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Hello and welcome to Pallace Weekly. I'm your host, Mark Francis.
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This is a rundown of all the Palace Intrigue daily
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shows that happened during the week and if you'd like
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to hear the stories in fall, please go back and
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check out the daily episodes. Here's what happened. Prince Harry
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has sparked online backlash after being introduced as Harry Wales
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during a recent appearance at a polo event in the
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United States. The Duke of Sussex was playing in the
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Saint Regis World Snow Polo Championship in Aspen when a
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commentator referred to him as Harry Wales. The name Wales
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is traditionally associated with the children of the Prince of Wales.
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It was used by Prince Harry during his childhood when
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his father, King Charles held the title Prince of Wales.
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Since Charles assented the throne, the title has passed to
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Prince William and his family now uses the Wales designation.
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Despite stepping back from the royal duties, Prince Harry's formal
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title remains Duke of Sussex, which he was granted on
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his wedding day in twenty eighteen. A spokesperson told The
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Express that Harry has not asked anyone to introduce him
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as Harry Wales and that it was all a mistake.
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Harry and Meghan are reported to have offered an exclusive
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dinner with themselves to the highest bidder as part of
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a charity fundraiser, with the price said to reach six figures.
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According to reports, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex auctioned
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the dinner experience to raise funds for Archwell Philanthropies, with
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bids believed to be around one hundred thousand dollars. The
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arrangement is said to have been handled through the high
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end fundraising platform charity buzz. The fundraiser would not have
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been permitted during Harry and Meghan's time as senior working
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members of the Royal family, when strict rules applied to
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selling access to royals. New financial filings reveal a difficult
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year for the Archibald Foundation, with expenses rising sharply as
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income dropped and staff reductions confirmed. The Archiwell Foundation reported
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total expenses of five point one million dollars for twenty
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twenty four, while donations and grounds fell to two point
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one million dollars. Down from five point three the previous year.
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The figures show expenses increase by fifty four percent compared
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to the previous year, with salaries listed at nine hundred
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and thirteen thousand dollars and other expenses reaching two point
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nine million dollars. The documents also confirm that three staff
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members are being let go as part of a restructuring process.
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The filing indicates that Harry and Meghan do not take
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a salary and devote an average of one hour per
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week to the organization. The rebrand comes as the couple
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released their annual Christmas card. Each parent is shown holding
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one of their children. Archie is seen hugging his father
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around the waist, while Lilibert holds her mother's hands as
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Megan bends down to gently touched noses with her daughter.
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In keeping with their usual approach to privacy, the couple
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have not shown their children's faces directly. Harry and Meghan's
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holiday card has come under scrutiny, with some viewers suggesting
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the image may have been lightly edited. Attention has focused
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on a faint smudge above the head of Prince Harry,
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where part of his hairline appears to be missing or blurred.
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One user suggested looks like they used the stamp tool
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in photoshop, the chunk of head floating above his head
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when you zoom in in The Royalist, Tom Sykes singled
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out the Archwell rebrand language mentioning family. Sykes rites the
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implication that children of Archie and Lilibert's ages six and
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four are already participants in global philanthropy and are looking
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forward to getting more involved in it, as opposed to
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see laughing their heads off it yelling the word poop
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is absurd, grandiose and self important. Sykes adds, it's now
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undeniable that the Sussex children's faces are being revealed incrementally
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to stoke curiosity. Archie and Littlebit are being eased into
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their roles as components of the Sussex brand before our eyes,
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every bit as much as George's, and fairly soon now
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I predict they will be fully unveiled to us in
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servers of that cause. Thomas Markel has launched an online
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fundraising appeal to help cover mounting medical bills following his
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health crisis in the Philippines. A GoFundMe page was set
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up on December seventh with an initial target of around
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six thousand dollars. Thomas Michael Junior said that without insurance,
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the costs were falling entirely on the family, with expenses
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in the Philippines expected to reach close to twenty thousand dollars.
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Sources speaking to rob Shooters Shooter's Scoop suggests Sarah Ferguson
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could command a substantial fee if she chose to tell
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her side of the royal story. According to one insider,
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Ferguson could receive as much as half a million dollars
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for a tell all account, but any such move would
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come with serious consequences. The source said, she knows exactly
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what she could sell, but she also knows the price
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wouldn't just be paid by her. Ferguson is described as
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being in a holding pattern as she considers her future,
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with another source saying she's looking at all her options.
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The delays, the days of multiple homes and lavish living
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along gone. She's thinking practically now. Andrew mount Batten Windsor
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has become fixated on blaming Kate for his downfall, according
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to sources speaking to Heat World. An insider tells the
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publication Andrew has become completely fixated on Kate. He keeps
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going on about how she's a silent assassin who's been
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quietly pulling the strings and whipping William into a frenzy
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about him. He's absolutely certain that major decisions about his
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future have been run past her and William, But instead
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of blaming William for getting him forced out, he's turned
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his wrath on Kate. The source continues, he has this
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warped belief that William is being controlled by her, that
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she's whispering in his ear and turning him against his
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own blood. He's saying she's poisoned the well against him.
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What makes it sting even more for Andrew is that
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they used to be on perfectly good terms. She was
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always very polite and warm. He believed she genuinely liked him.
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Now she won't give him the time of day, and
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he's seeing it as deliberately freezing him out and using
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her influence to make sure he stays sidelined. The source
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adds he's now lashing out and telling anyone who will
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listen that she's the reason he's been booted from his
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own family. He's vowing to get back at her, which
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is not going down well with William. When he finds out.
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According to Radar Online, Andrew now treats a collection of
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teddy bears as his primary companions. A source said he
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treats the bears as if they're real, insisting that the
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move from Royal Lodge will be difficult for them because,
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in his view, it's their home too. Being forced to
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move seems to have triggered a full blow and meltdown.
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He keeps insisting his bears won't handle the change, almost
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as if he's projecting his own feelings onto them like
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a child would. Another Palace Inside It described Andrew as
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being in what they called a truly pitable state. The
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source said the bears, along with the Corgies once owned
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by Queen Elizabeth, are allegedly the only companions he feels
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he can trust, and it may be a lonely Christmas
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for Andrew. Royal Lodge is reportedly marked this year by
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noticeably restrained decorations. A Christmas tree has been put up,
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but there are no additional trees in the bedrooms once
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used by Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, neither of whom is
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expert to be present on Christmas Day. There has also
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been no staff Christmas party and the familiar joint York
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Family Christmas cards are no longer being sent more in
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a moment in more Andrew news. Christmas itself was expected
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to be quiet, with access to Windsor Castle kitchens reportedly withdrawn.
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Andrew may once again need to make alternative arrangements for
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his meal. He is expected to watch the King's Christmas
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broadcast at three o'clock and attend a local church service.
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The couple's daughters remain distant. Princess Eugenie is expected to
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spend Christmas in Portugal with her family, while Princess Beatrice
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is said to be weighing whether to stay at home
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in the Cotswolds or accept an invitation to Sandringham. Andrew
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Mountbatten Windsor has suffered another blow after having his firearms
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license revoked following a police visit to his home at
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Royal Lodge in Windsor. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the action,
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saying firearms licensing officers attended in November to request that
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Andrew voluntarily surrender his firearms and shotgun certificate. The Telegraph
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reports the FBI demanded answers from Andrew over his relationship
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with a second millionaire sex offender. According to newly revealed
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material from the Epstein files. In April twenty twenty, American
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officials asked UK authorities to compel Andrew to answer questions
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about his links to Canadian fashion tycoon Peter Naigard. The
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request focused on visits Andrew made to Niguard's estate in
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the Bahamas. Niguard, now eighty five, has since been sentenced
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to eleven years in prison in Canada for sexually assaulting
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for women. Further proceedings remain ongoing in the United States
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and Canada. A man identified as A is shown in
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newly released Epstein files discussing the facilitation of meetings with
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what he describes as inappropriate friends alongside Kallain Maxwell. The
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latest release includes email exchanges from two thousand and one
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and two thousand and two between Maxwell and a correspondent
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listed as the Invisible Man, who says he is writing
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from bow Moral. In an email sent in August two
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thousand and one, signed off A, the writer asks Maxwell
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whether she had found him some inappropriate friends. The message reads,
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I am up here at bowmorl summer camp for the
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Royal family. How's la have you found me? Some new
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inappropriate friends. In a separate exchange, Maxwell apologizes that she
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has only found appropriate friends. The reply from A is
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a single word distraught. Our staff used AI to go
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through four hundred and seventy episodes we produced this year,
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every single one from January first through December nineteenth, and
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pull the data on who dominated the headlines. According to AI,
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the most mentioned royals were in number six place Kate
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Middleton three hundred and thirty seven, Prince Harry four hundred
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and fifty, King Charles got four hundred eighty one mentions,
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Megan Markle seven hundred and fifty five seems low to me,
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Prince William nine hundred sixty nine, and in number one
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Prince Andrew with twelve hundred and seventy one mentions. So
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the winner or loser, depending on how you look at it,
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is Prince Andrew with twelve hundred seventy one mansions. That's
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twelve hundred seventy one times we talked about Andrew in
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twenty twenty five, more than three mentions every single episode.
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Why because Andrew's story defined at the institutional crisis facing
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the monarchy this year from his ongoing connection to Jeffrey Epstein,
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to losing his military titles, to being forced out of
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Royal Lodge, to his exile from public royal life. Andrew
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was the biggest story in the royal family in twenty
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twenty five, and it wasn't even close. Prince William came
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in second with nine hundred and sixty nine. This was
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William's year of transition, preparing for kingship, expanding his role,
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quietly reshaping what the monarchy will look like when he
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takes the throne. Megan rounds out the top three with
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seven hundred and fifty five mentions. Even living in Montecito,
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even not being a working royal, she generates constant headlines.
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The word controversy appeared one thy, five hundred fifty four
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times this year one thousand, five hundred and fifty four times,
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because twenty twenty five was defined by controversy, Andrew's scandals,
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Harry and Megan's ongoing battles with the Institution, Kate's health crisis,
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Charles cancer treatment, family riffs that won't heal. Netflix got
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one hundred eleven mentions because streaming has become the battleground.
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Cancer appeared forty one times. Feud came up forty. While
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Andrew imploded, William stepped up with his father dealing with cancer.
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With Kate fighting her own battle with Andrew's scandals threatening
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the institution, William became the stabilizing force. Sources say William
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is planning a Royal reset, potentially beginning in twenty twenty six.
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More palace weekly In just a moment, the Wales family
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chose to put Prince George in front of the spotlight.
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This week, the twelve year old made his first visit
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to the Passage, a charity long supported by his father
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and late grandmother. During the visit, George signed the very
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same page of the v at his book that Diana
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and William signed in nineteen ninety three. Witnesses said the
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moment clearly struck him, with the young prince her to
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say wow okay. George helped volunteers assemble care packages for
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people unable to attend the Christmas lunch. Each package contained
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around thirty items, including ten pound Gregg's vouchers, toilet trees, socks,
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and snack bars. He also helped decorate a Christmas tree
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donated to the charity from Westminster Abbey. Following Kate's recent
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carol service, it has been suggested that Prince Harry and
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Meghan could release a documentary focused on Princess Diana in
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twenty twenty seven, marking the thirtieth anniversary of her death
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in the Paris car crash. Writing in The Royalist, Tom
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Sykes said the idea had been raised to him by
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sources close to the entertainment industry when Hollywood source told
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him it's hard to see at this point how and
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why the relationship enjewors unless there is something juicy and
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possibly Diana shaped being dangled. Royal insided Deep Crown adds
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if this rumor proves accurate, it would represent a new
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low in what has already been a rather undignified commercial arrangement.
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The notion that the thirtieth anniversary of Princess Diane's death
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might be leveraged as content to salvage a faltering Netflix
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deal is precisely the sort of thing that makes one
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understand why relations between Montecito and the rest of the
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family have deteriorated so completely. If Harry proceeds with this,
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he won't simply be burning bridges with his brother. He'll
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be salting the earth. New research analyzing official royal duties show.
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King Charles completed five hundred thirty two engagements this year,
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around fifty more than Princess Anne, who undertook four hundred
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seventy eight. The king accounted for twenty two percent of
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all royal duties carried out during the year. Third place
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went to Prince Edward with three hundred thirteen. Sophie, Duchess
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of Edinburgh followed him fourth place with two hundred and