pat Nixon on October third,

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nineteen seventy. Gathered at Checkers. Nixon, already paranoid and struggling

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with Watergate pressures, found the formal Royal protocol suffocating. The Queen,

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master of reading people, reportedly found Nixon difficult Royal speak

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for absolutely insufferable. These meetings highlighted how personal chemistry, or

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lack thereof, between leaders constrain international relations. Number eight the

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Bush Dynasties Royal romance. George H. W. Bush met Margaret

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that in June and visits again in nineteen nineteen nineteen

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ninety one to attend a NATO and economic summits. But

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the Bush's family's relationship with the Royals really flourished with

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George W. Bush, who spent three nights at Buckingham Palace

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as a guest of the Queen in two thousand and three.

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The younger Bush brought Texas charm to Buckingham Palace, and

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the Queen was reportedly amused by his informal style. The

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Queen also attended an American baseball game with the President

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and First Lady at Number seven. Jfk and Jackie's Buckingham

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Palace Glamour nineteen sixty one. Jackie and John F. Kennedy

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visited Buckingham Palace in nineteen sixty one and attended a

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banquet held in the President's honour. After returning to the US,

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Kennedy sent the Queen a birthday message on June ninth,

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adding at the end of his letter, may I also,

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at the same time say how grateful my wife and

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I are for the cordial hospitality offered to us by

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your Majesty and Prince Philip during our visit to London

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last Monday. We shall always cherish the memory of that

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delightful evening. The Queen, only thirty five at the time,

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was reportedly charmed by Jackie's style and grace. Number six.

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Reagan's horseback Diplomacy nineteen eighty two. Ronald Reagan made twenty

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four international trips to twenty six countries during his presidency.

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He is perhaps best remembered for his speeches at the

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fortieth anniversary of the Normandy landings, for his impassioned speech

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at the Berlin Wall, his summit meetings with Soviet leader

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Mikhail Gorbachev, and riding horses with Queen Elizabeth wins at

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Great Park. This series of photos of Reagan and the

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Queen on horseback would go on to become iconic and

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emblematic of the special relationship between the United States and

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the UK. He was the former Hollywood actor and the

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Queen of England, riding side by side like old friends.

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Reagan's natural charm and the Queen's love of horses created

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an authentic bond that transcended politics. These images became the

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visual representation of the US UK alliance during the Cold War.

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At number five FDR's Revolutionary Royal Invitation nineteen thirty nine,

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when Franklin Roosevelt invited Great Britain's King George the sixth

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for a visit to the United States, to the significance

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of the invitation did not noticed. No reigning British monarch

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had ever set foot on American soil, not even in

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colonial times. This June nineteen thirty nine visit was a

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diplomatic master stroke. When Great Britain declared war on Germany

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three months later, Americans do in no small part to

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the King and Queen's visit, sympathized with the UK's plight.

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Britons were no longer strangers or the evil colonial rulers

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from the past, but familiar friends and relatives with whom

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Americans could identify. The informal picnic at Hyde Park, where

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the King and Queen ate hot dogs, humanized the Royals

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for Americans and helped lay the groundwork for the alliance

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that would win World War Two. Number four, The Wallace

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Simpson Scandal that Changed Everything nineteen thirty six. This is

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a scandal that literally changed the course of British history forever.

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Wallace Simpson, a twice divorced American socialite from Baltimore, didn't

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just steal a king's heart, she stole his throne. When

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King Edward the Eighth fell slavishly dependent on the sharp

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tongued American, the British establishment went into full panic mode.

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A divorced woman with two living ex husbands was politically

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and socially unacceptable as a prospective queen consort. The Church

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of England wouldn't sanction it. Parliament wouldn't accept it, and

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the dominions were horrified. But here's the tea. Edward was

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absolutely obsessed. When it became apparent he could not marry

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Simpson and remain on the throne. He chose love over duty.

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On December eleventh, nineteen thirty six, he announced his abdication

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with those famous words, I have found it impossible to

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carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my

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duties as king as I would wish to do without

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the help and support of the woman I love. The

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scandal made Wallace Time magazine's Woman of the Year for

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nineteen thirty six, hardly flattering as they presented her as

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a twenty four caret gold digger who had helped the

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king spend royally imperially wildly. But she also became the

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most talked about woman in the world, and her American

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style independence and refusal to play by British rules change

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how we think about royal marriages forever. The ultimate irony,

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this American woman's love affair gave us Queen Elizabeth Iie

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second because Edward's abdication put his shy brother George the

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sixth on the throne, making Elizabeth the Air twenty years early.

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Elizabeth would have become queen in nineteen seventy two when

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Edward died childless. When we come back, it's the top three,

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and odds you can guess at least one of them.

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At number three, Charles and Diana's American fairy Tale era.

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The Reagan White House Dinner marked the moment when Charles

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and Diana became global superstars. Diana's wedding to Charles in

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nineteen eighty one was watched by an estimated seventeen million

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people in the US. It was the beginning of her

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sixteen years as the most photographed woman in the world.

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Diana brought an American sensibility to the British monarchy. She

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was emotional, accessible and willing to break protocol. She shook

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off the stuffy, stiff upper traditions of the British royal

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family and embraced a more American approach to public life

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and celebrity. This was the beginning of the modern celebrity

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royal era, where American media coverage wich would make or

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break royal reputations globally. At number two, Magan and Harry's

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California Exodus twenty twenty. As announced in January twenty twenty,

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the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as working

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members of the royal family. But this wasn't just another

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royal resignation. This was an American actress bringing American values

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directly into the heart of the British monarchy. Their decision

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to relocate to California and pursue financial independence echoed the

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American dream and American independence. They chose freedom over duty,

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privacy of a protocol, and California over the crown. It's

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the most American thing any royal has ever done, and

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at number one. The Revolutionary War and Declaration of Independence

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seventeen seventy six the ultimate royal breakup. Nothing tops this

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for drama, consequences, and sheer audacity. On July fourth, seventeen

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seventy six, a group of British colonial subjects essentially sent

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the world's most powerful monarchy breakup letter that began when,

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in the course of human events, becomes necessary for one

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people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them

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with another. This was declaring the kings weren't chosen by God,

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that people had rights that no monarch could take away.

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And that Americans would govern themselves. Thank you very much.

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King George the Third reportedly said he could forgive anything

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except American independence, and they haven'ty Email us addresses the

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Palasintrigant gmail dot com. Please follow us Spotify, Apple, the

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Apple and leave us a nice review if you're enjoying

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the show, I'm Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermott.

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This is Palasindrigan. Good damns

13 Explosive Encounters Between America and the British Royal Family

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