ANDREW'S TEDDY BEAR MELTDOWN: KATE 'SILENT ASSASSIN' AS FBI DEMANDS ANSWERS - The week in Royal news with Mark Francis

0:01 Hello and welcome to Pallace Weekly. I'm your host, Mark Francis. This is a rundown of all the Palace Intrigue daily shows that happened during the week and if you'd like to hear the stories in fall, please go back and check out the daily episodes. Here's what happened. Prince Harry has sparked online backlash after being introduced as Harry Wales during a recent appearance at a polo event in the United States. The Duke of Sussex was playing in the Saint Regis World Snow Polo Championship in Aspen when a commentator referred to him as Harry Wales. The name Wales is traditionally associated with the children of the Prince of Wales. It was used by Prince Harry during his childhood when his father, King Charles held the title Prince of Wales.

0:43 Since Charles assented the throne, the title has passed to Prince William and his family now uses the Wales designation. Despite stepping back from the royal duties, Prince Harry's formal title remains Duke of Sussex, which he was granted on his wedding day in twenty eighteen. A spokesperson told The Express that Harry has not asked anyone to introduce him as Harry Wales and that it was all a mistake. Harry and Meghan are reported to have offered an exclusive dinner with themselves to the highest bidder as part of a charity fundraiser, with the price said to reach six figures. According to reports, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex auctioned the dinner experience to raise funds for Archwell Philanthropies, with bids believed to be around one hundred thousand dollars. The arrangement is said to have been handled through the high end fundraising platform charity buzz. The fundraiser would not have been permitted during Harry and Meghan's time as senior working members of the Royal family, when strict rules applied to selling access to royals. New financial filings reveal a difficult year for the Archibald Foundation, with expenses rising sharply as income dropped and staff reductions confirmed. The Archiwell Foundation reported total expenses of five point one million dollars for twenty twenty four, while donations and grounds fell to two point one million dollars. Down from five point three the previous year.

2:06 The figures show expenses increase by fifty four percent compared to the previous year, with salaries listed at nine hundred and thirteen thousand dollars and other expenses reaching two point nine million dollars. The documents also confirm that three staff members are being let go as part of a restructuring process. The filing indicates that Harry and Meghan do not take a salary and devote an average of one hour per week to the organization. The rebrand comes as the couple released their annual Christmas card. Each parent is shown holding one of their children. Archie is seen hugging his father around the waist, while Lilibert holds her mother's hands as Megan bends down to gently touched noses with her daughter. In keeping with their usual approach to privacy, the couple have not shown their children's faces directly. Harry and Meghan's holiday card has come under scrutiny, with some viewers suggesting the image may have been lightly edited. Attention has focused on a faint smudge above the head of Prince Harry, where part of his hairline appears to be missing or blurred.

3:07 One user suggested looks like they used the stamp tool in photoshop, the chunk of head floating above his head when you zoom in in The Royalist, Tom Sykes singled out the Archwell rebrand language mentioning family. Sykes rites the implication that children of Archie and Lilibert's ages six and four are already participants in global philanthropy and are looking forward to getting more involved in it, as opposed to see laughing their heads off it yelling the word poop is absurd, grandiose and self important. Sykes adds, it's now undeniable that the Sussex children's faces are being revealed incrementally to stoke curiosity. Archie and Littlebit are being eased into their roles as components of the Sussex brand before our eyes, every bit as much as George's, and fairly soon now I predict they will be fully unveiled to us in servers of that cause. Thomas Markel has launched an online fundraising appeal to help cover mounting medical bills following his health crisis in the Philippines. A GoFundMe page was set up on December seventh with an initial target of around six thousand dollars. Thomas Michael Junior said that without insurance, the costs were falling entirely on the family, with expenses in the Philippines expected to reach close to twenty thousand dollars.

4:23 Sources speaking to rob Shooters Shooter's Scoop suggests Sarah Ferguson could command a substantial fee if she chose to tell her side of the royal story. According to one insider, Ferguson could receive as much as half a million dollars for a tell all account, but any such move would come with serious consequences. The source said, she knows exactly what she could sell, but she also knows the price wouldn't just be paid by her. Ferguson is described as being in a holding pattern as she considers her future, with another source saying she's looking at all her options. The delays, the days of multiple homes and lavish living along gone. She's thinking practically now. Andrew mount Batten Windsor has become fixated on blaming Kate for his downfall, according to sources speaking to Heat World. An insider tells the publication Andrew has become completely fixated on Kate. He keeps going on about how she's a silent assassin who's been quietly pulling the strings and whipping William into a frenzy about him. He's absolutely certain that major decisions about his future have been run past her and William, But instead of blaming William for getting him forced out, he's turned his wrath on Kate. The source continues, he has this warped belief that William is being controlled by her, that she's whispering in his ear and turning him against his own blood. He's saying she's poisoned the well against him.

5:41 What makes it sting even more for Andrew is that they used to be on perfectly good terms. She was always very polite and warm. He believed she genuinely liked him. Now she won't give him the time of day, and he's seeing it as deliberately freezing him out and using her influence to make sure he stays sidelined. The source adds he's now lashing out and telling anyone who will listen that she's the reason he's been booted from his own family. He's vowing to get back at her, which is not going down well with William. When he finds out. According to Radar Online, Andrew now treats a collection of teddy bears as his primary companions. A source said he treats the bears as if they're real, insisting that the move from Royal Lodge will be difficult for them because, in his view, it's their home too. Being forced to move seems to have triggered a full blow and meltdown.

6:28 He keeps insisting his bears won't handle the change, almost as if he's projecting his own feelings onto them like a child would. Another Palace Inside It described Andrew as being in what they called a truly pitable state. The source said the bears, along with the Corgies once owned by Queen Elizabeth, are allegedly the only companions he feels he can trust, and it may be a lonely Christmas for Andrew. Royal Lodge is reportedly marked this year by noticeably restrained decorations. A Christmas tree has been put up, but there are no additional trees in the bedrooms once used by Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, neither of whom is expert to be present on Christmas Day. There has also been no staff Christmas party and the familiar joint York Family Christmas cards are no longer being sent more in a moment in more Andrew news. Christmas itself was expected to be quiet, with access to Windsor Castle kitchens reportedly withdrawn.

7:22 Andrew may once again need to make alternative arrangements for his meal. He is expected to watch the King's Christmas broadcast at three o'clock and attend a local church service. The couple's daughters remain distant. Princess Eugenie is expected to spend Christmas in Portugal with her family, while Princess Beatrice is said to be weighing whether to stay at home in the Cotswolds or accept an invitation to Sandringham. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has suffered another blow after having his firearms license revoked following a police visit to his home at Royal Lodge in Windsor. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the action, saying firearms licensing officers attended in November to request that Andrew voluntarily surrender his firearms and shotgun certificate. The Telegraph reports the FBI demanded answers from Andrew over his relationship with a second millionaire sex offender. According to newly revealed material from the Epstein files. In April twenty twenty, American officials asked UK authorities to compel Andrew to answer questions about his links to Canadian fashion tycoon Peter Naigard. The request focused on visits Andrew made to Niguard's estate in the Bahamas. Niguard, now eighty five, has since been sentenced to eleven years in prison in Canada for sexually assaulting for women. Further proceedings remain ongoing in the United States and Canada. A man identified as A is shown in newly released Epstein files discussing the facilitation of meetings with what he describes as inappropriate friends alongside Kallain Maxwell. The

8:53 latest release includes email exchanges from two thousand and one and two thousand and two between Maxwell and a correspondent listed as the Invisible Man, who says he is writing from bow Moral. In an email sent in August two thousand and one, signed off A, the writer asks Maxwell whether she had found him some inappropriate friends. The message reads, I am up here at bowmorl summer camp for the Royal family. How's la have you found me? Some new inappropriate friends. In a separate exchange, Maxwell apologizes that she has only found appropriate friends. The reply from A is a single word distraught. Our staff used AI to go through four hundred and seventy episodes we produced this year, every single one from January first through December nineteenth, and pull the data on who dominated the headlines. According to AI, the most mentioned royals were in number six place Kate Middleton three hundred and thirty seven, Prince Harry four hundred and fifty, King Charles got four hundred eighty one mentions, Megan Markle seven hundred and fifty five seems low to me, Prince William nine hundred sixty nine, and in number one Prince Andrew with twelve hundred and seventy one mentions. So the winner or loser, depending on how you look at it, is Prince Andrew with twelve hundred seventy one mansions. That's twelve hundred seventy one times we talked about Andrew in twenty twenty five, more than three mentions every single episode.

10:18 Why because Andrew's story defined at the institutional crisis facing the monarchy this year from his ongoing connection to Jeffrey Epstein, to losing his military titles, to being forced out of Royal Lodge, to his exile from public royal life. Andrew was the biggest story in the royal family in twenty twenty five, and it wasn't even close. Prince William came in second with nine hundred and sixty nine. This was William's year of transition, preparing for kingship, expanding his role, quietly reshaping what the monarchy will look like when he takes the throne. Megan rounds out the top three with seven hundred and fifty five mentions. Even living in Montecito, even not being a working royal, she generates constant headlines. The word controversy appeared one thy, five hundred fifty four times this year one thousand, five hundred and fifty four times, because twenty twenty five was defined by controversy, Andrew's scandals, Harry and Megan's ongoing battles with the Institution, Kate's health crisis, Charles cancer treatment, family riffs that won't heal. Netflix got one hundred eleven mentions because streaming has become the battleground.

11:19 Cancer appeared forty one times. Feud came up forty. While Andrew imploded, William stepped up with his father dealing with cancer. With Kate fighting her own battle with Andrew's scandals threatening the institution, William became the stabilizing force. Sources say William is planning a Royal reset, potentially beginning in twenty twenty six. More palace weekly In just a moment, the Wales family chose to put Prince George in front of the spotlight. This week, the twelve year old made his first visit to the Passage, a charity long supported by his father and late grandmother. During the visit, George signed the very same page of the v at his book that Diana and William signed in nineteen ninety three. Witnesses said the moment clearly struck him, with the young prince her to say wow okay. George helped volunteers assemble care packages for people unable to attend the Christmas lunch. Each package contained around thirty items, including ten pound Gregg's vouchers, toilet trees, socks, and snack bars. He also helped decorate a Christmas tree donated to the charity from Westminster Abbey. Following Kate's recent carol service, it has been suggested that Prince Harry and Meghan could release a documentary focused on Princess Diana in twenty twenty seven, marking the thirtieth anniversary of her death in the Paris car crash. Writing in The Royalist, Tom Sykes said the idea had been raised to him by sources close to the entertainment industry when Hollywood source told him it's hard to see at this point how and why the relationship enjewors unless there is something juicy and

12:51 possibly Diana shaped being dangled. Royal insided Deep Crown adds if this rumor proves accurate, it would represent a new low in what has already been a rather undignified commercial arrangement. The notion that the thirtieth anniversary of Princess Diane's death might be leveraged as content to salvage a faltering Netflix deal is precisely the sort of thing that makes one understand why relations between Montecito and the rest of the family have deteriorated so completely. If Harry proceeds with this, he won't simply be burning bridges with his brother. He'll be salting the earth. New research analyzing official royal duties show. King Charles completed five hundred thirty two engagements this year, around fifty more than Princess Anne, who undertook four hundred seventy eight. The king accounted for twenty two percent of all royal duties carried out during the year. Third place went to Prince Edward with three hundred thirteen. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh followed him fourth place with two hundred and thirty five. Queen Camilla ranked fifth with two hundred twenty eight.

13:51 Prince William carried out two hundred and two engagements across the year, and Catherine, Princess of Wales recorded sixty eight. This is the year Andrew talked to Teddy Bears, The year he blamed Kate for his downfall, calling her a silent assassin who poisoned William against him. The year he spent Christmas alone at Royal Lodge with restrained decorations and no staff party. The year the FBI wanted him questioned about a second sex offender. The year emails emerged showing someone at Balmorrel asking for inappropriate friends. Andrew dominated twenty twenty five with one thousand, two hundred seventy one mentions. Because his implosion defined the year. William stepped up with nine hundred sixty nine mentions preparing for kingship while his father fights cancer. Megan generated seven hundred fifty five mentions from Montecito, selling one hundred thousand dollars dinners while her father launches a go fundme for medical bills. The working Royals work, the disgraced Prince talks to Teddy Bears and blames his niece in law. And somewhere in California, someone is allegedly planning a Diana documentary for the thirtieth anniversary of her death to salvage on Netflix. Deal controversy appeared one thousand, five hundred and fifty four times this year.

15:02 That's not a coincidence. That's twenty twenty five and the habit. If you'd like to email us, our address is the Palace intryg at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple, Facebook, Instagram or on all the social media. Science leaves a nice review if you enjoying the show, I'm Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Weekly in good times