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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,
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Mark Francis. The Daily Mail's Alison Boshoff reports that the
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Sussexes are staying indefinitely in a spare property belonging to
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an extremely wealthy friend near the Cotswolds. She says three
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sources have disputed reports that a £ 12 million house purchase
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has already been agreed. According to her account, Megan wants
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nine bedrooms and space for a film studio, while Harry's
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priorities include extensive grounds without public footpaths crossing them. A
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source told Boshoff there is an agent involved, but they
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have not seen anywhere yet, so they have not bought yet.
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Online viewings are all very well, but the houses that
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they are looking at are so huge that you need
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to go in person, and it's also a really big commitment.
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I know that they have a number of requirements. With houses,
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you don't know until you step into them if they
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are where you want to raise your children. Is this
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the snug where we will light a fire and watch
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a film? Is this the kitchen where I will cook
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meals for the next 10 formative years of my child's life?
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You have to go in person, which they will be
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doing over the next weeks. Another source suggested there were
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several possibilities because there is so much on the market
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at the moment. One American-based source showing details of a
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property reportedly under consideration said, They will have to sell
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in Montecito. After hearing the price and considering the amount
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of land, the source added, What? That's not possible. Friends
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have described the couple as all in and characterized the
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plan as finding freedom too. One friend said, They have
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an English countryside dream. This will be the first time
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that Harry has lived in the UK as a private
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citizen where no one can demand any access to him.
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It will be very different to when he was a
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working royal and living in Frogmore Cottage. Then the roof
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over his head was ultimately down to the country. Now
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he is going to have a chance to enjoy all
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of the things he loves about this country. But as
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a private citizen, they will have more freedom now. It's
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like finding freedom again. The children's education is presented as
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the central reason for the move. However, a friend said,
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it's not academia. That is very low on the list.
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A nurturing atmosphere is very high on the list. Probably
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the highest priority is the outdoorsy and sporting ethos. They
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want to put them in a secure countryside microcosm So
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they will have as normal a childhood as they possibly can. Harry,
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I think, is thinking back to his time at Ludgrove
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Prep School. That was two and a half miles down
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a dirt track with fields on either side. There was
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a small police box on the track and a rather
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vanilla bodyguard who would peer out a window while Harry
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played in the yard. The fellow pupils treated him and
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his brother, Prince William, as absolutely one of their own.
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I think you could argue that those Ludgrove years were
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the happiest of his life until, of course, the death
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of his mother in 1997 before his final year. Being
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at Ludgrove was a solace to him in sad times.
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That is what they are looking for in a school,
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that sense of community where the first 15 cheer the
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first year squad and vice versa. Of course, Megan knows
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a very limited amount of rugby and Harry is a
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huge rugby fan. She knows even less about cricket. A
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friend added, At this time, Meghan is kind of shocked
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that they have school on a Saturday. Other than that
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she is looking forward to it, they both believe in
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this as the best decision for the family. According to
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Boshoff's sources, the couple intend to avoid British commercial deals
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while continuing their American businesses. Harry could take on additional
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charitable patronages, potentially involving military causes without resuming official royal duties.
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For Meghan, friends say any material filmed in Britain will
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be only for her US website. Another source anticipated her
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producing home-making content in Britain because that is the heart
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of who she is. An unnamed long-standing friend of Harry's
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told the Evening Standard, You could have knocked me down
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with a feather. So, so surprised, but excited too. Since
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he has left, I saw him once when I was
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in the States when I flew to the West Coast
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for work. Hardly anyone sees him when he visits the UK.
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Apparently he has back-to-back events. Although lots of us felt
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like he was darkening us since he went rogue, I
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have Got to say that everyone is pretty excited about
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him coming back. Maybe it will be like the old times,
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or if not old times, it would be nice if
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our kids could play. Harry is still reportedly still expecting
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an apology, according to friends quoted by the Daily Mail.
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One source told the Mail, Friends who caught up with
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Harry were expecting to hear noises of contrition and humility.
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There will be no imminent mea culpa from Harry by
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the sounds of things. Far from it. In fact, he
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is still in that Oprah mindset. They were agog to
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hear that he still feels angry with members of the
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royal family, is still frustrated by the men in grey
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suits who surround his father, and still expects an apology.
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Harry has used similar language before when criticising royal courtiers,
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and in a 2023 interview he said, What I really
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like is some accountability and an apology to my wife.
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Another source told the newspaper, Friends who have spoken to
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him since he returned to the UK were surprised to
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discover that the record has not changed one bit since
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2020 and makes it. It's shocking and quite sad. He
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certainly won't be issuing a public apology for his actions,
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and he's whipped himself up all over again, and Diana's
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legacy is a factor in this. There is also speculation
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that Meghan could make one of her first major public
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appearances back in Britain at an event connected to Princess Diana.
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Harry is expected to attend a Diana Award dinner on
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September 18th, and sources say Meghan is considering joining him.
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One source said, Harry is expected to take the lead
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at this event. The brothers tend to take it in turns.
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You won't see the two men attending an event together
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any time soon, especially if Meghan is there. Another source
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suggested it will make a lot of people at Kensington
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Palace uneasy if she is in attendance. Instead of returning
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to Britain solely as Harry's wife and the mother of
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his children, she would be appearing alongside him at an
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event tied directly to the memory of Diana. More Palace
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in just a moment. In Montecito, boutique owner Wendy Foster
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described Meghan as very polite and suggested that life in
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Britain could offer the Sussexes and their children a different
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relationship with their royal status. Foster said, Over here, they
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and their children don't mean much in terms of status.
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In Britain, their titles mean something. An unnamed neighbour described
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the Sussex exit to the Daily Mail as with a whimper,
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not a bang. The neighbour told the Daily Mail, There
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were no moving trucks, no parties, nothing at all. One
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day they were here, and the next day they were
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back in England. Author and Montecito resident Robert Eringer also
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told the Daily Mail that he rarely encountered the couple.
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Eringer said, Another neighbour identified only as Susan recalled occasional
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glimpses of Harry cycling or Megan driving. She also described
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an attempt to welcome them after they arrived in 2020.
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Susan said, A clothing store assistant is quoted, The Mail
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also reports that the Godmother's bookstore no longer carries Meghan's
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As Ever products or Harry's memoirs spare. Caroline Graham, reporting
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from Montecito, writes, In this quiet upstairs room at Godmother's Bookstore,
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just three miles from the $ 14 million Montecito mansion, the
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Duke and Duchess of Sussex have just quit. They may
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be the most telling symbol yet of the collapse of
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the couple's much-hyped American dream. I was here late last
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year when the mood could not have been more different. Then,
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amid a flurry of publicity and social media posts... Meghan
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announced that Godmothers would become the first bricks-and-mortar shop to
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stock her as-ever brand of overpriced jams, herbal teas, candles,
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and those infamous flower sprinkles. An entire upstairs room had
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been devoted to Meghan's wares, with a sign proudly announcing
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it had been curated by the Duchess herself. The products
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were displayed on oak tables, surrounded by sprigs of eucalyptus,
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while the flower sprinkles were presented almost reverentially in a
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silver bowl. It was in miniature the Meghan Markle brand
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made flesh. polished, carefully styled, and designed for Instagram. Today,
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it looks rather different. The grand display has gone, the
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signage has disappeared, and the once-celebrated As Ever collection has
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vanished from the shelves, save for those three lonely tins.
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There is no sign of Harry's exoriating memoir spare, either.
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I asked a shop assistant if there were any As
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Ever products available. Her response was revealing. I don't think
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I know that company, she said. When I explained that
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it was Meghan Markle's brand, she replied, Oh, we don't
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stock it any more. And there you have it. If
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you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com.
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uninterrupted and get the show for five bucks a month
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commercial free. We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My
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thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and good times.