Dead ducks , royal cake bakers, and the slimmed-down monarchy

0:00 Palace Intrigue now has merch. Check out the hats, t shirts, mugs and other great items with Palace Intrigue, Deep Crown, Good Times, Kate is Wonderful and more. There's free shipping and for a limited time get ten percent off with the code new Merch ten. Go to Kalaroga dot com. That's c A l O r g A dot com or look for the link in the show notes. We really appreciate your support for the show. Thanks Kalaroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. No dead duck eggs for Charles. King and Queen is said to embarkon a historic summer tour of the Channel Islands, marking their first visit to Guernsey since ascending to the throne. The visit schedule for July fifteenth and sixteenth represents a departure from tradition, as the royal couple will not accept the customary gift of to dead ducks upon arrival. This tradition dates back to medieval times, when local laws paid homage to the Duke of Normandy, a title held by the King in connection with the Channel Islands. Since the eleventh century. Instead of the traditional mallards, the royal couple will be presented with locally laid duck eggs upon their arrival, symbolizing the island's unique agricultural heritage.

1:22 The telegraph tells us, just as the late Queen did not take the dead ducks home, the King will not be packing the duck eggs in his suitcase and stead he will touch the ball that the eggs are in before they are accepted on his behalf by the Receiver General, the King's representative of the islands. The King and Queen will further immerse themselves in the local culture and agriculture during their visit to the Channel Islands by attending a special Jersey Expo event. This event, designed to showcase the best of Jersey, will feature iconic elements of the island's heritage, including Jersey cows and Jersey Royal potato farmers. A highlight of their visit to the Expo will be their participation in a miniature version of the genuine Jersey Royal Potato growing competition. This long standing tradition, which has engaged local primary school children for seventeen years, challenges participants to compete for prizes in two categories, the greatest yield and the greatest crop weight. This interactive experience will offer the King and Queen a delightful insight into the island's agricultural practices and community's involvement in preserving these traditions. Eddie Spence, the renowned master baker celebrated for his intricate royal cakes, has passed away at the age of ninety one. Spencer's career spanned an impressive seventy one years, during which he crafted cakes for significant royal events, including Queen Elizabeth the Second's wedding, Charles and Diana's wedding, and the Golden Jewbile Lead. His dedication was recognized with an MBE in two thousand, an honour bestowed upon him by Queen Elizabeth the Second herself, marking a moment he cherished deeply. Spence had told a story

2:53 about meeting Elizabeth. She was absolutely fabulous at the end of getting my medal, and to thank her, I said, thanks, pat always call everyone Patton. Of course right away she laughed and she wrote it down on her book. That was the biggest and most enjoyable moment. Former BBC Royal correspondent Jenny Bond highlighted Camilla's significant contributions, learning how she has risen to the occasion maintaining stability within the monarchy during a turbulent year. I think she might have surprised herself by enjoying hard work as much as she seems to be doing. She has taken on a significantly increased workload and a massive amount of responsibility in the past few months, and is looking and sounding great on it. Interestingly, Bond has also recalled a prediction made by late Princess Diana over three decades ago. Diana had acknowledged Camilla's loyalty and foresaw her crucial role in Charles's life.

3:40 I think Diana was absolutely right to tell me that Camilla was loyal and that charles love for Camilla was stronger than any marriage he might ever have made. I think part of it is because she so much wants the man she loves to be proud of it and to pull her weight in their partnership. It must be so gratifying to have earned widespread approval, even a faction from a partublic who once ganged up against her as the marriage breaker and the other woman who made to Hannah so unhappy. Reflecting on Camilla's journey bond, highlight of the Queen's you found confidence and poise. What a contrast to those early days when she looked and sounded so very nervous if she had to speak in public. Now she is assured, confident and comfortable in her new way and very demanding role. The Queen will celebrate her birthday next week. Were palace intrigue in just a moment? Is a slimmed down monarchy really? Such a foolish idea? We subjects seem to be surviving just fine. Those questions asked by Catherine Bennett in a column for The Guardian in which she writes, even before Princess Anne's head injury, with a King and Princess both on the long term sick leave, royal family experts were arguing that its professional component, having previously been too big, is now dangerously small. If there was ever an intervening, just right, nobody spotted it at the time. Mercifully, given the family's impressive birth rate, there is no suggestion it will have to resort, as in the past, to importing foreign workers who may not even speak the language. But if the labor shortfall is not yet acute or even noticeable.

5:09 Royal authorities allude to struggles that have perhaps been under reported, vacant patronages, event planners who can't lay their hands on a duke. The royal biographer Hugo Vickers wrote months ago that the King's cancer diagnosis is a reminder of what foolish idea a slim down monarchy is now Anne's accident serves, according to Fellows specialist Richard Kay is the most compelling warning of the dangers of a slim down monarchy. Do we want the British Royals, since this is presumably the alternative to abandon their exceptional history of groaning palace balconies stuffed with mad hats and chestfuls of inexplicable metals, and follow lounge suited European versions down the route of mass redundancies. Well, yes we do, obviously, but this seems to have no impact on the urgings of royal specialists, even with the ongoing counter argument of ex working royal Prince Andrew still sharing a thirty room palace with his soft toys. The routinely proposed solution recruitment of younger royals starting with Princess Beatrice and Eugenie signals, if not covert anarchism, a perverse indifference to waning support for the Royal family. Mister Princess Beatrice and mister Princess Eugenie are, respectively a developer and a promoter of luxury homes. A recruitment drive now could leave the family looking bloated when geopolitical and generational changes seriously challenge the assumption that a royal invariably adds value. How many working royals does a country need? The way the Kingdom has sailed through the recent absences suggests it might be possible to get by with what four. Royal biographer Christopher Anderson disagrees, sharing concern over Charles

6:40 and Kate with okay. If either of them starts to wabble, the whole thing can come crashing down. At the moment Kate is at her most vulnerable, the ground beneath Kate is shifting in major ways. Only time can tell if she can stand strong. The simple truth is that the Royal family cannot be whittled down to a precious few without the risk of having it grind to a halt. Together for over seventy year. The Windsors had longevity on their side, almost to a ridiculous extent. Queen Elizabeth lived to be ninety six. Her husband, Prince Philip, was ninety nine, the longest living royal male in history. When he died. The Queen Mother was downing her favorite gin and Jubernees. Right up until the end of the astounding age of one hundred and one, there seemed to be no need for redundancy, with senior royals seeming practically immortal in three generations of future monarchs waiting in the wings.

7:24 It's hard to blame Palace officials for not having a plan in place to cope with the simultaneous cancer diagnosis of King Charles and Princess Kate, much less the sidelining of such valuable supporting players as the Princess Royal. The home team is running out of options. Former BBC Royal correspondent Jenny Bond tells Okay Magazine. I still hold to the idea that the slimmed down Royal family is indeed the right model for the future. It's in line with most European monarchies and is sensitive to the constant criticism that the Royal family cost taxpayers too much. Adding new working Royals to the payroll will only exacerbate that criticism. I think that model William has experimented with the answer drafting and his cousins here and there to space things up a bit. It makes such occasions even more special and allows those cousins to get on with their lives as they wish without the stretches of the Royal Diary. So I think the King and William are entirely right to be determined to keep the core of working Royals a small, tight unit that can be accountable to the public purse people reports. The Royal Diary currently lists Princess Anne's next scheduled outing as a visit to the NLV Faros ship off the west coast of Scotland in her role as Patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board on July fifteenth and sixteenth, and they have it. If you like to email us our addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice, write a review, leave some stars if you're enjoying the show. Frant is my thanks to John McDermott.

8:45 This is Palace Intrigue and good terms,