April 19, 2026

Harry's Aussie Shoey, Fergie's Alpine Hideout & Charles Braces for Trump - The Week in UK Royal News with Mark Francis

Harry's Aussie Shoey, Fergie's Alpine Hideout & Charles Braces for Trump - The Week in UK Royal News with Mark Francis

It's the week in review on Palace Intrigue, and almost all roads lead to Australia. Harry and Meghan touched down in Melbourne for a four-day quasi-royal tour mixing charity work, paid speaking engagements, and a viral rugby hug from a man in budgie smugglers. The hospital visits were warm, the ticket sales were not, and a poorly timed MasterChef reveal landed while Harry was laying a wreath at a war memorial. Deep Crown asked the obvious question: would any of this look different if it were William and Catherine? The answer, as ever, is yes. Back home, Andrew's siblings made contact — Edward visited, William apparently called — and Tom Sykes immediately questioned whether sympathetic briefings are clearing a path away from consequences. Sarah Ferguson resurfaced at an Austrian ski resort after weeks of mystery, reportedly still moving between European cities and, somehow, attempting to contact Tiger Woods. Charles paid a lovely visit to a local shop in Scotland. And as preparations build for the King's address marking Queen Elizabeth's hundredth birthday and his looming Washington state visit, the monarchy braces for one of the most consequential fortnights of Charles's reign.

Get episodes of Palace Intrigue by becommming a paid subscriber on Apple Podcasts. Click the button that says uninterrupted listening. Just $5 a month, and that includes many ofther shows on the Caloroga Shark network.

A new season of King William is available now.

Our royal newsletter written by Deep Crown is available for free.

Royal Books:

Revenge: Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors by Tom Bower

William and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story

The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:11.480
Ah Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Weekly.

2
00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:14.599
I am your host, Mark Francis. If you want the

3
00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.519
full versions of these summarized stories, please check out our

4
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:22.800
daily podcast, Palace Intrigue wherever you get your podcasts like

5
00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:25.160
this one. It's been the kind of week where the

6
00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:28.879
British monarchy stayed largely at home minding its business, while

7
00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:30.679
the people who left it flew to the other side

8
00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.119
of the world to prove they didn't need it. Results

9
00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:36.320
were mixed on both counts. Let's get into it. We

10
00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:40.240
begin as this particular week demands in Australia. Harry and

11
00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:42.880
Meghan arrived in Melbourne on a commercial Quantus flag from

12
00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:46.840
Los Angeles business class, Row three seats E and F.

13
00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:50.679
Fellow passengers described them as friendly and understated. One noted

14
00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.000
they were and we are quoting directly here, super friendly

15
00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:56.880
around the toilet areas. This is the kind of detail

16
00:00:56.920 --> 00:00:59.439
that would not appear in Palace press briefing in his

17
00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:03.560
precisely why we cover the Sussexes. The visit was billed

18
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.719
as a combination of private business and philanthropic engagements, with

19
00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:10.079
a leaked planning document confirming it would be privately funded

20
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:14.760
and focused on, in the words of the couple's publicists, listening, learning,

21
00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.959
and supporting communities rather than promotion. That framing was tested

22
00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.239
almost immediately when ticket prices for Harry's keynote at the

23
00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:25.439
inter Edge summit in Melbourne were reduced from around one

24
00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:29.319
thousand to five hundred dollars ahead of his appearance owing

25
00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.159
to what was described as weak demand. The Duke earned

26
00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:35.840
approximately thirty six thousand dollars for the speech. For context,

27
00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:39.319
a corporate speaking engagement in twenty twenty earned him roughly

28
00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:43.159
seven hundred forty thousand. The direction of travel is noted.

29
00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:47.079
Megan's Her Best Life retreat and Sydney price between twenty

30
00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:49.920
seven hundred and thirty two hundred was also reported not

31
00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.560
to have fully sold out, with organizers releasing additional places

32
00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.879
shortly before the arrival. The event, co produced with Jemma

33
00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:01.840
O'Neill of Her Best Life podcast, was marketed as an intimate,

34
00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:05.439
luxury experience centered on connection and well being. Megan spent

35
00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:09.240
approximately two hours there. VIP guests received a group photograph.

36
00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:11.960
One attendee, who left at seven in the evening, reported

37
00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:14.840
that Megan and Harry headed straight to a super rugby

38
00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:19.479
match on the ground, The charitable engagements were, by most accounts,

39
00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.400
genuinely warm. At the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, the

40
00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:28.000
couple drew what The Telegraph's Victoria Ward described as as

41
00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:29.919
big a crowd as I have ever seen on such

42
00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:33.680
an engagement. Patients and families packed the foyer when mother

43
00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:35.960
said the visit made her family smile for a minute,

44
00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:38.719
adding we're not getting many smiles at the moment. At

45
00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.080
a woman's shelter, Megan served food, sat down with residents

46
00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:44.240
and asked the room if anyone else was hungry. At

47
00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:47.800
the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Harry attended the last

48
00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.960
post ceremony and met Indigenous veterans, telling attendees that courage

49
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:55.400
does not end when the uniform comes off. At the

50
00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:58.639
Bondai Surf Bathers Life Saving Club, the couple met survivors

51
00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:01.599
of the Bondai attack, heard personal accounts from those present

52
00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:05.599
that day, and visited the memorial at the pavilion. At

53
00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.759
one point, a volunteer accidentally introduced herself as Harry, to

54
00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:12.319
which the Duke replied, no, I'm Harry, you're Amy. Word

55
00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:14.400
had spread that they were in the area and hundreds

56
00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.520
turned up. A man in budgy smugglers darted out in

57
00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.719
front of them to take a photo, then wrapped a

58
00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.919
tattooed reportedly slightly sweaty arm around Harry's shoulder, gave him

59
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.000
a friendly slap on the back and pulled him into

60
00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:29.240
a hug. The Daily Male described this as in true

61
00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.280
Ossie style, we are inclined to agree. A separate lighthearted

62
00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.759
moment came at the Sydney Opera House, where an Invictus

63
00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:39.639
veteran's daughter began dancing, was encouraged by Megan and successfully

64
00:03:39.639 --> 00:03:43.039
recruited Harry to join in. The couple were also presented

65
00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:47.680
with personalized thongs, the footwear kind bearing the legends Gray

66
00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:50.919
Hazard and Gray Mags. Harry's football skills were assessed at

67
00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.840
Witten Oval by a bemused AFL midfielder, who gave him

68
00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:57.000
six out of ten and suggested he work on getting

69
00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:01.199
the ball to spin in the right direction. Not everything

70
00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:04.680
went smoothly. The Mastershif Australian Revelation landed on day two

71
00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:07.599
of the tour, precisely while Harry was laying a wreath

72
00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:10.800
at the Australian War Memorial. In camera. The optics were,

73
00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:15.639
as multiple commenters observed, not ideal. Network ten released a

74
00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.959
promotional image showing Megan alongside the show's judges, and the

75
00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.519
response online was immediate. Reported fees ranged from three hundred

76
00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:26.199
and eighty thousand dollars, which The Daily Mail disputed entirely,

77
00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:29.360
to a more modest ten to fifty thousand dollars range

78
00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:33.240
suggested by a former television executive, who also noted that

79
00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.199
whatever the number, the controversy had probably done the network

80
00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:40.160
more good than harm. Meghan polarizes people, he said. People

81
00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:42.040
love her, but a lot of people hate her, which

82
00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:44.639
means she is far from boring. That is not quite

83
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.240
the endorsement Archbald Productions would have written for themselves. But

84
00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.399
here we are. The broader question of what the tour

85
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:55.000
was actually for dominated coverage throughout the Weak. Deep Crown

86
00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.519
addressed it on his substack with a thought experiment imagine.

87
00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.000
He wrote that it was William and Catherine arriving in Melbourne.

88
00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:04.319
William Try's AFL gets rated six out of ten, whereas

89
00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:07.399
the team scarf. Catherine appears on Master Chef as charming,

90
00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.959
laughs at herself, talks about cooking for the children, both

91
00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:14.600
activities Deep Crown noted would be filed without hesitation as

92
00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:19.000
institutional gold. That machinery exists, he wrote, it is very

93
00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.439
good at its job. It is simply not available to

94
00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:25.160
the Sussex's The full piece is linked in the show notes.

95
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:29.040
The Daily Mail's Richard Eden suggested the tour is the

96
00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.839
latest phase of something he has been tracking for some time,

97
00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:36.040
which he called Project Thor, an alleged effort supported by

98
00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:40.480
unnamed senior politicians and palace figures to gradually rehabilitate the

99
00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:45.319
Sussex's standing with the British public and the institution. Iden's

100
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.600
view is that using six children as backdrop for a

101
00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:51.000
commercial tour is, in his words, extremely dangerous for the monarchy.

102
00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:55.120
Others in the Australian press were more sympathetic. Nine's Natalie

103
00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:58.199
Olivery argued the tour had shown just what the royal

104
00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:01.360
family is missing before or adding that the Master Chef

105
00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.920
timing had undone much of that good will. The assessment

106
00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:07.920
that settled most accurately on the week's ambiguity came from

107
00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.319
daniela Elsa at news dot com dot Au, who described

108
00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:15.040
the whole enterprise as a litmus test for where the

109
00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:18.120
Sussexes can go now that their tell all years are

110
00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:23.439
behind them, and noted simply they have pluck. Commentator Kinsey

111
00:06:23.560 --> 00:06:27.160
Chowfo perhaps inadvertently offered the most interesting framing of all

112
00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.279
after suggesting Harry should stop pretending to be a royal.

113
00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:34.600
She paused and reframed, what a glorious admission of regrets.

114
00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.160
This was Australia's we miss being Royal tour. It truly

115
00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:40.279
tells us they missed up big time when they left

116
00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:43.120
the royal family and they desperately miss it. Whether or

117
00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:45.959
not that reading is correct, it captured something the Week

118
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.759
made hard to ignore. The closer Harry and Meghan get

119
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.920
to performing royal duty, the more the absence of the

120
00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:56.639
institutional machinery around them becomes visible, more palace in just

121
00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:03.959
a moment. Meanwhile, back in the UK, life continued at

122
00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:07.439
its own pace. King Charles made an unannounced visit to

123
00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:10.399
a newsagent and whiskey shop near Bow Murrel to mark

124
00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:14.040
the business's one hundredth anniversary. He told locals he had

125
00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.800
visited the shop as a child. Residents described hearing sirens

126
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.399
and being surprised. The King was described as delighted. It

127
00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.079
was his first public outing since Easter, and it was,

128
00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.519
by every available measure, a very nice visit to a

129
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:30.759
local shop, and nothing more complicated than that. The bigger

130
00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.480
domestic story this week centered on Andrew Mount Batton Windsor,

131
00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:36.000
and specifically on whether the royal families approached to him

132
00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:41.199
sibling visits, cautious phone calls, sympathetic briefings constitutes genuine concern

133
00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:45.199
or something more strategically convenient. Prince Edward and Sophie reportedly

134
00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:48.000
visited Andrew at wood Farm over Easter, sharing dinner and

135
00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.920
checking on his mental health. Prince William, in a development

136
00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:53.920
that surprised many, is said to have called Andrew to

137
00:07:53.959 --> 00:07:57.920
offer condolences following his loss of titles. Andrew was reportedly

138
00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:02.639
very touched Kensington Palace to decline to comment. Tom Saykes,

139
00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:05.560
writing in The Daily Beast, was immediately skeptical of the

140
00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:08.680
Edward visits story, noting that it landed in both The

141
00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:12.639
Mail and The Times simultaneously, which he described as a tell.

142
00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.920
He argued this follows a familiar patternum sympathetic palace briefings

143
00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:20.519
designed to soften public opinion, and warned that every such

144
00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:25.319
story makes the likelihood of Andrew facing serious consequences. Slightly smaller.

145
00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:29.480
Royal author Nigel Cawthorne added a different dimension, observing that

146
00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:32.720
Andrew knows where the bodies are buried and that the

147
00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:36.039
unanswered question of where the twelve million dollars used to

148
00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:39.320
settle with Virginia Gjuffrey actually came from continues to hang

149
00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:43.159
over the family. Hugo Vickers, in his new biography, claims

150
00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:47.639
Prince Philip referred to Andrew's situation in expletive filled private

151
00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:50.919
tirades and considered him a loose cannon and a threat

152
00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.000
to the legacy of the crown. Philip apparently called him,

153
00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:59.360
among other things, gullible and easily led. Sarah Ferguson meanwhile,

154
00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:01.440
was photogogpu for the first time in months at a

155
00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:04.759
ski resort in Austria, looking subdued and attempting to keep

156
00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:08.519
a low profile. Reports suggest she has been moving between Zurich,

157
00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:11.159
Cork and the Alps during what is described as a

158
00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:14.000
period of near constant movement, when sources said she is

159
00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:17.320
desperate and not in a good mental place, with concern

160
00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:19.960
about potential legal pressure from both sides of the Atlantic.

161
00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:23.360
In a development that should perhaps surprise no one, she's

162
00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.960
also said to have reached out to Tiger Woods following

163
00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.799
his own recent legal difficulties. Sources close to Woods described

164
00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:33.799
his inner circle as extremely selective about who gets through

165
00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:37.679
and suggested they would not welcome any additional complications. That

166
00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.240
appears to be a diplomatic way of saying the answer

167
00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:44.120
was no. Questions were also raised this week about Princess

168
00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.600
Beatrice's husband, EDUARDA Mapelli Mozzi, with reports that he is

169
00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:51.440
not expected to inherit his family's eighteenth century Lombardy villa,

170
00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:54.759
that the property has fallen into disrepair in any case,

171
00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:58.600
and that speculation about the couple's relationship has resurfaced. Sources

172
00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:00.679
close to them deny it any difficul couplty, with one

173
00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:03.600
saying the only distance between them has been physical distance

174
00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:06.000
because of work. His father, when asked about the marriage,

175
00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:08.360
said it's not my affair. You should go and talk

176
00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:11.279
to my son about it. More palace in just a moment.

177
00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:18.399
Finally and looking ahead, King Charles will deliver a national

178
00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:20.720
address on Tuesday to mark what would have been Queen

179
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.559
Elizabeth the Second's one hundredth birthday. A major exhibition of

180
00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:27.639
her wardrobe and personal collection has opened at the King's

181
00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:30.879
Gallery at Buckingham Palace, and a new national memorial in

182
00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:34.879
Saint James Park is nearing completion. Senior royals, including William,

183
00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:38.639
Catherine and Anne are expected to attend the commemorations. Behind

184
00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:40.919
the scenes, sources describe the king as feeling the weight

185
00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.320
of the occasion acutely, not only the personal loss, but

186
00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:46.639
the sense that much has changed since his mother's death,

187
00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:50.039
and not all of it for the better. And then

188
00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:53.080
on April twenty seventh, he flies to Washington to address Congress,

189
00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.240
attend a state dinner with Donald Trump, and attempt the

190
00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:00.360
diplomatic equivalent of, in one columnist's phrase, never getting a

191
00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.159
room full of lasers with no map and a constitutional

192
00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:07.720
requirement not to touch anything. We'll be covering every step

193
00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:10.039
and there you have it. You got to email us

194
00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.559
or addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please

195
00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:16.399
follow us on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice,

196
00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:20.080
and check out Deep Crown on substack. Just google him

197
00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:23.039
or search for Deep Crown on substack. I'm my Francis

198
00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.960
my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Weekly and

199
00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:27.240
good Times