Dec. 5, 2025

A Royal Night of Love: Inside Kate’ Middletons Most Personal Christmas Service Yet

Show Notes
Transcript

Tonight, Catherine turns Westminster Abbey into Britain’s most heart-warming Christmas event, honouring the late Duchess of Kent with music, readings and a celebration of love “in all its forms.” With Kate Winslet, Hannah Waddingham, Chiwetel Ejiofor, brass players, wreaths, woodland entrances and the rumoured secret after-party (hors d’oeuvres confirmed?), this is the royal feel-good moment of the season. We preview the concert, Kate’s message of generosity and hope, and the final day of the German state visit — all before the Top 25 Royal Stories of 2025 begins later today!

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Calarogu Shark Media, Hello and Welcome to Palace Intrigue host

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Mark Francis. Catherine, the Princess of Wales will use tonight's

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Together at Christmas Carol Service to pay a very personal

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tribute to a recently departed member of the Royal Family,

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while once again turning Westminster Abbey into the centerpiece of

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a feel good, celebrity studded Christmas broadcast about love and connection.

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This year's event carries the theme of love in all

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its forms, whether it's in families, relationships or across communities,

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and will be filmed for broadcast on Christmas Even Christmas Day,

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Around one thousand, six hundred guests, many nominated by Lord

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Lieutenants around the United Kingdom and by charities linked to

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the Royal family, will attend the multi faith service, which

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celebrates people who have quietly strengthened their communities over the

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past year. Central to the night will be a musical

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tribute to Catherine, the Duchess of Kent, who died in

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September at the age of ninety two. Catherine, who was

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married to Queen Elizabeth's cousin, the Duke of Kent, was

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a former working royal but also a lifelong music lover

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who famously stepped back from frontline royal duties to teach

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under the name Missus Kent at a school in Hull.

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To honor her memory, guests arriving at Westminster Abbey will

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be welcomed by eight young brass players aged between thirteen

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and eighteen from Future Talent, the music charity she co

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founded in two thousand and four to support gifted children

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from low income backgrounds. The performance gives those young musicians

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a rare platform on a royal occasion and reflects the

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Duchess's belief that music should be accessible to all. Inside

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the abbey, the program will blend the traditional and the modern,

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as Kensington Pallace has said, combining traditional and modern elements

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to unite people of different faiths and none. The ceremony

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will see the world renowned Westminster Abbey Choir perform some

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of the country's best loved carols, accompanied by musical performances

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and reading by invited guests, and the ceremony will also

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highlight the stories of some of the Assembly's exceptional guests

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who are leading by example and helping to create a

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more caring society. Familiar names on the Order of service

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include Kate Winslet, Hannah Waddingham, she would tell EDG four

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and Bestille's Dan Smith, alongside performers such as Griff, Katie Mellure,

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Fisherman's Friends and young dancers from Platinum Performing Arts in

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North London. The Prince of Wales will deliver one of

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the readings, and members of the wider royal family, including

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in all likelihood Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis,

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are expected to join the congregation. Keith Wingslet will attend

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in her new capacity as an ambassador for the King's Foundation,

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King Charles the Third's charity. Announcing the role earlier this year,

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she said, I am delighted to become an ambassador the

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King's Foundation and the charity's thirty fifth anniversary year. One

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of my passions is exploring ways that we can protect

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and promote the next victual world, something I have in

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common with His Majesty. I am therefore thrilled to put

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this passion into practice by working with the King's Foundation.

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I look forward to supporting the charity's life changing work

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to build sustainable communities and transform lives into the future.

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The overarching message of the night will be shaped by

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the Princess of Wales's own reflections on love, vulnerability, and community,

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particularly poignant in the year she announced she is in

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remission from cancer. This year's Pallas statement explains this year

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the evening will bring people together to celebrate love in

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all its forms, whether it's love within families, through friendships

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between communities, or even through powerful moments of connection with strangers.

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In a world that can often seem fragmented and disconnected,

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love is the force that reconnects us all across generations, communities, cultures,

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and beliefs. As we approach the Christmas.

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Season, we summon the power of solidarity and that of compassion, kindness,

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and joy. It echoes themes Kate struck in her twenty

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twenty four address when she said, it is when we

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stop and take ourselves away from the pressures of daily

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life that we find a space to live our lives

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with an open heart, with love, kindness, and forgiveness so

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much of what the Christmas Spirit is all about. Adding

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the Christmas Story encourages us to consider the experiences and

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feelings of others. Reflecting on her own and King Child's

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health challenges, She also told viewers the love that we

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show our souls and the love we show others, love

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that listens with empathy, love that is kind and understanding,

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love that is forgiving, and love that brings joy and hope.

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Concluding in His love, which is the greatest gift we

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can receive, not just a Christmas but every day of

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our lives. The abbey itself will be transformed to match

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those themes. Outside horticulturists Jamie Butterworth, we will create a

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woodland style entrance using British trees sourced from plants in Weybridge,

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interwoven with fruits, berries and Christmas trees. Wreaths inside the

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abbey will be provided by the Royal Horticultural Society and

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Forests Simon Lystt made in partnership with school children and

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RHS ambassadors including Dame Mary Berry and Aerit Anderson, with

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contributions from comedian Tom Allen and presenter Angelica Bell. Guests

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will be invited to add their own named paper loops

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to a connection tree, a communal paper chain installation underscoring

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the idea of togetherness. Afterwards, attendees can sheer mincepires donated

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by Fortenham and Mason and hot chocolate provided by the

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Royal Foundation. Alongside the Westminster Abbey service, some fifteen community

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carol events around the United Kingdom in venues ranging from

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an arts center in Newbury to a community farm in

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Gwent and even the Coronation Street visitor Center. While I

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go the same focus on the power of love and togetherness,

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Katy's urging the nation to come together with generosity of heart,

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understanding and hope as she prepares to host her concert.

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In a personal message to the sixteen hundred guests attending

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Friday's event, the Princess highlighted the importance of checking in

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on loved ones at the time when life can sometimes

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feel fragmented or uncertain. The Princess re directed on the

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quieter meaning of the season, noting that Christmas speaks of

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love taking form in the simplest, most human ways, including

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small acts of kindness that contribute to the beautiful tapestry

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of life to which we all belong. She encouraged people

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to slow down amid the pace of December, and in

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their words or choices, and even the ways we look

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out for one another ripple outward touching lives. We may

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never see this Carol service offers a moment of collective togetherness,

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a chance to celebrate the spirit of community and service,

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and to honor the visible and invisible bonds that unite

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us all. She thanked the volunteers present for their time,

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care and compassion, which she said makes an extraordinary difference

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to the lives of others. The Princess concluded by wishing

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attendees a very happy Christmas and hope the season would

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bring moments of peace and clarity. Does Kate have a

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secret after party and if so, who is invited? Actress

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Sophie Winkelmann let slip a charming detail about Princess Catherine's

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annual carol concert. Speaking at last year's Fire of Saint

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James Christmas charity event, mentioned that she has attended Catherine's

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Christmas Carol Service three times. When asked which part of

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the evening she enjoys the most, she answered beautiful music

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and beautiful readings and or d'euvs. That last bit raised

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a few questions. Viewers who watch the broadcast each year

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will know there are no trays of canopies circulating inside

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Westminster Abbey during the service itself, so where exactly are

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these or d'uvs appearing. Her comment strongly hints at what

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Royal watchers have long suspected. Once the formal Carol service ends,

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the Royals likely head to the more private reception where

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they can relax together of a festive nibbles think geez

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crackers and other seasonal treats away from the cameras. It

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would certainly be logical, with so many members of the

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family gathered smartly dressed and already in one place for

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Catherine's big Christmas event, extending the night with the quieter

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family gathering fills almost inevitable. The only mystery now is

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whether that presumed post concert reception is strictly for family,

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or whether some of this year's star guests, including Kep

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Winsleton Hannah Wadingham, might also be invited to join the

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celebration more powers in just a moment. Prince George, Princess

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Charlotte and Prince Louis have reportedly been given a very

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special invitation to see Paddington in London's West End. The

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new musical, which opened on November first, is currently running

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at the Savoy Theater and is based on Michael Bond's

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beloved books and the recent film adaptations voiced by Ben

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We're sure. The offer comes shortly after the Prince and

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Princess of Wales were photographed meeting Paddington at the Royal

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Variety performance on November nineteenth. Producer Sonya Friedman also told

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the publication she is looking forward to the possibility of

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welcoming the Wales children to the theater. We can't wait

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for Paddington to meet the children of the Prince and

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Princess of Wales because I think they're going to come

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to the show, which will be very special, she said.

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The German state visit reaches its final day today, with

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President Frank Walter Steinmeyer and his wife Elkie bunden Bender

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carrying out his series of concluding engagements before their departure.

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The day begins in Coventry, where the President will lay

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a reeth in the ruins of the old Coventry Cathedral.

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The site, destroyed during the Second World War, has long

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stood as a symbol of reconciliation between Britain and Germany.

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The Duke of Kantbell company the President for the ceremony,

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which is followed by a tour of the modern cathedral

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and a short prayer service. Emphasizing the Ministry's work on

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peace and unity. From Coventry, the President and First Lady

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will continue to Oxford, where they will visit Seamen's Health

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in the years to learn more about Anglo German collaboration

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and medical technology and research. They will then travel to

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the University of Oxford, meeting academics and students involved in

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joint scientific programs between the two nations. These final engagements

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bring the three day visit to a close, a visit

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that has included ceremony and welcomes at Windsor diplomatic meetings

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in London, and a renewed emphasis on the deep ties

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between the United Kingdom and Germany. President Steinmeier and Miss

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Bundenbender are scheduled to return to Germany later today, and

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there you have it. Don't forget our special year end

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event counting down the top twenty five stories of twenty

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twenty five begins with our next episode this afternoon and

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continues for the next three days. For the afternoon episodes,

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hope you enjoy them. I'm Mike Francis, but thanks to

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John McDermot, this is Palace Intrigue and continues

A Royal Night of Love: Inside Kate’ Middletons Most Personal Christmas Service Yet

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