June 7, 2026

Harry Blames William for the Wedding Snub, Andrew's Ascot Allegation Widens, and Sarah Ferguson's 'Pension for Silence'

Show Notes
Transcript

It's the week in review on Palace Intrigue. Peter and Harriet married quietly in Gloucestershire as the guest list told its own story about the state of the Royal Family. Andrew's investigation added a Royal Ascot allegation while Sarah Ferguson allegedly negotiates a pension for silence. Harry wasn't invited to the wedding and blames William. Meghan's US approval rating fell, As Ever launched a matchbox, and a pre-royal video of her calling hundred-dollar candles obnoxious resurfaced. Kate's shoes disappeared into a red carpet at Cancer Research UK. Idris Elba was knighted. Edward and Sophie rode a Lisbon tram. And William is hoping for a Taylor Swift wedding invitation.

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Calorougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Weekly for

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a Sunday, June eighth. I am your host, Mark Francis.

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It's been a week built around a wedding that happened yesterday.

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Although most of the news from that you will find

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in yesterday's Palace Intrigue, we won't be covering any of

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that here because it was recorded before the wedding. So

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here's what happened. Well, it was all about the wedding,

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an investigation that keeps expanding, a brand that keeps launching products.

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In a photograph of Kate at a Cancer Research UK

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reception in which her shoes disappeared entirely into the red carpet,

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the monarchy as Zella, finds a way to surprise us.

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Let's get into it. We begin with Peter Phillips and

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Harriet Sperling, who married yesterday at All Saints Church in Kemball, Gloucestershire,

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in what was described throughout the week as a deliberately

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private family affair. The reception moved afterward to Gatcombe Park,

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Princess Ann's estate, which is very much Ann territory, horses fields,

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practical footwear and a deep institutional suspicion of unnecessary fuss.

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The guest list told its own story as well. Guest

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lists now always do. When and Catherine attended and did

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the tendaals, Princess Anne was naturally central. King Charles and

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Queen Camilla fitted the wedding around Darby Day at Absom

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a Church in Kemble. By noon the races by three

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point thirty did Crown observed this week that the monarchy,

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at its least complicated, is simply a family with a

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very full diary, which may be the tidiest summary of

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royal scheduling anyone has yet produced. Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, Harry

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and Meghan were not there. Beatrice and Eugenie, who had

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previously been described as planning to attend Withdrew after the

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latest police developments, left them, according to one source, mortified

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all over again. A source told The Daily Beats they

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would never want to overshadow the bride and groom's happy day.

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The bride and groom once suspects appreciated that particular consideration. Harry,

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according to a Closer report, was hurt by the exclusion

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and attributes it to William's influence over Peter. Once was

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claimed Harry as one hundred percent sure William is the

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reason he's been getting the cold shoulder from Peter, so

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it's connected to Peter circle scept the two cousins simply

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haven't spoken for several years and have simply lost touch.

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Both things maybe true simultaneously. The broader significance of the

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wedding was examined at some length in our midweek episode,

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and the conclusion was that Peter Phillips represents something the

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institution increasingly values royal by birth, private by design, useful

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precisely because he never became entirely absorbed by the machine.

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Princess Anne's decision to decline titles for her children, once

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considered an oddity, now looks rather press sent. Peter and

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Zara built independent lives. They avoided the identity crisis that

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have consumed other younger royals. They showed up when the

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family needed them, stepped back when it didn't. In a

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week of considerable royal turbulence, there is something quietly instructive

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about that. More palata just a moment. The Andrew investigation

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continued to expand this week. Thames Valley Police confirmed they

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are now examining an allegation connected to Royal Ascot in

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two thousand and two during the Golden Jubilee year. The

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Force would not go into a specifics, saying only they

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are following the reasonable lines of inquiry. That development follows

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the prior week's announcement that the probe extends to potential

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sexual offenses, fraud and corruption alongside the original misconduct in

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public office charge. Officers currently possess only publicly available print

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outs from the Department of Justice website. Obtaining the original

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Epstein documents require submitting a formal international Legal Assistance request,

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a process that could take months. Robshooter reported this week

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that Pallace insiders fear additional documents are coming that could

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detail efforts to protect Andrew over many years. Once was

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claimed Andrew got away with an extraordinary mount because the

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Queen protected him. The deeper investigators dig, the more questions

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emerge about who enabled him. Deep Crown and his Substack

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cautioned against the emerging tendency to put the Lake on

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trial in newspaper columns. The documents tell us what was written,

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he wrote. They did not tell us what was felt

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or feared, or deliberately not examined. Don't ask the dead

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to answer they cannot. Sarah Ferguson meanwhile, and said to

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be negotiating a financial arrangement with the Royal family, a

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pension in effect in exchange for not doing a tell

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all interview. Royal author Andrew Lowney suggested as much in

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connection with the paperback launch of Entitled. One source told

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Closer that William is raging at the prospect, calling it

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a dangerous precedent that sets a green light for lifelong handouts.

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Charles is described as taking a more pragmatic view, noting

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that Ferguson holds decades of family secrets in the formal

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confidentiality agreement attached to any arrangement would be preferable to

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an opera interview. The situation remains unresolved. Beatrice and Eugenie

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are increasingly described as caught in the crossfire. Reports this

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week suggest both sisters may face what one source called

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an ethical ordered before any further reintegration into royal life,

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while William has reportedly discouraged senior royals from appearing publicly

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alongside them, while scrutiny of Andrew continues. At the same time,

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Charles is said to retain genuine affection for his nieces

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and does not wish to see them permanently punished for

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their parents' behavior. The tension between those two positions is

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one of the family as yet to resolve. On the

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Harry and Meghan front of the Week delivered its usual

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range of material. Reports circulated that Meghan has been telling

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Harry he needs to step up financially, with one source

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painting a picture of Megan driving the business while Harry

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approaches life with the financial habits of someone raised by

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the Crown Deep Crown pushed back on that framing with

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characteristic precision, noting that Harry arrived in California with Diana's inheritance,

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that Spare was one of the best selling memoirs ever published,

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and that the current narrative, in which Harry is described

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as a financial burden in need of instruction, requires one

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to overlook rather a great deal. The math of their

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lifestyle may indeed be uncomfortable. The framing, he argued, is

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chosen rather than inevitable. Megan's UGOV approval in the United

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States slipped further, with her net rating falling from plus

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fifteen to plus two over the course of twenty twenty six.

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Website traffic to as Ever declined approximately twenty percent between

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March and April, and Australian traffic fell during the very

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tour designed to build that market. The brand launched new

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candles branded Matchbox Is in a promotional video which Megan

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advised lighting candles before guests arrived so the room already

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feels warm when everyone walks through the door. The Matchbox

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announcement prompted one social media user to ask is this parody?

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Supporters noted the premium candle brands frequently sell branded matches.

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Both reactions appeared genuine. A resurfaced video of a pre

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royal Megan calling one hundred dollars candles so obnoxious circulated widely.

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The current as Ever candles retail at sixty four dollars

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each or two hundred and fifty six dollars for the

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full collection. The scone video, in which as Ever posted

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cream first content within hours of William publicly declaring his

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kreing first allegiance on Heart radio, was interpreted variously as coincidence,

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quiet solidarity, or competitive brand positioning. William learned his gone

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method from the Queen, He was not entertaining further debate

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or palace in just a moment, now to these stories

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that had nothing to do with jam candles or wedding

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guest lists, and we are all better for it. Kate

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made an unannounced appearance at a Cancer Research UK reception

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at Saint James Pallace on Thursday, joining Charles and Camilla

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to Martha Charity's one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary. Her

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arrival drew a warm embrace from Camilla, Her red polka

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dot dress drew comparisons from some corners of the internet

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to many mouse her shoes drew something altogether more unexpected,

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a TikTok video in which they appeared to vanage entirely

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into a deep red carpet, generating a wave of delighted

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responses online. Oh my god, I'm giggling. What the heck?

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Wrote one viewer. Keith spent the evening speaking with Ron

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and keating to Vina McCall and researcher Hannah Fry, all

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of whom reflected on the significance of the King and

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Princess sharing their cancer experiences publicly. McCall said she couldn't

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imagine having to tell the world about a diagnosis, but

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that it really helped me get through it by sharing it,

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Fry said. Hearing the King speak about cancer screening was massive.

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The invisible shoes were noted. The substance of the evening

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was noted too. King Charles continued what has become one

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of the more moving threads of his reign, using his

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own diagnosis to connect directly with cancer patients. At York

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Hospital's newly redeveloped Macmillan Cancer Center, he planted a yellow

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McMillan rose in the therapeutic garden and told patients simply

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that talking about the experience is so important. He has

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been patron of Macmillan since nineteen ninety seven. The center

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was designed in part by patients who had received treatment there.

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One of them told them she had helped shape the space.

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He replied, well done you. Idris Elba was knighted by

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the King at Windsor Castle this week, becoming Sir Idris

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Elba for services to young people. The two men had

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been photographed together at the King's Trust Garden party barely

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weeks ago, where the King had pressed play at a

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DJ booth and Sir Edres joked that he had not

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exactly stayed around Afterward. The knighthood, by contrast, was conducted

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with considerably more ceremony. Albert wrote online simply, we are thankful.

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The work continues. Edward and Sophie concluded a successful three

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day visit to Portugal, marking the six hundred and fortieth

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anniversary of the Treaty of Windsor. They rode a vintage

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Lisbon tram through the historic streets, where Edward thanks the

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driver in Portuguese. They unveiled the original treaty documents at

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the National Archive, assembled part of a drone at an

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aerospace company, and were warmly received throughout. The photographs of

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them on the tram prompted numerous social media users to

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observe they looked less like senior royals on official duties

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and more like a couple genuinely enduring a day out.

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That impression is by this point rather well established, and

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the Taylor Swift question continues. William told Heart Radio this

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week that he is hoping for a wedding invitation of

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Swift and Travis Kelsey marry this summer, adding only we'll

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see Charlotte is described as obsessed. William once stood on

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stage Kensington Palace and saying live it on a prayer

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because Taylor Swift looked him in the eye and said,

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come with me. He has described this is something that

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happened to him, rather than a decision he made, whether

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it happens again in a different context somewhere in New

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York later this summer remains one of the more cheerful

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open questions in royal life. And there you have it.

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Don't forget all this month we are encouraging the listeners

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of Palace Intrigue to help spread the word. If you

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for us on Spotify and Mark France has many thanks

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to John McDermott. This is Palace Weekly and good terms

Harry Blames William for the Wedding Snub, Andrew's Ascot Allegation Widens, and Sarah Ferguson's 'Pension for Silence'

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