Aug. 28, 2026

Harry and Meghan’s £200,000 Private Flight and did Meghan diss Dolly?

Show Notes
Transcript

How much did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s private flight back to Britain cost? What was its environmental impact—and where have the Duke and Duchess of Sussex taken Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and their dogs after landing in Birmingham?New clues suggest the Sussexes may have settled near Chipping Norton in the northern Cotswolds, placing them close to King Charles III at Highgrove. How do local residents feel about Harry and Meghan becoming their neighbors—and could Sussex tourism create a Jeremy Clarkson-style traffic problem?Plus, Meghan faces criticism after As Ever continued promoting its new Spiced Apple Butter following Dolly Parton’s death; a source makes new claims about the Duchess’s difficulty hiring Montecito housekeepers; and King Charles announces a major Caribbean tour amid speculation about his health.

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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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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,

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Mark Francis. UK resident Meghan Markle is facing criticism over

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the timing of the latest product launch from her As

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Ever lifestyle brand. The product is Spiced Apple Butter, which

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Meghan had actually begun teasing several days earlier. On Sunday,

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As Ever posted a video of Meghan walking through an

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orchard carrying apples, promising... A little hint of what's coming.

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On Monday, the company showed the apple butter itself and

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said it was coming soon. Then came Tuesday. Dolly Parton's

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family announced shortly before 11 in the morning, Pacific time

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that the country music legend had died at the age

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of 80. Tributes quickly poured in from across entertainment and beyond.

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About four hours later, according to Radar Online, the As

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Ever Instagram account continued with its previously announced rollout, posting

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another promotion for the spiced apple butter. One social media

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user wrote, Dolly died. No one cares about anything else. Honestly,

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nothing else matters today. Another was considerably harsher, saying, Apple butter,

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a staple of the American South and rural America, announced

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on the day the icon of rural South America died.

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She could be tackier, but my God, it would be hard.

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At Buckingham Palace, the changing of the guard band performed

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9 to 5. and the royal family posted the performance

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with the message, Remembering the late, great Dolly, who brought joy,

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comfort and inspiration to so many, including the millions of

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children given free books through her imagination library. We will

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always love you. According to page six, a source claims

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Meghan struggled to hire domestic staff in Montecito because some

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housekeepers in the area did not want to work for

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the Sussexes. The insider alleged she had trouble hiring maids

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because a lot of the housekeepers in Montecito didn't want

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to work for them. The source also claimed Meghan personally

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interviewed potential hires and said Meghan would interview people herself

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and could come across as really snobbish and rude. Some

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of them were so offended by the way she spoke

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to them that word started getting around. It got to

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the point where people would joke that all the maids

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in Montecito hated them. We now know a little more

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about the private flight that brought Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie

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and Lilibet back to Britain. and apparently this was not

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simply a matter of chartering a small jet and crossing

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the Atlantic. Hello reports the Sussex family arrived at Birmingham

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Airport aboard an aircraft operated by a private aviation company,

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Planet Nine. The aircraft can accommodate up to 13 passengers

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and can be reconfigured for overnight travel, with sleeping arrangements

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for six people, including a double bed and individual beds.

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There are also leather seats, two bathrooms, a sofa, and

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room for as many as 15 suitcases. The reported price

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is equally substantial. Hello estimates that a private flight from

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LA to Britain on an aircraft of this type could

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cost somewhere between Â£ 150, 000 and Â£ 200, 000. The family's dogs, Pula

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and Mia, are also understood to have made the trip,

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while Megan and Harry's chickens have remained behind at their

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Montecito property. Jack Stooks, a former senior gardener for the King,

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told GB News that he suspects these Sussexes are now

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somewhere around shipping Norton In the northern Cotswolds, Stokes said,

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they've been collected by their security and taken to their

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new home, which I assume is somewhere in Chipping Norton,

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in one of the villages up there where they went

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after they first married. It's quite likely that they're somewhere

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up there, that as we know is where all celebrities

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that come into the Cotswolds tend to go, so I

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think that is where they've gone. Stokes believes their decision

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to fly into Birmingham rather than one of the London

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airports points toward the northern Cotswolds. GB News presenter Tom

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Harwood noted that the area is already associated with prominent residents,

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including former Prime Minister David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson. Stokes said,

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It looks like they may. It seems odd that they

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were met from Birmingham, and I think that gives it

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away that they're up in the northern part of the Cotswolds.

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It only makes sense that they go back to somewhere

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that they knew when they were first married. It is

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that cottage feeling, that chocolate box when anybody comes over

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from another country. It's knowing you can go through a

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village and there's thatched cottages and beautiful flowers flowing out

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of the gardens. It's just that nice feeling of somewhere

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that seems unspoiled and you want for more. That's probably

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resonated within him, and he perhaps wants to give his

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children the upbringing in the area where he grew up

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and have them feel what he felt. There could also

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be a royal advantage to establishing themselves in that part

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of the country. Highgrove, King Charles' private Gloucestershire residence, is

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in the Cotswolds. and Harry and Meghan visited the King

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there with Archie and Lilibet in July. The Express went

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to the Cotswolds to ask residents what they think about

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the possibility of their new neighbours. One pensioner, Zaina, called

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the couple a disgrace in saying they should be banned

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from living in the area. Other people, interviewed by the newspaper,

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returned to a familiar criticism of the Sussexes, questioning how

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their stated desire for privacy fits with their continued media

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appearances and public projects. Some accused them of being two-faced

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and said they want the publicity. Another concern is traffic.

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The Cotswolds already attracts enormous numbers of tourists, and some

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residents are worried that adding two of the world's most

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recognisable people to the neighbourhood will only increase the crowds.

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There are even comparisons to what happened around Jeremy Clarkson's farm,

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where the success of Clarkson's farm turned his Oxfordshire property

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into a tourist attraction and brought significant additional traffic to

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the surrounding area. Not everybody interviewed was bothered. Some pointed

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out that celebrities living in the Cotswolds are hardly unusual,

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and Harry and Meghan would simply become another famous couple

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in the area already accustomed to wealthy and recognisable residents.

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More Palace in just a moment. The King and Queen

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will travel to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads

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of Government meeting, with Charles also making visits to the

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Bahamas and Guyana. The tour will run from October 27th

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through November 4th, and Buckingham Palace says it will celebrate

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the communities, cultures and nature within the Commonwealth family. The

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trip will be Charles' first visit to the Caribbean since

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becoming king, although he has considerable history in the region

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from his decades as Prince of Wales. Most significantly, his

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last Caribbean visit came in 2021, when Charles travelled to

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Barbados for the ceremony marking the country's transition to a republic.

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Barbados removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state,

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bringing nearly four centuries of British monarchial ties to an end.

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Charles attended that ceremony, representing his mother, and directly addressed

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Britain's historical role in slavery, referring to the appalling atrocity

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of slavery suffered by the island and its people. That

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history will inevitably form part of the backdrop to this

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new tour. Charles remains king of Antigua and Barbuda and

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the Bahamas, but not Guyana, which became a republic in 1970.

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the announcement also continues what has become a fairly active

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international schedule for Charles despite his health issues. That's particularly

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of note because some conspiracy theories have been suggesting Harry

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knows something about the king's health, prompting the move back home.

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This announcement suggests the king is fine. King Charles and

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Queen Camilla have sent their condolences following the catastrophic flooding

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along the Nepal-Chinese border, where hundreds of people still remain missing,

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including dozens of British nationals. In a written message, the

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King said, My wife and I are heartbroken to hear

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of the devastating flooding that has struck the Nepal-China border.

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Many in the United Kingdom have strong, deep and personal

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ties to this part of the world. We send our

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most profound sympathy to all those who have so tragically

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lost their loved ones, and we feel deeply for the

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many families awaiting anxiously the news of friends and relations.

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Our hearts go out also to the families of all

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the police and armed forces personnel who lost their lives

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while carrying out their courageous duty in the service of others.

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and we give our deepest thanks to those who have

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responded so selflessly in undertaking rescue efforts. Our special thoughts

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and prayers remain with all those affected and, as always,

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the UK stands ready to help support those in need.

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Charles R. According to Nepal's disaster authorities, 165 bodies have

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so far been recovered following the flooding in the Rasuwa

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district near the border with Tibet. The number of people

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reported missing has risen dramatically from 400 3 to 826.

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33 British nationals are believed to be among those unaccounted for,

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including two teenagers aged 13 and 14. There was also

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particular concern about nine Britons who had been travelling on

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a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a sacred site for Hindus,

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and several other religions. The group reportedly disappeared from contact

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after reaching the Nepal-Tibet border. And there you have it.

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

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Palace Intrigue.

Harry and Meghan’s £200,000 Private Flight and did Meghan diss Dolly?

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