Sept. 8, 2026

Harry and Meghan Told to ‘Drop the Titles or Drop the Grievances’ as Royal Backlash Grows

Show Notes
Transcript

Harry and Meghan’s return to Britain fuels another wave of royal reaction, with Camilla Tominey arguing the Sussexes must choose between embracing their Windsor connections and continuing their grievances against the monarchy. Sarah Vine declares Queen Camilla, Princess Catherine, Duchess Sophie and Princess Anne the Royal Family’s new “Fab Four,” while a PR expert offers Harry and Meghan some striking advice: come home quietly and let Britain get bored with them. Plus, Meghan’s reported feud with Victoria Beckham, claims Princess Eugenie is wary of mixing friendship with Meghan’s business interests, criticism of the Sussexes’ campaigning, and questions about whether Sarah Ferguson knew about their return before the public did.

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

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Caloroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I

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am your host, Mark Francis. The Daily Mail's Sarah Vine

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suggests there's a new Fab Four now. She writes, Queen Camilla,

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the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Edinburgh, and stalwart

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Princess Anne. They have shown what strength there can be

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in quiet perseverance. They now represent a formidable quartet of

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soft power, one of which is a lined, in its

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unfailing loyalty to the king and the legacy of the crown.

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All are working royals, 100% dedicated to public life. Between them,

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they carry out a huge number of official engagements, rarely,

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if ever, putting a foot wrong. They work hard, keep

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their heads down, and operate with a mixture of dedication

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and discretion that is the very definition of royal duty.

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At every turn in the Mexit saga, these four remarkable

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women have presented a united front, sharing the workload left

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by the Sussexes absence with grace and gusto, earning the

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respect and affection of the British public along the way.

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It is they who are now the Fab Four, the

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pillars of the House of Windsor, and if Meghan and

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Harry don't keep their noses clean, they will soon discover

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that they can also be formidable adversaries. Catherine and Sophie

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provide the glamour, Queen Camilla and Princess Anne the experience

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and wisdom, Meghan, with all her histrionics, is surplus to requirements.

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And unlike the Duchess of Sussex, who was never especially

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keen on carrying out her duties as a working royal,

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they are grafters, not grifters. Crucially, they are genuinely invested

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in the future of the monarchy. They know that they

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are mere custodians of their respective roles and understand, as

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the late Queen did, that the institution will endure long

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after they have gone. Unlike Harry and Meghan, who seem

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to believe the opposite, that the monarchy exists to serve

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them and help them make money, the new Fab Four understand,

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appreciate and respect the crown. Royal biographer Duncan Larcombe says

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the relationship between Meghan Markle and Victoria Beckham has deteriorated

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to what his sources describe as an all-time low, with

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jealousy and resentment allegedly driving the former friends further apart.

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Writing for Woman and Home, Larcombe says a source told him,

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Meghan feels as though it is one rule for the

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Beckhams and another for her and Harry. This apparent double

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standard is a constant issue for Meghan, who sees herself

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as one of the most trolled women on the planet.

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Larcombe says his sources believe the dispute ultimately boils down

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to jealousy, with another telling him, I believe it was

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envy that caused the fallout. Some of the more detailed

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allegations come from royal biographer Tom Bauer. In the House

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of Beckham, Bauer claimed the relationship encountered problems involving requests

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for clothing and fashion advice, as well as the relative

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social status of the two women. In Meghan's celebrity world,

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ranking depends on wealth and fame. Bauer wrote, As a

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seasoned operator... Meghan deluded herself that her status in the

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royal family placed her above Victoria in the social pecking order.

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Meghan was irritated to discover that the Beckhams had considerably

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more wealth than herself. They owned five homes and constant

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access to private jets, invitations to sail on yachts and

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much more money, and she was soon to be a duchess.

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From Radar Online, Meghan has supposedly explored the idea of

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working with Eugenie on some sort of European commercial venture.

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as she expands her business interests outside the United States.

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One source told Radar, Meghan may understandably see Eugenie as

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somebody with whom she has a genuine personal connection and

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who also understands the extraordinary pressures surrounding royal life. But

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friendship is very different from attaching yourself publicly to somebody

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else's commercial operation. Eugenie has strong reasons to keep these

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two worlds separate, and her lack of support when the

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Sussexes come back to Britain is likely to be seen

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as complete betrayal from Meghan's point of view. Another source

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put it this way, Eugenie has worked hard to maintain

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her own life while dealing with the circumstances surrounding her

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father that she did not create. The last thing she

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needs is another wave of headlines suggesting that she has

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chosen a side in the Sussex dispute or is using

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her royal connections commercially. A private friendship with Meghan can

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continue perfectly well without becoming a business partnership. A third

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insider said, If Eugenie decides against doing anything publicly with Megan,

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it shouldn't necessarily be interpreted as the end of their friendship.

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But Megan could regard it as disappointing because Eugenie has

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been among the royals most consistently warm toward the Sussexes.

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The message would effectively be that reconciliation and family relationships

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are one thing, while commercial ventures are another. In The Telegraph,

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Camilla Tominey writes, The Sussexes have a simple choice. Play

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the Windsor game or ditch the titles. their personal brand

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is and always will be inextricably linked to the very

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institution they spent six years criticising. Enrolling their children in

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an English prep school further underscores a desire to maintain

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ties to their royal heritage. After all, what is the

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value of holding royal titles if one remains entirely detached

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from the monarchy? Ultimately, they cannot fully disconnect from the

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House of Windsor without risking total irrelevance. Despite repeatedly insisting

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on privacy, they haven't ever wanted to be anonymous. What

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they want is maximum exposure, provided it is all overwhelmingly positive.

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It's all they've ever wanted, the good publicity, but not

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the bad. The contradiction has always existed, but it stands

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out far more sharply on British soil, where there is

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a clear distinction between celebrity and royalty. So now they're

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back in blighty. Harry and Meghan face a stark choice.

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Drop the titles or drop the grievances. The Sussexes can't

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have it both ways. If the crown is the problem,

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Why remain so determined to cash in on its name?

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More Palace in just a moment. Daily Mail columnist Jan

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Moyer has offered a particularly unforgiving assessment of Harry and

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Meghan's return to Britain, questioning what either of them will

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actually do now that they are back. Moyer wonders how

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Meghan will operate her as-ever lifestyle business from Britain when

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much of its production remains based in California. Is there

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room for more? A niche UK edit, a heritage range

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of British jams. For it seems there is nothing this

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lady of marmalade can't do with a soft fruit, a

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fancy label and a brass neck. One on the glass jar,

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the other, a metaphysical manifestation of her Boyle seal and

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label audacity. But Moyer serves her strongest criticism for the

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Sussexes' continued campaigning. Harry and Meghan recently criticised Meta over

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its approach to children and data collection. something Moyer sees

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as another example of the couple inserting themselves into enormous

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global issues. You have to laugh. It's like Mickey and

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Minnie Mouse firing a peashooter at King Kong. The case

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has nothing to do with the Sussexes, but they remain

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imbued with a mutual God complex and are secure in

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their own sense of importance. Their mission is nothing less

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than delivering us all from evil and making the world

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a better place, chiefly for themselves. Indeed, the Sussexes have

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spent the past six years campaigning for a fairer, greener world,

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a nirvana free from racism and snobbery. One supposes this

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is great and grand hypocrisy of the Duke and Duchess

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of Sussex in all its hard-boiled glory. They want it all,

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they want it now, with jam on. Public relations expert

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Renee Smith has some advice for Harry and Meghan. She

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tells the Express, keep their heads down, do the school runs,

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show up consistently and resist the urge to narrate the

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experience through interviews and documentaries. Then over time, opinion can shift.

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If this becomes content, it is over. So my advice,

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if I were on their team, would be brutally simple.

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Come home quietly, stay consistently, and say nothing for as

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long as humanly possible. Let Britain get bored of the story.

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Boredom for Harry and Meghan is the closest thing to redemption.

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Writing in the Daily Mail, royal biographer Andrew Lowney claims

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Sarah Ferguson knew about Harry and Meghan's plans to return

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before they became public. His argument is that the attention

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surrounding the Sussexes offer her an opportunity to arrange a

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quieter homecoming of her own. Lowney identifies Princess Eugenie as

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a possible connection. He suggests information could have been shared

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during family visits to her home in Portugal, although he

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also puts forward his own theory that Meghan may have

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spoken directly to Ferguson. He also claims her financial support

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is coming from an unidentified benefactor in the Gulf with

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the person likely to belong to a Middle Eastern royal family.

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And there you have it. If you'd like to email us,

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For just five bucks a month, we appreciate your support.

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I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is

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Palace Intrigue. Good times.

Harry and Meghan Told to ‘Drop the Titles or Drop the Grievances’ as Royal Backlash Grows

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