Sept. 5, 2026

Harry vs. William: Princess Diana’s Legacy Becomes the New Battleground in the Royal Brothers’ Feud

Show Notes
Transcript

Prince Harry’s return to Britain could fundamentally change his feud with Prince William as both brothers compete — intentionally or otherwise — for their place in Princess Diana’s legacy. With Harry expected at the Diana Award and William reportedly staying away, commentators warn that Harry can increasingly present himself as the brother willing to reconcile while William risks becoming the brother who refuses to show up. Princess Anne is reportedly trying to end the feud, Princess Catherine is said to worry about its effect on William, and a future Spencer family wedding could finally put the brothers in the same room. Plus, Thomas Markle reacts to Meghan leaving America without his ever having met Archie and Lilibet.

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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.

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I am your host, Mark Francis. Writing in The Royalist,

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Tom Sykes says Prince William is currently not expected to

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attend the Diana Awards in London, and because Prince Harry

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will be in Britain during a busy stretch of appearances

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connected with Wellchild and the Invictus Games, Sykes believes William's

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absence could give Harry an unusually clear opportunity to associate

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himself publicly with his mother's legacy. The timing is notable

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because both brothers have previously made a point of maintaining

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ties to the Diana Award. In 2024, William appeared at

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the ceremony in person and delivered remarks. Harry then joined

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by video from California after William had left. Sykes stresses

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that he has not been told William is skipping this

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year because Harry will be in Britain. His understanding is

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simply that William was not planning to attend. Sykes points

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to a recent column by Diana biographer Andrew Morton examining

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which of Diana's sons is best positioned to inherit her

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public legacy. Morton wrote, For all his faults, Harry is

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a natural star when it comes to the public and

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can put people at ease in a way that echoes

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his mother. That leads Sykes to believe the relationship between

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Harry and the Spencer side of the family could become

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increasingly important as the 30th anniversary of Diana's death approaches.

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And that creates a problem for William if he continues

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refusing to meet Harry. Sykes argues that Harry can publicly

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say he is willing to reconcile while continuing to attend

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events connected with their mother. William then faces an awkward choice.

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Attend and potentially encounter Harry, or stay away and allow

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Harry to dominate the occasion. As Sykes puts it, if

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William attends an event and Harry approaches him with an

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outstretched hand, William would effectively have to respond. Royal insider

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Deep Crown agrees with Sykes' assessment, writing on Substack, The

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more pressing matter is tactical, and Sykes articulates it well.

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If Harry is in Britain, attending events, extending himself publicly,

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and William is potentially elsewhere, something corrosive begins to happen

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to William's position. Harry can simply show up, offer his hand,

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and make his brother's absence the story. He can attend

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the Diana Awards or any Diana event and stand there

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as the son who came home, while William is the

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son who stayed away. That is not a position William

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can sustain indefinitely. Heat magazine is reporting that Princess Anne

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has inserted herself into the William and Harry feud. A

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source said, Anne says everybody in this situation shares some

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of the blame, not just the Sussexes and not just

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the Waleses, and in her view they all need to

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be brought into line and told that this nonsense has

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gone on far too long. The reputational fallout the entire

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family is suffering because of this immaturity is simply unacceptable.

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Especially when the King is still ill and he's repeatedly

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asked both of his sons to find a way through this,

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In her view, for two grown men to be fighting,

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sulking and getting bent out of shape over every little

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thing when they should be treasuring every moment they have

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left with their father and showing improper respect is appalling.

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She's been chipping away at William and trying to get

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him to see how bad this is for his father's legacy.

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It's fair to say things did go quite cold between

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her and Harry after his book came out, but she's

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come around to the king's way of thinking and she's

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ready to move forward and feels strongly it's time William

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did too. By all accounts, Harry has been a lot

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more open to fixing things, so in some ways she's

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actually happier with his attitude at this point, though she's

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in no way letting him off the hook. There is

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some established history behind the idea that Anne occupies an

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unusual position with both men. Harry largely avoided criticising his

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aunt in spare. He also described Anne as the family

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member who greeted him at Balmoral after Queen Elizabeth died.

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Heath's source describes Anne as someone both brothers have historically trusted.

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Anne has always been very close to both boys. She's

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someone they've gone to for advice over the years, especially

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during times when they've not been getting along with their father,

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and that still is the case to this day. Anne

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may not always have the warmest demeanour in public, but

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she has always been very loving with Harry and William

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as well. She cares deeply about them, and she genuinely

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hates to see them both suffering like this. William is

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the one who's been the most hard-headed here, so he's

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the one she's really got to work on, but she

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and Harry are speaking as well. She absolutely believes they

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are missing each other, and worse off because of this feud.

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She relies so much on her siblings to get through

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the hard things in life. It's a tragedy in her

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view that the boys are forsaking that privilege, and she's

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not going to sit back and let this go on.

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Kate is reportedly concerned about what Harry and Meghan's return

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to Britain could mean for Prince William. A source told

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Heat World, Kate's anxious about how deeply it'll affect William.

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She's encouraged him to be strong and not necessarily to

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slam the door. Kate knows some sort of reconciliation would

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ultimately bring William a sense of peace. She doesn't need

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to create another battle with Meghan, but expecting her to

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forgive and forget would be unrealistic. The best possible outcome

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would be a quiet relationship with clear boundaries and no

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public attacks. Prince William and Prince Harry may eventually find

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themselves at the same family gathering, although anyone hoping this

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represents a breakthrough between the brothers is may want to

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temper expectations. The potential reunion involves their cousin, Lady Eliza Spencer,

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the daughter of Charles Spencer and niece of the late

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Princess Diana. Eliza is engaged to Channing Miller, and although

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the couple has not yet announced a wedding date, she

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has indicated that members of her family will be invited

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when the celebration eventually takes place. That could include both

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William and Harry. Eliza was asked about the guest list

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last week while attending the launch of her rosÃ© brand,

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La La Vie in Knightsbridge. According to the Mirror, when

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she was specifically asked whether William and Harry would receive invitations,

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Eliza indicated that family would certainly be included, although she

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stopped short of announcing a completed guest list. The Spencer

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family does provide a different setting from the royal family

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in which that could eventually happen. This would not be

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a palace event, an official engagement, or a carefully negotiated

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royal appearance. It would simply be the wedding of a

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cousin who is related to both men through their mother.

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But it does illustrate something Harry's return to Britain changes

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almost immediately. William and Harry now once again inhabit many

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of the same family circles, particularly on the Spencer side,

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making it considerably more likely that invitations will eventually arrive

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addressed separately to two brothers who have spent the last

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several years largely avoiding one another. More palace in just

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a moment. For the iPaper, Harry Mount writes... If the

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Sussexes do grow closer to the Spencers, there will be

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once again two rival courts at work involving these two families.

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Even before Charles and Diana separated in 1992, they and

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their allies had split into two courts. In that same year,

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Andrew Morton published his explosive biography, Diana, Her True Story,

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with revelations passed on from Diana about the parlous state

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of the royal marriage. For years, the separated couple... were

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marooned in a miserable world of briefing and counter-briefing culminating

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in the infamous 1995 Martin Bashir interview with Diana on Panorama.

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In a sign of the toxic world Diana had to

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negotiate her way through then, it emerged in 2020 that

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Bashir had used forged bank statements to win the trust

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of Diana and Earl Spencer. Harry has no constitutional power,

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nor does he have any official role in the Royal Court,

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but if previous Sussex revelations to Oprah Winfrey and in

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their Netflix series are anything to go on, Harry and

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Meghan are not about to follow the old royal convention

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of never complain, never explain. An informal royal court would

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reinvigorate the Sussex PR brand. One of the reasons they

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have come back to Britain is presumably because that brand

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was losing its power. Meghan's as-ever enterprise isn't booming as

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it once did. Their TV ventures have dwindled and several

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of their broadcasting ideas have gone into abeyance. A new

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court on home turf would boost interest and there would

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be more royal tidbits to convey. Stranded in California, far

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from the genuine royal court, they had little new to

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say once they'd splurged all the details of the first

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few years of their relationship. Perhaps there could be a

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new series. There would be a whole new set and

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a cast of characters. Here's hoping how Earl Spencer might

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calm the troubled waters between the two courts. A distinguished historian,

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he has written extensively about the greatest royal schism of all,

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the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I.

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Might he use his historical scholarship and understanding to heal

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another mighty royal split between the courts of Sussex and Wales?

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Thomas Markle says he fears he may never meet his

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grandchildren as Meghan and Harry return to Britain. Thomas said,

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I saw on CNN that they were returning to England.

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I found out about it at the same time as

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the rest of the world. I'm hurt and upset that

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she doesn't give a damn about me, even though I'm

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in hospital. He told the Mail, Meghan used to love me.

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She was always a daddy's girl, and now it's like

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I don't exist. I have never met my grandchildren, and

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now they are leaving America. One day those kids will

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ask about their other grandfather, the one who isn't king,

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the one that Meghan and Harry are apparently ashamed of.

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I hope they know how much I wanted to meet them.

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

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our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple,

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or the app of your choice. I'm Mike Francis. My

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thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue. Good times.

Harry vs. William: Princess Diana’s Legacy Becomes the New Battleground in the Royal Brothers’ Feud

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