Harry & Meghan’s Palace “Receipts”; Meghan Citizenship Talk & Invictus Warning

0:03 Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Could Birmingham 2027 be the final Invictus Games? That is the possibility raised by commentator Mark Dolan. Speaking on the Daily Express's Daily Expresso podcast, Dolan questioned whether Harry's reported fundraising total of around $ 2. 2 million would be enough to help secure the game's future. Well, it isn't, and it's entirely possible that next year, Birmingham 2027, could be the last Invictus Games, he said. Invictus is a good cause, and the people involved are the best of us.

0:44 He went further, suggesting Harry could be replaced as the organisation's public face, and floated Mike Tindall and David Beckham as alternatives. An unnamed waitress at a Montecito bar has claimed that Harry and Meghan left after being told they would have to wait for a table. The Express reports that the alleged incident happened at Honor Bar shortly after the couple moved to California community in 2020. The account is being published as part of a wider story about their relationships with neighbors. Everyone is treated the same here, the waitress said. She claimed they got angry and said they shouldn't have to wait. Then they left and never came back. According to the same employee, the Sussexes subsequently ordered food to go, which a member of their staff collected.

1:26 The report also quotes local financial manager Ciara Curtis. who recounted an alleged incident involving a neighbour identified only as Susan. Curtis claimed Susan sent a bottle of local wine and a handwritten welcome note through the couple's security team, only to find both returned to her doorstep the following morning with the note unopened. They could have easily given away the bottle of wine to a member of their staff and written a two-paragraph thank-you note back to Susan, but the thoughtless act of brushing aside a small act of kindness set the tone for how they behaved and how they were perceived after that. Another resident, Marcy, compared the Sussexes with celebrities he said had taken part in local events and supported community causes. He claimed Harry and Meghan made it clear right from the get-go that they didn't want to do anything like that. Meghan could revisit the idea of becoming a British citizen, according to an unnamed source to Radar Online who says British citizenship was something Meghan genuinely expected to pursue when she married Harry. At that point, she believed Britain would be her permanent home, so becoming a citizen was a natural part of building her life here. Everything changed with Megxit. Once Meghan and Harry established themselves in America, there was little practical reason to continue down that road. Returning to Britain changes the equation again. She may not rush off tomorrow to study for a citizenship test, but it is something that could logically come back onto the table and be revived if Britain once again becomes their long-term family base. In a separate interview with the Mirror, former BBC royal correspondent Jenny

2:59 Bond adds, However, to be fair, Harry and Meghan seem to have been getting on with their lives relatively quietly, and Harry has looked extremely happy and relaxed at his charity events. They've made it clear that they haven't burned their bridges, but I'm sure they will want to give Archie and Lilibet as settled a school life as possible. Harry and Meghan are keeping detailed records of their dealings with the palace, according to Closer magazine, which claims the couple want a written account of what has been said, promised and agreed. An unnamed source tells the magazine that the Sussexes have been saving correspondence since returning to Britain, describing it as protection against conflicting instructions from royal staff.

3:54 Meghan and Harry don't want to react to every problem, but they say they've learned the hard way that they need to keep a record of what's being said and agreed to by people within the firm, because the goalposts constantly change. There is so much going on behind the scenes, it's not as though the interactions are limited to the king, as there are so many people within his orbit. It's a very intricate chain of command with lots of emails back and forth. According to the insider, Harry and Meghan believe keeping those exchanges helped them establish who has agreed to what, They've had some very tricky situations where one courtier has given them instructions and another tells them to do the opposite. So they say they have no choice but to document everything the way they're doing. It's for their protection, day to day. It's not lost on anyone that this could very easily be used one day for protection on a much bigger scale. The royal family is legitimately worried about that, even though both Harry and Meghan insist that's not why they're doing it. They are very open about the fact that they document everything that happens just in case they need to prove something later on.

4:53 They know that everything is being kept by the King's staff and by Williams too, no doubt. They're often the ones keeping track of all this stuff because their staff is so much smaller these days, the insider claims. The fact that they're willing to add this to their list of duties speaks volumes about how important record-keeping is to them. More palace in just a moment. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie's royal homes are coming under scrutiny with town and country. reporting that neither sister has personally paid rent on palace accommodation provided through arrangements dating back almost 20 years. Beatrice has an apartment at St. James Palace, while Eugenie has Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace. According to the magazine, the costs have been covered at different times by Queen Elizabeth, their father Andrew, and King Charles. The question raised by Town and Country is why two princesses with private careers who do not carry out official duties on behalf of the monarch continue to benefit from those arrangements. The magazine reports that a National Audit Office investigation into royal residential properties brought the sisters' housing into focus following parliamentary scrutiny of Andrew's lease at Royal Lodge. Royal biographer Robert Hardman told Town & Country, Politically, it's risky to attack the monarchy, but if politicians can find cracks that are deemed legitimate, they'll go for it, and this is one of them.

6:14 The sisters' connection to St. James Palace began with their grandmother. In 2007, Queen Elizabeth arranged accommodation there for Beatrice Harding, before she attended Goldsmiths. Eugenie later joined her after finishing at Newcastle University. Eugenie moved to Ivy Cottage ahead of her wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018, and Beatrice's husband, Edoardo Mapele Mozzi, joined her at St. James following their marriage in 2020. Dickie Arbiter, the late Queen's former spokesman, offered a straightforward explanation for the original family arrangements. The late Queen couldn't say no to her grandchildren, he told the magazine. He also pushed back against the image that grace and favour accommodation automatically means an extravagant lifestyle. Forget about servants, he said. It's a roof over their head.

6:56 It's not luxury. But Arbiter believes the sisters should now leave. He said they should pack up their belongings and move out. They don't need it, and anybody with a certain amount of common sense would see the optics created by their parents and say, we're off. Both sisters have built working lives outside royal duties. Beatrice has worked in finance and technology. while Eugenie has pursued a career in the art world with Hauser & Wirth. They also have homes away from the palace grounds. Town & Country reports that Beatriz and Eduardo bought a £ 3. 5 million property in the Cotswolds in 2021, while Eugenie and Jack spend much of their time at home in Portugal. The housing debate comes as the magazine describes the sisters keeping a lower public profile amid the continuing fallout surrounding their parents. That does not mean they have disappeared from their social circles. An unnamed insider told Town & Country... they aren't living a playboy lifestyle. Another said, they are quite popular, and they know an awful lot of people. They're fun, spirited, and nice to be around.

7:55 I'm sure that some people will distance themselves, and other people won't care. And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com. If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button up there that says listen uninterrupted and get the show commercial free for just five bucks a month. We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue, and Good times.