WEBVTT
1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.359
Calorougus Shark Media now lo and welcome to Palace Intrigue Weekly.
2
00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.359
I am your host, Mark Francis. It's been one of
3
00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:17.719
those weeks where the monarchy seemed to be testing how
4
00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.640
many plates it could spin at once before one of
5
00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.600
them hit the floor. Let's go through it. We start,
6
00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.920
as is traditional with Easter, because what better way to
7
00:00:26.920 --> 00:00:29.039
assess the state of the British royal family than to
8
00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:31.679
see who showed up for church and who suddenly had
9
00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.799
alternative plans. King Charles and Queen Camilla led the procession
10
00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.159
into Saint George's Chapel at Windsor for Easter matins and
11
00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:42.759
were joined by a notably curated guest list. William and
12
00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:45.640
Katherine were very much present, returned to the fold after
13
00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.240
keep miss the service for the past two years, and
14
00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:52.119
they brought George, Charlotte and Lloyd, giving the whole occasionally reassuringly.
15
00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:56.320
Wales's family flavored. Princess Anne was there, reliable as ever.
16
00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.759
Prince Edward and family attended, including eighteen year old James
17
00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:03.399
of Wessex, who made a rare public appearance and confused
18
00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:06.719
a fair portion of casual royal watchers online, who weren't
19
00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:10.760
entirely sure who he was. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh was absent,
20
00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.840
reportedly unwell, though this is now the third consecutive major
21
00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:18.599
royal event she has missed, which people are quietly noting.
22
00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.760
And there is the guest list that wasn't Andrew Mount
23
00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:27.000
Patton windsor not there, Sarah Ferguson not there, Prints Beatrice
24
00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.519
and Princess Eugenie also not there, having reportedly made alternative
25
00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:34.760
plans or four attended last year. The circle is being
26
00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:37.159
drawn tighter and the shape of the institution is becoming
27
00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.239
clearer with every passing occasion. It is Charles and Camilla
28
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.519
at the top, William and Katherine firmly in the center,
29
00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.359
the children visible and dependable, and everyone associated with the
30
00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:52.239
York Family increasingly optional. Keith's return drew warm coverage, though
31
00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:56.239
it is also sparking an unexpected debate online about the
32
00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.159
length of her dress. The princess wore a cream midy
33
00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.840
length self portrait ensemble with a matching hat and tan hills,
34
00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.280
and while the majority response was positive she looked wonderful,
35
00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.280
welcome back, lovely to see her, a determined faction of
36
00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:12.000
commenters came to the conclusion that the hemline was simply
37
00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:16.159
too long, when Instagram user wrote that ten centimeters less
38
00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.159
would look much better on her figure. Another noted with
39
00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:22.919
some bewilderment that even Queen Camilla wears shorter hems. This
40
00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:26.159
is now apparently a thing. Meanwhile, the King attracted some
41
00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:30.520
criticism for not issuing a personal Eastern message, particularly given
42
00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:34.319
that the royal family had publicly acknowledged Brahmadan and Id
43
00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:37.400
earlier in the year. Buckingham Palace noted that an Easter
44
00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.599
message is not a formal annual requirement in the same
45
00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.800
way as the Christmas broadcast. That is technically correct, it
46
00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:47.639
did not fully satisfy Lady Colin Campbell, who received what
47
00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.360
she described as a multitude of complaints and who suggested
48
00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:54.560
that failing to respond could prove irreversibly damaging, invoking in
49
00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.599
the same breath saw Nicholas the Second and the events
50
00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:02.199
of February nineteen seventeen, which does feel perhaps slightly proportionate,
51
00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:06.080
but the concern is noted now to the story that
52
00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.840
has dominated the week and shows absolutely no sign of
53
00:03:08.919 --> 00:03:12.800
tidying itself up. Andrew mount Batten windsor the ongoing saga
54
00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.599
of where he is, what he is doing, who is
55
00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.240
visiting him, and what he allegedly did at his mother's
56
00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.360
house in the year two thousand. Andrew has been at
57
00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.159
wood Farm on the Sandringham estate since February, following his
58
00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:27.639
arrest on suspicion of misconduct and public office. He denies
59
00:03:27.639 --> 00:03:30.479
any wrongdoing, but his presence has become a problem on
60
00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:35.520
multiple fronts simultaneously, which is quite an achievement. First, there
61
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:37.360
is the matter of Prince Edward, who is now said
62
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:40.400
to be frustrated that Andrew has been dragging his hills
63
00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:44.360
about vacating wood Farm, a property Edward and Sophie like
64
00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.680
to us. According to reports, Edward has a quiet word
65
00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:49.960
with his brother and was reportedly the first and only
66
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.520
member of the family to visit Andrew directly since he
67
00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:56.159
left Royal Lodge. Andrew has been ignored by everyone since
68
00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:58.479
he left Royal Lodge, including his daughters and ex wife,
69
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.080
who have stayed away, one source said, which, if true,
70
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:05.919
is quite a portrait of isolation. Then there is King Charles,
71
00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.759
who was said to be maintaining near daily contact with Andrew,
72
00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:10.560
not out of warmth, but out of a very real
73
00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.719
anxiety about what Andrew might do if cut off entirely.
74
00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:17.639
One source described it as Charles been pressured into keeping
75
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.560
that line open because of the lingering fear that Andrew
76
00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.920
could go rogue on the Royal family if he feels
77
00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:26.480
isolated or backed into a corner. So the King is
78
00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:29.120
to summarize funding the lifestyle of the man he cannot
79
00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.519
afford to alienate, managing him carefully to prevent an escalation,
80
00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:37.040
while simultaneously telling him to dial back his expectations about
81
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:41.600
his new Norfolk accommodations. One source said Charles has threatened
82
00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.560
to put him in a caravan if the demands don't stop. Remarkably,
83
00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:47.759
this appears to have been taken seriously. The caravan, by
84
00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.240
the way, reportedly already exists. Andrew allegedly took delivery of
85
00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:54.519
a secondhand static model and has been spending time sitting
86
00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.120
in it. One source said he likes it. He really
87
00:04:57.240 --> 00:04:59.759
is a changed man. We are choosing to take that
88
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.959
face value. Then there is the Epstein to mension, which
89
00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.519
Royal biographer Robert Jobson revisited this week with some extraordinary
90
00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:09.000
claims about a shooting weekend at Sandringham in the year
91
00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.480
two thousand. Andrew had previously described the gathering as simply
92
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.480
a straightforward shooting weekend jobs, and says the palace staff
93
00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.800
were left appall by what they found afterwards, including items
94
00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:24.600
distributed among guests, which he described as including sex drugs
95
00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:27.600
like poppers and condoms and lube. He alleged these were
96
00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.639
distributed like party bags and that the host giving them
97
00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:33.360
out was by implication, Andrew, can you imagine what the
98
00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.319
late Queen would have thought, Jobson asked. I'm not sure
99
00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:38.839
that she would have been overly impressed. That may be
100
00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:43.240
the understatement of the calendar year. Separately, a report claims
101
00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:46.279
Andrew was recently spotted arriving at Marsh Farm with an
102
00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.319
unidentified woman in the back of the vehicle. The intrigue
103
00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:52.199
around this has been described as intensifying. Make of that
104
00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.639
what you will, and if you wanted to visit the
105
00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:57.839
property yourself, you are apparently not alone. A steady stream
106
00:05:57.879 --> 00:05:59.800
of tourists has been making their way to the village
107
00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:03.120
of Wulferton, drawn by what locals have taken to calling
108
00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:07.879
Crown Ghul's energy a kind of morbid curiosity about witnessing
109
00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:11.319
the fallout up close. The land Rover safari experience on
110
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.639
the Sandringham estate prior to approximately two hundred and eleven
111
00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:17.839
dollars per person, now passes near both wood Farm and
112
00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:22.519
marsh Farm Royalty, a discount. Sarah Ferguson meanwhile, and said
113
00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:24.560
to be on what The Daily Mail described as a
114
00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:28.160
secret sofa surfing world tour, staying at the homes of
115
00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:31.160
wealthy friends and cycling through three phones because she fears
116
00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:35.600
she may be tracked. She is described by associates as disheveled,
117
00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:38.319
has not been keeping up with her roots or a botox,
118
00:06:38.759 --> 00:06:40.720
has been asking friends how she is going to get
119
00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.319
through this. She is said to be in contact with Andrew,
120
00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.279
though not frequently. It is almost as if they have
121
00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.279
run away from each other. One source said. She's also
122
00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.360
reportedly furious that what she has seen as a betrayal
123
00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:55.079
by Queen Camilla, because she is owed at least a
124
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:59.120
conversation and has been advised firmly not to write another memoir.
125
00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.519
The argument that any financial gain would be outweighed by
126
00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:05.439
the scrutiny given that some of her past public statements
127
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:09.000
have not, according to one insider, entirely aligned with information
128
00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.319
that surfaced later. She has reportedly also made clear she
129
00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:16.800
will never set foot in America again Elsewhere. A report
130
00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:19.519
in heat Weld cites a source saying Ferguson feels she
131
00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:23.279
is owed more than being cut off without any proper explanation,
132
00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:26.399
and that a closer look at the Andrew timeline has
133
00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:29.519
in the male prompted Liz Jones to write a sympathetic
134
00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:33.279
piece arguing that Ferguson is not evil, merely reckless and stupid,
135
00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.240
and that Andrew once called her a fat cow. The
136
00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:38.839
column ended with the motto from Fergie's coat of arms,
137
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:43.560
out of adversity happiness grows. We hope. So now to Washington,
138
00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.279
because there is a rather significant trip on the horizon.
139
00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.920
King Charles and Queen Camilla will travel to the United
140
00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.120
States on April twenty eighth for a state visit tied
141
00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:54.639
to the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of American Independence.
142
00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.120
The visit will include an address to Congress and a
143
00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.839
White House state dinner. The Palace's announcement carefully noted that
144
00:08:00.839 --> 00:08:03.199
the trip is taking place on advice of His Majesty's
145
00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.680
government and at the invitation of the President, wording that
146
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:10.720
was immediately passed online for subtext. One commenter read it
147
00:08:10.759 --> 00:08:14.000
as translating to we were told to go, but we'd
148
00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:17.639
rather not. The Palace did not clarify. Donald Trump, for
149
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.519
his part, has been enthusiastic to the point of complication.
150
00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.759
He told the Telegraph that the King would have taken
151
00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:27.040
a very different stand from Prime Minister Stama on the
152
00:08:27.079 --> 00:08:31.160
war in Iran, implying essentially that the King privately agrees
153
00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:33.759
with him. The Palace responded with five words in silence,
154
00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:35.919
which Deep Crown, writing in his sub stack this week,
155
00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:40.639
described as the correct response. The trap, he noted, remains set.
156
00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:45.039
Deep Crown spent considerable space this week laying up precisely
157
00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.159
how difficult this visit will be. The King, he wrote,
158
00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:51.000
is walking into a room where everyone wants something from
159
00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:55.960
him that he is constitutionally forbidden from giving. The administration
160
00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.080
will be looking for an endorsement, The opposition will be
161
00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:01.960
looking for a flicker of comfort. The British government will
162
00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.240
be hoping Charles can achieve diplomatically what their own diplomats
163
00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:07.600
have failed to do. And he must do all this
164
00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:11.159
while saying functionally nothing that can be quoted out of context,
165
00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.000
clipped or held up as evidence of a royal view
166
00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:18.039
on an active political controversy. Did Crown called it an
167
00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:21.279
almost impossible brief, and then he said he believed Charles
168
00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:24.519
was in fact uniquely suited to it. He has spent
169
00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:26.919
his entire adult life learning to inhabit a role that
170
00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:30.200
requires him to mean more than he says. That is
171
00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.240
a very particular skill. Most people never acquire it. He
172
00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.320
has had seventy odd years of instruction. The Crown itself
173
00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:41.240
deep Crown concluded, is the message. We commend the full piece.
174
00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:45.120
The linkers in the show notes one subplot that will
175
00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.600
not be part of the Washington visit Harry. A source
176
00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:49.840
confirmed this week that any plans for Charles and Harry
177
00:09:49.879 --> 00:09:52.759
to meet in America have been scrapped. The source said
178
00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:56.600
the logistics simply did not allow it. Did Crown observe
179
00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.480
that the flight from Montecito to Washington is approximately five
180
00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.240
hours compared to the sixteen hour journey Harry is about
181
00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:04.799
to take to Australia, and noted that the laws of
182
00:10:04.840 --> 00:10:09.879
aviation apply consistently regardless of direction. But he concluded that
183
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.159
a meeting was probably never as close to happening as
184
00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.279
the coverage suggested, and that the decision not to have
185
00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.480
one is almost certainly correct, a state visit is not
186
00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.279
the moment for a Sussex sidebar. You can subscribe to
187
00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:24.360
Deep Ground's newsletter by searching deep Crown on Google or
188
00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.600
following the link in the show notes. Just check out
189
00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:35.440
Deep Crown on substack or powercing. Just a moment on
190
00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:38.279
the subject of Australia, which is where we are headed now.
191
00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:40.960
Harry and Meghan are both traveling there this month, though
192
00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.879
not together in any formal sense. Harry is due to
193
00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.879
speak at Melbourne's inter Edge Summit on April sixteenth, a
194
00:10:46.919 --> 00:10:50.879
workplace mental health event. Originally priced at platinum and gold
195
00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:54.000
tiers of nearly two and a half thousand dollars, organizers
196
00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.919
have since introduced a delegate ticket at one thousand and
197
00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.639
a virtual option at five hundred ticket prices. Words moved
198
00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:04.080
in only one direction as the event drew closer. Megan's
199
00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.200
Wellness Retreat with her Best Life Podcast is scheduled from
200
00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:11.279
April seventeen to nineteen at the Intercontinental Koogie Beach in Sydney.
201
00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:14.519
Well up to three hundred guests expected. The event attracted
202
00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:18.759
some attention after earlier promotional material claimed tickets were exhausted.
203
00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:22.879
The phrase that was subsequently removed where organizers announced additional
204
00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:26.919
room availability. A further wrinkle emerged when some attendees claimed
205
00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:30.000
they had not simply purchased tickets, but had been selected
206
00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.519
after submitting an explanation of why they wanted to attend.
207
00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.000
Organizers sent an email noting they had received thousands of
208
00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.519
applications and were keeping the retreat intentionally intimate. Whether this
209
00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:45.120
framing reflects genuine demand management or creative narrative around unsold
210
00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:49.759
capacity is as yet unclear. There's also been social media
211
00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:53.159
chatter suggesting attendees plan to attend under false pretenses, with
212
00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:56.919
posts referencing button cameras and metaglasses. None of this has
213
00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:01.120
prompted any announcement of changes to the event. The broader
214
00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:03.840
question of what the Australia trip represents came under analysis
215
00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:08.960
from several directions. Celebrity pr specialist Kaylee Cornelius told Page
216
00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:12.799
six that Megan's trademark filing for as Ever in Australia
217
00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.960
may reflect not expansions so much as necessity, with Netflix's
218
00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:21.279
reported pullback slowing domestic growth, if the brand struggled to
219
00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:23.720
resonate in a market like Australia where the conditions are
220
00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:27.360
arguably more favorable. She said it could signal deeper issues
221
00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:30.759
with the business model did. Crown, assessing the situation from
222
00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:34.960
his usual altitude, said, the Sussexes have never satisfactorily answered
223
00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:40.519
what precisely they are Royals, private citizens, activists, media entrepreneurs.
224
00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:43.320
They arrived in California in twenty twenty, having traded one
225
00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:45.480
of the most clearly defined roles in public life for
226
00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.679
a brief They have been attempting to write themselves ever since.
227
00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:52.159
He also noted, not without some pointed admiration, that William
228
00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:55.279
has mastered the art of managed visibility in a way
229
00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.080
Harry never did. The lesson he implied was available. Whether
230
00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:03.639
it would be absorbed is another matter. This week's other
231
00:13:03.679 --> 00:13:07.000
major Sussex development came from the court room. Newly disclosed
232
00:13:07.080 --> 00:13:11.039
Facebook messages in Harry's privacy case showed a considerably warm
233
00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:14.519
up relationship with Mail On Sunday journalist Charlotte Griffiths than
234
00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:18.360
he had indicated in his testimony. The messages from late
235
00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.759
twenty eleven to early twenty twelve included Harry calling her sugar,
236
00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:26.519
signing off with kisses, and referring to movie snuggles. He
237
00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.679
had told the court he had met Griffiths once at
238
00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:30.799
a party and cut off contact when he realized that
239
00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:34.799
she was a journalist. The messages suggested something slightly different.