WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:25.000
Calorogus shark media.
2
00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:19.120
That low and welcome to Palace Weekly. I am your host,
3
00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:23.640
Mark Francis. This week delivered the most seismic shift in
4
00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:29.039
Royal family structure in decades. After years of scandal, embarrassment,
5
00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:33.560
and increasingly desperate half measures, Prince Andrew formally surrendered all
6
00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.439
his titles and honors in their late night Friday announcement.
7
00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.520
The court even seasoned royal watchers by surprise. The move
8
00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.679
came as photographs of King Charles looking gaunt and hollow,
9
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:48.520
made denial of his condition untenable, while William's ruthless consolidation
10
00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.880
of power signaled a fundamental shift in who actually runs
11
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:55.759
the monarchy. The message was unmistakable. The old order is
12
00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:01.240
ending and the new regime shows no mercy. The week
13
00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:05.400
began innocuously enough, with more forced relatability. The Prince and
14
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.040
Princess of Wales are reportedly regulars at a local pub quiz,
15
00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:13.879
competing weekly as Team Whales, alongside George and Charlotte. A
16
00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:17.079
fellow quizgoer told the son their lips are sealed on
17
00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:22.400
whether the Royal family ever wins. Conveniently unverifiable pr disguised
18
00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:27.879
as charming anecdote, William toured the Doctor who Tardis in Cardiff.
19
00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:32.480
Kate climbed into are typhoon, cockpits and stilettos, and the
20
00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:35.239
couple closed off six hundred and eighty acres of windsor
21
00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.519
Great Part two dog walkers, while joking about wanting to
22
00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.519
drive at real speed with sirens on. The relatability campaign
23
00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:46.879
was in full force, and for good reason. Tuesday's devastating
24
00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:49.319
images made clear why the Palace was working so hard
25
00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:53.280
to normalize William's ascension. King Charles appeared alongside his son
26
00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:56.480
at the Natural History Museum to announce William would represent
27
00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:00.439
him at COP thirty in Brazil, a significant delegate that
28
00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:04.920
might have seemed routine except Charles looked absolutely terrible. Tom
29
00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.800
Sykes in The Royalist didn't mince words. It's impossible to
30
00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.199
look at these images without seeing how much King Charles's
31
00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:15.039
health has declined. The man's suit is falling off him.
32
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:20.000
He challenged the Palace's information controlled directly, noting privacy laws
33
00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:23.639
prevent the media from publishing health details without consent, but arguing,
34
00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:25.919
I'm afraid I don't see how the health of the
35
00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:29.400
head of state of a hereditary monarchy is not a
36
00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:33.680
valid matter of public interest. His sources painted a grim picture.
37
00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.280
Charles remains intellectually sharp and full of enthusiasm, but tires quickly.
38
00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:40.800
He is said to sleep far more than he used to.
39
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.919
Friends described him as still brilliant, but exhausted more ominously.
40
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:47.879
The Palace, meanwhile, is quietly engaged in what it calls
41
00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:52.199
to May's planning. The funeral arrangements have been, as one
42
00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:57.280
would expect, refreshed. This context made William's visible emotion during
43
00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:00.639
his suicide prevention video that same day, I feel less
44
00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:04.080
strategic and more genuine, a man bracing for loss while
45
00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:09.680
trying to lead a nation. Wednesday brought the catalyst for
46
00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:12.840
what would become the week's defining moment. News of an
47
00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.840
alleged email from Andrew to Epstein dated February twenty eighth,
48
00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:20.280
twenty eleven, the day after the infamous photo with Virginia
49
00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:25.599
Jeoffrey resurfaced. Andrew reportedly wrote, I'm just as concerned for you.
50
00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:28.159
Don't worry about me. It would seem we are in
51
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.280
this together and we will have to rise above it. Otherwise,
52
00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.639
keep in close touch and will play the more soon.
53
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:38.199
This contradicted Andrew's twenty nineteen BBC interview claimed that their
54
00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:42.240
final meeting was December twenty ten. The email's breezy tone
55
00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:46.479
will play some more soon exclamation points suggested ongoing friendship
56
00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.280
with a convicted sex offender, not someone cutting ties, but
57
00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:55.280
Friday brought the nuclear option. Virginia Jeffrey's posthumous memoir Nobody's Goal,
58
00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.439
a memoir of surviving abuse and fighting for justice, with
59
00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:02.759
devastating detail about being traffic to Andrew three times in London,
60
00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:06.039
New York, and the Virgin Islands. The London chapter was
61
00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:10.120
particularly damning. Geoffrey wrote that Maxwell told her get out
62
00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:12.960
of bed. It's sleepy head. Just like Cinderella, You're going
63
00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:16.639
to meet a handsome prince. When Andrew arrived at Maxwell's
64
00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.959
Hyde Park home, he correctly guessed her age seventeen and
65
00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.519
mentioned my daughters are just a little younger than you.
66
00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.360
According to Geoffrey, after an evening out, Maxwell and Epstein
67
00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.439
headed upstairs, signaling it was time that I take care
68
00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:34.800
of the prince. She described Andrew's friendly enough but still entitled,
69
00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:38.079
as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright.
70
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.759
The next morning, she wrote, Maxwell said you did well,
71
00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.319
the Prince had fun Epstein later gave her fifteen thousand dollars.
72
00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.160
Andrew has always denied the allegations and reached a financial
73
00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:53.160
settlement with Jeffrey in twenty twenty two without admitting liability.
74
00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.680
But the memoirs graphic detail, combined with the email evidence
75
00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:02.199
and revelations about new Chinese espionage connections, created an impossible situation.
76
00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:07.519
Then came the bombshell. Late Friday evening, Prince Andrew released
77
00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.920
a statement announcing he was relinquishing or remaining titles and honors.
78
00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.959
The carefully worded announcement attempted to frame it as his decision.
79
00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.879
In discussion with the King and my immediate and wider family,
80
00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:22.920
we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from
81
00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:25.639
the work of His Majesty and the royal family. I
82
00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.720
have decided, as I always have to put my duty
83
00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:31.959
to my family in country first. With His Majesty's agreement,
84
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:34.480
we feel I must now go a step further. I
85
00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.279
will therefore no longer use my title or the honors
86
00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.879
which have been conferred upon me Pallace. Sources confirmed King
87
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.360
Charles and Prince William were closely involved in the decision.
88
00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:48.279
With the monarch glad at the outcome. The move strips
89
00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.319
Andrew of the Duke of York title, as well as
90
00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:53.959
his subsidiary titles Earl of Inverness and Baron of Killiele,
91
00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:57.439
though he remains a prince by birth. He retains his
92
00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:00.240
private lease at Royal Lodge until twenty seventy eight, but
93
00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:05.639
loses everything else. The BBC's Shawn Coughlin captured the reality
94
00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:08.439
he was clearly under pressure to jump before he was pushed.
95
00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:12.600
Allowing Andrew to voluntarily give up his titles, which theoretically
96
00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:15.720
remain in place, gave him a way out, still holding
97
00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.839
on to a little of the disappearing vaportrayal of his pride.
98
00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.680
Coughlin described Andrew as one of the Palaces Dukes of hazard,
99
00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.120
creating a landslide of bad news month after month that
100
00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:30.160
showed no sign of losing momentum. Stephen Bates and The
101
00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:33.600
Guardian was more blunt. Friday Night's statement represented the last
102
00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:36.079
shred of dignity in that he was allowed to pretend
103
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:39.959
that he was relinquishing the use of his titles voluntarily.
104
00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:43.560
He wasn't. After at least ten years of private wrangling
105
00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:45.800
among the family, and personal anguish on the part of
106
00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:49.519
the king. There was no alternative but to cut him loose. Evidently,
107
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.519
Prince William was prepared to be more ruthless than his father.
108
00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.360
In the end, it was the Windsor's genteel version of
109
00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:58.040
the revolver in the locked room with a bottle of
110
00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:08.240
whiskey us in just a moment, Royal watches universally recognized
111
00:07:08.279 --> 00:07:12.360
whose victory this represented. Tom Sykes called it the first
112
00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:16.279
great triumph of King William the Fifth, writing, everyone can
113
00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:20.120
see the truth. Charles looks exhausted, he has lost alarming weight,
114
00:07:20.360 --> 00:07:23.800
and he is still receiving regular radiotherapy and immune therapy,
115
00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:27.720
yet in the official narrative he is merely convalescing. Soldiering
116
00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:32.199
on Sykes argued that charles cancer diagnosis fired the starting
117
00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:35.399
gun on what courtiers called the change of rain. From
118
00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:37.399
that moment, power began to flow from the king to
119
00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:40.560
the air, and from that moment William's patience for his
120
00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.360
father's sentimentality, for his brother's chaos, and for his uncle's
121
00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.560
entitlement ran out. He noted Charles had tried to force
122
00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:51.560
Andrew out of Royal lodge, but looked petty and impotent
123
00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:55.680
when Andrew refused to budge. The energy now flows to William,
124
00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:59.879
whose team, young, digital ruthless are clearly ready to give
125
00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:03.720
the institution the most almighty kick up the behind. A
126
00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.399
former courtier told Sikes, this is the pre succession. It's
127
00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.680
what Charles did to the Queen when he fired her
128
00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:13.240
private secretary Christopher guit Only now it's being done to him.
129
00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.279
Royal watcher Jenny Bond told The Mirror that William was
130
00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:20.639
the driving force in twisting Andrew's arm so far behind
131
00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:23.839
his back that he finally squealed. She noted, he is
132
00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.160
set on making changes to the monarchy, and once his
133
00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.680
mind is made up, he is completely focused on achieving
134
00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:33.200
his aims. The Andrew problem was becoming an intolerable obstruction
135
00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.919
to those aims, and William was determined to clear the way.
136
00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.960
Royal inside A deep Crown offered his characteristic perspective. What
137
00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:45.159
the public fails to comprehend is that Prince Andrew's title
138
00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.919
divestment is merely a side show. The real story, and
139
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:52.720
I say this with absolute certainty, is Prince William's methodical
140
00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.480
consolidation of royal power. The House of Windsor is experiencing
141
00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:02.000
its most significant generational transition since Elizabeth's ascension. Charles may
142
00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:04.759
sit on the throne, but William was quietly choreographing the
143
00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:11.240
institution's future. Virginia. Geoffrey's family released a statement calling Andrew's
144
00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:14.039
decision a vindication and a victory for our sister and
145
00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:18.200
survivors everywhere. They declared, this decisive action is a powerful
146
00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:20.960
step forward in our fight to bring Jeffrey Epstein and
147
00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:26.440
Glene Maximore's child sex trafficking network to justice. Shawan O'Grady
148
00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:29.159
and The Independent reflected on the scale of Andrew's fall.
149
00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.240
Never has one man visited so much misery upon one family,
150
00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:37.759
damaged the British monarchy so grievously. Surveying the wreckage of
151
00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.000
ditched historic titles now dormant, with his robes of the
152
00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.279
Order of the Garter are now consigned to the wardrobe,
153
00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:45.840
it is difficult to imagine another world where Andrew was
154
00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:50.000
the most popular of the royals. He noted the bitter irony.
155
00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:52.879
Andrew was once rumored to be his mother's favorite, the
156
00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:56.120
decorated war hero with rugged charm who struck an embarrassing
157
00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.240
contrast with his more sensitive, even soppy elder brother. Now
158
00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.679
he faces Christmas at home with plane Miss Sarah Ferguson
159
00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:07.480
watching the family attend church at Sandringham on television. The
160
00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:11.480
timing was significant. Palisades reportedly feared that andrew saga would
161
00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:14.799
overshadow the King and Queen's upcoming Vatican visit and didn't
162
00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:18.879
want the matter consuming parliamentary time. By forcing Andrew's hand,
163
00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:23.279
they avoided formal debate while achieving the same result. One
164
00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:27.120
detail underscored how completely Andrew has been excised. He remains
165
00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.399
eighth in line to the succession, a prince by birth,
166
00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:35.799
but stripped of everything that made him royal in practice, titles, honors, patronages,
167
00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.440
military affiliations, even the ability to sign documents with the
168
00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.120
flourishes of KG after his name. As Stephen Bates noted,
169
00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:45.720
the paper hats will be the nearest the Eighthen line
170
00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.000
will ever come to a crown now more palac in
171
00:10:49.080 --> 00:10:57.960
just a moment amid Andrew's implosion. Other story highlight of
172
00:10:57.960 --> 00:11:01.840
the week's broader themes Harry. His reconciliation efforts collapsed again
173
00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:05.480
after he renewed his push for taxpayer funded police protection,
174
00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:09.000
viewed by the Palace as a powerplay that undermined progress
175
00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:12.200
sent to Bali, the charity he co founded, announced it
176
00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:16.320
was scrapping polo matches following internal disputes, essentially writing Harry
177
00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:21.080
out of his own philanthropic legacy. Meghan faced revelations that
178
00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:23.879
her lifestyle brand as ever has failed, with a close
179
00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:27.000
friend admitting she's literally lost and that Netflix is not
180
00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.759
just a backer, but an active partner, taking a big
181
00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:33.120
slice of any profits. Her week of desperate looking social
182
00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:38.159
media posts monogramm DS luggage design addressed rouse Harry lounging
183
00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:43.200
barefoot through criticism as juvenile and very unroyal. Saturday brought
184
00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.519
the jarring news that Charles is now worth six hundred
185
00:11:45.559 --> 00:11:49.000
forty million pounds, up from thirty million pounds the previous year,
186
00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:53.120
vastly exceeding Elizabeth's three hundred seventy million at her death.
187
00:11:53.559 --> 00:11:56.559
The timing was awkward, as Charles looked increasingly frail with
188
00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:01.399
updated demis planning under weigh He was confirmation experienced extraordinary
189
00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:06.440
financial windfall from his mother's death. Friday's announcement wasn't really
190
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:09.720
about Andrew at all. It was about William announcing he's
191
00:12:09.720 --> 00:12:12.759
in charge. Charles tried for years to manage his brother
192
00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:16.399
with half measures and sentiment, achieving nothing but continued embarrassment.
193
00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.320
William forced the issue and resolved it in days. The
194
00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:23.759
photographs of Charles looking gaunt, the delegation of Cop thirty
195
00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:27.600
to William, the ruthless efficiency of the Andrew solution all
196
00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:30.960
pointed to the same conclusion. As Sykes wrote, what remains
197
00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:33.600
of Charles Rain is now less about governance than legacy,
198
00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:36.639
about how he will be remembered. He has spent his
199
00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:40.480
life seeking reconciliation with his subjects, his sons, and his brother,
200
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.320
but reconciliation is not the mood of the next generation.
201
00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:47.000
The Windsor house that William is building will be leaner, sharper,
202
00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.279
and less forgiving. The pub quiz stories and Doctor Who
203
00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.440
visits weren't about being relatable. They were about making William's
204
00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.240
Rain feel inevitable before it arrives. Because ready or not,
205
00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:02.159
that transition is happening now. Charles maintains the throne while
206
00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:05.279
William wields the power, and everyone from Andrew to Harry
207
00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:09.399
is learning what that means. Andrew's Friday night surrender was
208
00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.000
presented as his decision, but everyone understood the truth. William
209
00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.440
gave him the revolver, the locked room, and the bottle
210
00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:19.440
of whiskey. What happened next was inevitable. The old order
211
00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:24.200
sentiment over action, family loyalty over institutional survival. Endless patients
212
00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.720
with embarrassing relatives died Friday night alongside Andrew's titles. The
213
00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:32.000
new regime shows no such weakness, and as Charles's health
214
00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:35.480
visibly declines, that new regime isn't waiting for a coronation
215
00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.320
to begin its work. The week that began with forced
216
00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:43.720
relatability ended with ruthless efficiency. William wanted Andrew gone, and
217
00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:46.919
now Andrew is gone, everything but his birth status stripped away,
218
00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.000
reduced to watching his family on television from Royal Lodge
219
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.240
while hoping the King continues subsidizing his existence. It was brutal,
220
00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.279
it was necessary, and it was unmistakably the work of
221
00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:01.799
a future king who's done waiting this same turn. And
222
00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:04.000
there you have it. Like to email us. Our address
223
00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:07.480
is the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please followus
224
00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:09.000
on Spotify, Apple, or the apple of your choice and
225
00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:10.919
leave us a nice review. If you enjoying the show,
226
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.080
don't forget. Today is Sunday and all our new shows
227
00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.399
are out. You get Palace Weekly, you get your daily
228
00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:22.240
Palace Intrigue. Subscribers get Deep Crown Plus there's Crown and
229
00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:27.440
Controversy season two new episodes. There's Crown and Controversy Norway
230
00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:31.399
The Royal Rebels new show out, as well as Palace
231
00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.360
Intrigue Presents King William. Check out all those new series.
232
00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:38.240
You can see the links in the show notes. Just
233
00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:41.720
search for Palace Intrigue. There's some great, great programming out
234
00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.080
there from your friends here at Palace Intrigue. And by
235
00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:46.320
the way, you can get all those seasons ahead of
236
00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:49.919
everybody else and binge them if you are a subscriber
237
00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:52.159
and you get the more commercial free along with hundreds
238
00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:55.080
and hundreds of other shows from Callaogu Shark Media, and
239
00:14:55.320 --> 00:14:56.799
just go up to that button up there that says