Andrew's Sex Probe Bombshell, Charles Hit By Seagull & Harry Not Invited To The Wedding - The week in royal news.

0:04 Pallo and welcome to Palace Weekly. I am your host, Mark Francis. It's been a week of considerable range. A police investigation expanded dramatically, a king danced, dodged a seagull and declared a toilet role very important. A prince lost his voice in Istanbul celebrating his football team's first European trophy in forty four years. And Megan Markle stopped at Heathrow on her way home from Geneva, posted a photograph of a card from the British Airways crew and inadvertently generated a news cycle about a selfie with a Finnish politician. Nobody had heard of. The monarchy, as ever, contains multitudes. Let's get into it. We begin with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, because the week demanded it. Thames Valley Police announced this week that their investigation has expanded significantly beyond the original misconduct in public office charge to now include potential sexual offense and corruption. When Andrew was arrested at wood Farm on his sixty sixth birthday in February, the inquiry centered on allegations that he shared confidential trade documents with Jeffrey Epstein during his decade as the UK's Special Representative for Trade and Investment. That charge alone carries a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The investigation has now grown considerably larger.

1:26 Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright confirmed that a dedicated team of the force's most experienced specialist investigators, including detectives with expertise in serious sexual offenses and financial crime, has been assembled. Officers are already in contact with the Crown Prosecution Service for early investigative advice, and are liaising formally with the American Department of Justice to request access to material from the Epstein files. The specific new allegations are serious. Detectives are examining claims that Epstein arranged for a non British woman, then in her twenties, to travel to Royal Lodge in Windsor for sexual purposes in twenty ten. Her lawyer has stated that following the encounter, she was given tea in a tour of Buckingham Palace. Officers have spoken to her legal representative, but have not yet formally interviewed the woman herself, as she has not made an official complaint. The Force made clear this week that they are ready to proceed whenever she chooses to come forward. The original misconduct allegations center on emails suggesting Andrew forwarded confidential trade briefings to Epstein while serving as Envoy, sometimes within minutes of receiving them.

2:35 One email from No. Number twenty ten was forwarded just five minutes after being sent by his then special advisor. On Christmas Eve the same year, Andrew allegedly copied Epstein into a confidential briefing about investment opportunities in the reconstruction of Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The investigation police warned will take many months. Separately, fifteen pages of previously classified government documents were released this week relating to Andrew's Trade Envoy appointment. They reveal the late Queen was very keen for has Son to take on a prominent role in promoting national interests, but that he should not be burdened with meetings and paperwork.

3:16 He expressed a preference for missions to sophisticated countries. The documents were released following pressure from MP's in the wake of the Epstein files. The week also brought Andrew Lowney's updated paperback of entitle which contains fresh allegations, including the claim that Andrew once kicked one of his dogs at Sandringham Shoot, leaving the animal whimpering on the ground. A guest confronted him directly, Andrew allegedly replied, it's none of your business and I will do precisely what I want to my dogs. Philip, it is claimed, later approached the same guest and said what he said to my son today was absolutely right. The book also includes new claims about Sarah Ferguson's links to Sean Combs, which Ferguson had strenuous denied. Lowney says he stands by the reporting the paperbacks in shops now Lowney is not a man who publishes and retreats. Meanwhile, Lowney also suggested this week that Ferguson may be attempting to negotiate a pension from the royal family, with the outcome likely to influence whether she proceeds with a tell all interview. Neither Ferguson nor the Palace has confirmed or denied the claim. More Palace in just a moment. King Charles and que Camilla spent the week in Northern Ireland and managed to pack an extraordinary amount of living into a short period of time. The visit began in Belfast at Thompson Dock, where the Titanic Last sat on dry land in nineteen eleven, with a welcome involving more than two hundred performers marking the upcoming largest traditional Irish music festival coming to Belfast this August.

4:49 For the first time, the King got his feet going to a live percussionist, was warmly embraced around the waist by Zimbabwean born Belfast resident, who declared with enthusiasm the King's got rhythm, and both he and Camilla were handed bodins and given a tutorial. The King picked it up immediately. The Queen persevered. When Charles went on stage to thank the young dancers, he asked if they were professionals, appeared startled when told they were not, and replied, impressive, you must wear out your shoes very quickly. At Titanic Distillers, housed in the restored Edwardy and Pump House beside the dry dark, the couple were offered a tasting. It was barely passed noon. The Queen raised her eyebrows dramatically asked what proof, was told forty percent, and decided to proceed quite strong, she said, but nice and warming. She turned to warn her husband, who was already reaching for his glass.

5:36 The head distiller noted afterwards that the Queen had actually tried the stronger of the two paws. She must have had a more refined palette than the king. On day two, operating separately across County Down, Charles visited a food bank in Newcastle, where he packed grocery boxes, stuck his head into a paper bag to smell freshly baked wheaten bread, and seized on a toilet roll, with the declaration very important. He had it a second one, very very important. Leaving the building, the passing seagull made its contribution to the occasion. An aid offered an overcoat. The King waved it off and told a concerned member of the public, no, it's fine. At least it didn't land on my head. A local resident noted that a seagull strikers traditionally considered good luck.

6:18 The King appeared to share this view. Meanwhile, in Hillsborough, Camilla pulled a pint of guinness at the Parson's Nose Pub with fierce concentration, held it aloft to a round of applause, declared it too early to drink, and was serenaded in the street by a primary school choir singing A Million Dreams from the Greatest show Man. She called it really lovely, admired a baby, and shook a considerable number of hands between them. In the space of forty eight hours, the King and Queen had danced, drummed, done whisky shots before lunch packed grocer, has been targeted by wildlife and pulled a Guinness. The Visitor has been widely covered as one of the most warm and unguarded royal tours in recent memory. On the Sussex front, the week generated its usual volume material for multiple directions simultaneously. Meghan traveled solo to Geneva on Sunday for the inauguration of the Lost Screen Memorial of the WHOSE World Health Assembly, fifty illuminated light boxes, each bearing the lock screen image of a child loss to online harm. By all accounts, her speech was strong. She called children's online safety of public health issue and described systems designed to capture attention at any cost. The cause is genuine and the credentials are real. The visit then hit a snag when Finland's Minister for Social Affairs and Health posted a selfie with her captioned at dinner with Megan, prompting rapid research into his controversial past, including an alleged joke about being a Nazi.

7:41 Meghan's team responded swiftly, noting she had no prior awareness of him, that vetting every selfie request to a twenty five person ministerial dinner is not possible, and that she had simply agreed politely as she was leaving. The statement was plausible. The Internet was not entirely satisfied, but the story moved on. On her way home, Meghan transited through Heathrow, her first time on British soil since twenty twenty four, and posted a photograph of a handwritten anniversary card from the British Airways crew, who had sent her home with champagne and British suites for Harry and the children. Her flight departed twenty six minutes later. Back in Montecito, Harry was waiting in grey tracksuit bottoms with a lemon older flower cake, singing happy anniversary and presenting Megan with a statute of two penguins arm in arm, a call back to the onesies they wore at their engagement party, a body language expert reviewed the footage and declared the whole thing very genuine. No visible tension. He said, no staged awkwardness.

8:36 Harry's smile engaged his cheek, muscles, his eyes, and his entire face. The same week also confirmed that Harry and Meghan were not invited to Peter Phillips's wedding. Peter, Princess Anne's son is marrying Harriet Spurling and Syrih Kester. On June sixth, Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were already confirmed absent. Harry's exclusion was confirmed by a source who simply said that the two cousins haven't spoken for several years and have simply lost touch. Mark Dolwan, on a podcast said bluntly, poor old Harry wasn't even in the mix for an invite, so he's done. The New York sisters Beatrice and Eugenie are expected to attend. The Waleses and Edinburgh's may also appear. The circle continues to define itself by who stands outside it.

9:19 Harry also wrote a piece for The New Statesman this week about the rise of anti Semitism in Britain, directly acknowledging his two thousand and five Nazi costume and calling for a strength and responsibility from all science. ITV's Chris Ship noted that Harry's office said they were unaware of the King's separate visit to Golder's Green, which had not been announced in advance, and that the overlap was not deliberate, no more than the Princess of Wales did by having engagements in Italy on the same day as the King's visit. Ship wrote, whether that framing satisfied everyone, There's another question more palace in just a moment, and Prince William had his week entirely defined by nineteen minutes in Istanbul on Wednesday evening, aston Villa beat Freiburg three goals to nil to win the Europa League, their first European trophy in forty four years. William was in the stands, fist pumping and jumping with each goal, filming on his phone like every other fan in the ground. He joined the players at the after party, flew home, lost his voice and was back in Cornwall for an engagement by Thursday morning.

10:23 On Heart Radio's Breakfast Show from the Aisles of Silly, he called Catherine absolutely stunning and said the family couldn't cope without her, confirmed Louis Leave's jam fingerprints in the car, and revealed that Charlotte supports Chelsea. My daughter loves Chelsea. He told a young girl on the crowd, George follows Villa. The householders divided. William declared himself a cream first scone man in the Devonian tradition. He learned it from the Queen. The debate, he made clear, was closed. And there you have it. If you like to email us or addresses the Palace Intrigue at a gmail at dot com, please follow us on Apple or Spotify, and you can leave a comment on Spotify about the show or any of the others. I'm Mark Francis by thanks to John McDermot.

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