May 24, 2026

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

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

It's the week in review on Palace Intrigue. Andrew's police investigation dramatically expands to include sexual offences and corruption as Thames Valley Police assemble a specialist team, appeal for victims, and confirm early contact with the Crown Prosecution Service. Andrew Lownie's updated book adds dog-kicking allegations and fresh Fergie claims. King Charles drums, does whiskey shots before lunch, gets hit by a seagull, and declares a toilet roll "very important" across three days in Northern Ireland. Camilla pulls a Guinness. William loses his voice in Istanbul celebrating Villa's Europa League win. Harry and Meghan mark eight years with penguins and a BA card. And neither of them got invited to Peter's wedding.

Get episodes of Palace Intrigue by becommming a paid subscriber on Apple Podcasts. Click the button that says uninterrupted listening. Just $5 a month, and that includes many ofther shows on the Caloroga Shark network.

A new season of King William is available now.

Our royal newsletter written by Deep Crown is available for free.

Royal Books:

Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors by Tom Bower

William and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story

The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana

WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.599
Pallo and welcome to Palace Weekly. I am your host,

2
00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:11.759
Mark Francis. It's been a week of considerable range. A

3
00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:16.600
police investigation expanded dramatically, a king danced, dodged a seagull

4
00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:20.239
and declared a toilet role very important. A prince lost

5
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.800
his voice in Istanbul celebrating his football team's first European

6
00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.960
trophy in forty four years. And Megan Markle stopped at

7
00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:31.000
Heathrow on her way home from Geneva, posted a photograph

8
00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:34.679
of a card from the British Airways crew and inadvertently

9
00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:39.159
generated a news cycle about a selfie with a Finnish politician.

10
00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:43.280
Nobody had heard of. The monarchy, as ever, contains multitudes.

11
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:47.560
Let's get into it. We begin with Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,

12
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:51.039
because the week demanded it. Thames Valley Police announced this

13
00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:55.719
week that their investigation has expanded significantly beyond the original

14
00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.600
misconduct in public office charge to now include potential sexual

15
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.719
offense and corruption. When Andrew was arrested at wood Farm

16
00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:07.040
on his sixty sixth birthday in February, the inquiry centered

17
00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:10.640
on allegations that he shared confidential trade documents with Jeffrey

18
00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:15.000
Epstein during his decade as the UK's Special Representative for

19
00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.519
Trade and Investment. That charge alone carries a potential maximum

20
00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:24.680
sentence of life imprisonment. The investigation has now grown considerably larger.

21
00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:29.599
Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright confirmed that a dedicated team

22
00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:34.200
of the force's most experienced specialist investigators, including detectives with

23
00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:38.640
expertise in serious sexual offenses and financial crime, has been assembled.

24
00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:42.359
Officers are already in contact with the Crown Prosecution Service

25
00:01:42.680 --> 00:01:46.480
for early investigative advice, and are liaising formally with the

26
00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.959
American Department of Justice to request access to material from

27
00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:55.680
the Epstein files. The specific new allegations are serious. Detectives

28
00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:59.000
are examining claims that Epstein arranged for a non British woman,

29
00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:02.040
then in her twenties, to travel to Royal Lodge in

30
00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:05.840
Windsor for sexual purposes in twenty ten. Her lawyer has

31
00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:08.639
stated that following the encounter, she was given tea in

32
00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.919
a tour of Buckingham Palace. Officers have spoken to her

33
00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:15.840
legal representative, but have not yet formally interviewed the woman herself,

34
00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.360
as she has not made an official complaint. The Force

35
00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:21.319
made clear this week that they are ready to proceed

36
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:25.919
whenever she chooses to come forward. The original misconduct allegations

37
00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:30.319
center on emails suggesting Andrew forwarded confidential trade briefings to

38
00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:35.240
Epstein while serving as Envoy, sometimes within minutes of receiving them.

39
00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:38.520
One email from No. Number twenty ten was forwarded just

40
00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:41.560
five minutes after being sent by his then special advisor.

41
00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:46.000
On Christmas Eve the same year, Andrew allegedly copied Epstein

42
00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:50.919
into a confidential briefing about investment opportunities in the reconstruction

43
00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:56.159
of Helmand Province in Afghanistan. The investigation police warned will

44
00:02:56.199 --> 00:03:02.439
take many months. Separately, fifteen pages of previously classified government

45
00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:06.280
documents were released this week relating to Andrew's Trade Envoy appointment.

46
00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:09.319
They reveal the late Queen was very keen for has

47
00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:12.400
Son to take on a prominent role in promoting national interests,

48
00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:15.680
but that he should not be burdened with meetings and paperwork.

49
00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:20.599
He expressed a preference for missions to sophisticated countries. The

50
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.960
documents were released following pressure from MP's in the wake

51
00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:29.199
of the Epstein files. The week also brought Andrew Lowney's

52
00:03:29.240 --> 00:03:33.599
updated paperback of entitle which contains fresh allegations, including the

53
00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:36.039
claim that Andrew once kicked one of his dogs at

54
00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:40.120
Sandringham Shoot, leaving the animal whimpering on the ground. A

55
00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:44.159
guest confronted him directly, Andrew allegedly replied, it's none of

56
00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.080
your business and I will do precisely what I want

57
00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:49.800
to my dogs. Philip, it is claimed, later approached the

58
00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:52.000
same guest and said what he said to my son

59
00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:55.840
today was absolutely right. The book also includes new claims

60
00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.599
about Sarah Ferguson's links to Sean Combs, which Ferguson had

61
00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:03.560
strenuous denied. Lowney says he stands by the reporting the

62
00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.319
paperbacks in shops now Lowney is not a man who

63
00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:10.360
publishes and retreats. Meanwhile, Lowney also suggested this week that

64
00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:13.080
Ferguson may be attempting to negotiate a pension from the

65
00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:16.439
royal family, with the outcome likely to influence whether she

66
00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:19.839
proceeds with a tell all interview. Neither Ferguson nor the

67
00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.279
Palace has confirmed or denied the claim. More Palace in

68
00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:29.160
just a moment. King Charles and que Camilla spent the

69
00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:31.920
week in Northern Ireland and managed to pack an extraordinary

70
00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.879
amount of living into a short period of time. The

71
00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:37.759
visit began in Belfast at Thompson Dock, where the Titanic

72
00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:41.319
Last sat on dry land in nineteen eleven, with a

73
00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.519
welcome involving more than two hundred performers marking the upcoming

74
00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:49.279
largest traditional Irish music festival coming to Belfast this August.

75
00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:51.560
For the first time, the King got his feet going

76
00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:54.319
to a live percussionist, was warmly embraced around the waist

77
00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:58.279
by Zimbabwean born Belfast resident, who declared with enthusiasm the

78
00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:01.000
King's got rhythm, and both he and Camilla were handed

79
00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:05.199
bodins and given a tutorial. The King picked it up immediately.

80
00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.959
The Queen persevered. When Charles went on stage to thank

81
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.240
the young dancers, he asked if they were professionals, appeared

82
00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.160
startled when told they were not, and replied, impressive, you

83
00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.480
must wear out your shoes very quickly. At Titanic Distillers,

84
00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.399
housed in the restored Edwardy and Pump House beside the

85
00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:24.120
dry dark, the couple were offered a tasting. It was

86
00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.720
barely passed noon. The Queen raised her eyebrows dramatically asked

87
00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:30.360
what proof, was told forty percent, and decided to proceed

88
00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.839
quite strong, she said, but nice and warming. She turned

89
00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:36.680
to warn her husband, who was already reaching for his glass.

90
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:39.279
The head distiller noted afterwards that the Queen had actually

91
00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:41.879
tried the stronger of the two paws. She must have

92
00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:46.199
had a more refined palette than the king. On day two,

93
00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.120
operating separately across County Down, Charles visited a food bank

94
00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:53.399
in Newcastle, where he packed grocery boxes, stuck his head

95
00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:56.040
into a paper bag to smell freshly baked wheaten bread,

96
00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:59.879
and seized on a toilet roll, with the declaration very important.

97
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.720
He had it a second one, very very important. Leaving

98
00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:06.160
the building, the passing seagull made its contribution to the occasion.

99
00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.519
An aid offered an overcoat. The King waved it off

100
00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:12.480
and told a concerned member of the public, no, it's fine.

101
00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:14.839
At least it didn't land on my head. A local

102
00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:18.279
resident noted that a seagull strikers traditionally considered good luck.

103
00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:23.439
The King appeared to share this view. Meanwhile, in Hillsborough,

104
00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:26.600
Camilla pulled a pint of guinness at the Parson's Nose

105
00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.839
Pub with fierce concentration, held it aloft to a round

106
00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.879
of applause, declared it too early to drink, and was

107
00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:34.639
serenaded in the street by a primary school choir singing

108
00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:37.800
A Million Dreams from the Greatest show Man. She called

109
00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:41.360
it really lovely, admired a baby, and shook a considerable

110
00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.120
number of hands between them. In the space of forty

111
00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.439
eight hours, the King and Queen had danced, drummed, done

112
00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:49.319
whisky shots before lunch packed grocer, has been targeted by

113
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.560
wildlife and pulled a Guinness. The Visitor has been widely

114
00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:55.079
covered as one of the most warm and unguarded royal

115
00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:58.839
tours in recent memory. On the Sussex front, the week

116
00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.519
generated its usual volume material for multiple directions simultaneously. Meghan

117
00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.639
traveled solo to Geneva on Sunday for the inauguration of

118
00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:10.319
the Lost Screen Memorial of the WHOSE World Health Assembly,

119
00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.600
fifty illuminated light boxes, each bearing the lock screen image

120
00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:17.720
of a child loss to online harm. By all accounts,

121
00:07:17.800 --> 00:07:20.519
her speech was strong. She called children's online safety of

122
00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:24.519
public health issue and described systems designed to capture attention

123
00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:27.839
at any cost. The cause is genuine and the credentials

124
00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:30.480
are real. The visit then hit a snag when Finland's

125
00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.680
Minister for Social Affairs and Health posted a selfie with

126
00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:37.199
her captioned at dinner with Megan, prompting rapid research into

127
00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.160
his controversial past, including an alleged joke about being a Nazi.

128
00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:44.920
Meghan's team responded swiftly, noting she had no prior awareness

129
00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:47.600
of him, that vetting every selfie request to a twenty

130
00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.600
five person ministerial dinner is not possible, and that she

131
00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.000
had simply agreed politely as she was leaving. The statement

132
00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.439
was plausible. The Internet was not entirely satisfied, but the

133
00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:02.120
story moved on. On her way home, Meghan transited through Heathrow,

134
00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.759
her first time on British soil since twenty twenty four,

135
00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:08.079
and posted a photograph of a handwritten anniversary card from

136
00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:10.600
the British Airways crew, who had sent her home with

137
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.879
champagne and British suites for Harry and the children. Her

138
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.079
flight departed twenty six minutes later. Back in Montecito, Harry

139
00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.160
was waiting in grey tracksuit bottoms with a lemon older

140
00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:23.360
flower cake, singing happy anniversary and presenting Megan with a

141
00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.480
statute of two penguins arm in arm, a call back

142
00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:29.519
to the onesies they wore at their engagement party, a

143
00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.080
body language expert reviewed the footage and declared the whole

144
00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:36.879
thing very genuine. No visible tension. He said, no staged awkwardness.

145
00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:40.000
Harry's smile engaged his cheek, muscles, his eyes, and his

146
00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:43.720
entire face. The same week also confirmed that Harry and

147
00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.960
Meghan were not invited to Peter Phillips's wedding. Peter, Princess

148
00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.279
Anne's son is marrying Harriet Spurling and Syrih Kester. On

149
00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.879
June sixth, Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were already confirmed absent.

150
00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.480
Harry's exclusion was confirmed by a source who simply said

151
00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:00.000
that the two cousins haven't spoken for several years and

152
00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:03.879
have simply lost touch. Mark Dolwan, on a podcast said bluntly,

153
00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:06.360
poor old Harry wasn't even in the mix for an invite,

154
00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:09.080
so he's done. The New York sisters Beatrice and Eugenie

155
00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:12.960
are expected to attend. The Waleses and Edinburgh's may also appear.

156
00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:18.240
The circle continues to define itself by who stands outside it.

157
00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:21.320
Harry also wrote a piece for The New Statesman this

158
00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.559
week about the rise of anti Semitism in Britain, directly

159
00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.639
acknowledging his two thousand and five Nazi costume and calling

160
00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:31.480
for a strength and responsibility from all science. ITV's Chris

161
00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:33.799
Ship noted that Harry's office said they were unaware of

162
00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.720
the King's separate visit to Golder's Green, which had not

163
00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.200
been announced in advance, and that the overlap was not deliberate,

164
00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:43.919
no more than the Princess of Wales did by having

165
00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.399
engagements in Italy on the same day as the King's visit.

166
00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:50.600
Ship wrote, whether that framing satisfied everyone, There's another question

167
00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:59.600
more palace in just a moment, and Prince William had

168
00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:02.600
his week entirely defined by nineteen minutes in Istanbul on

169
00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:06.120
Wednesday evening, aston Villa beat Freiburg three goals to nil

170
00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:09.120
to win the Europa League, their first European trophy in

171
00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:12.240
forty four years. William was in the stands, fist pumping

172
00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:14.960
and jumping with each goal, filming on his phone like

173
00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:17.840
every other fan in the ground. He joined the players

174
00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.000
at the after party, flew home, lost his voice and

175
00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:22.559
was back in Cornwall for an engagement by Thursday morning.

176
00:10:23.159 --> 00:10:25.919
On Heart Radio's Breakfast Show from the Aisles of Silly,

177
00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.519
he called Catherine absolutely stunning and said the family couldn't

178
00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:33.519
cope without her, confirmed Louis Leave's jam fingerprints in the car,

179
00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:36.919
and revealed that Charlotte supports Chelsea. My daughter loves Chelsea.

180
00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.879
He told a young girl on the crowd, George follows Villa.

181
00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.799
The householders divided. William declared himself a cream first scone

182
00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:47.399
man in the Devonian tradition. He learned it from the Queen.

183
00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.360
The debate, he made clear, was closed. And there you

184
00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:52.840
have it. If you like to email us or addresses

185
00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:55.159
the Palace Intrigue at a gmail at dot com, please

186
00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:57.720
follow us on Apple or Spotify, and you can leave

187
00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:00.879
a comment on Spotify about the show or any of

188
00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:03.799
the others. I'm Mark Francis by thanks to John McDermot.

189
00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:06.000
This is Palace Intrigue in good Times.