April 2, 2026

Kate Faces Security Fears, Fashion Blowback and More Harry Fallout

Show Notes
Transcript

A new report claims Princess Catherine is receiving a disturbing stream of obsessive and explicit correspondence, prompting renewed attention on the darker side of royal fame and the security risks that come with it. We also look at a rare rough patch in Kate coverage, with two recent fashion choices drawing unusually mixed reactions online, plus why William and Catherine are expected to pull back during the Easter school break.And: new reporting suggests William is determined not to let Charlotte and Louis grow up feeling like “spares,” while Tom Bower’s latest book raises fresh questions about whether Harry has any place at all in William’s future monarchy. Plus: the BBC prepares a major Queen Elizabeth centenary documentary, Charles has a plaque-unveiling mishap in Oxford, and the royals’ annual clock-changing operation sounds like a full-time historical crisis.

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Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue. I

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am your host, Mark Francis. A report on Radar Online

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claims the Princess of Wales is being bombarded with disturbing

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and explicit correspondence on an almost daily basis. According to

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the article, Royal male teams are increasingly having to deal

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with letters described as obsessive, graphic, hostile or stalker like,

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with some allegedly being escalated immediately under strict security protocols.

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The report claims that while the vast majority of males

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sent to Catherine is warm and supportive, there is a

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persistent stream of troubling messages that reflects the darker side

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of public fascination with the Royal family. One source described

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the volume of correspondents as enormous and said that among

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these supportive letters is a deeply troubling subset that crosses

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boundaries in ways staff find unsettling. Former Head of Royal

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Protection and Diane Davies is quoted warning that so called

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fixated individuals have historically posed one of the most serious

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ongoing threats to the Royal Family, particularly when warning signs

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are ignored. Normally, all coverage of Kate is glowing, but

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she may have suffered a rare fashion misstep. Kate drew

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mixed reactions online after stepping out in a graycoat dress

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and matching fascinator while welcoming Nigeria's President and First Lady

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during the state visit at Windsor Castle. The outfit, which

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included a tailored coat dress with white detailing and a

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small hat, was in keeping with the formal tone of

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the occasion, but while Kate is typically praised for her

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fashion choices, this particular look prompted a wave of criticism

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on social media. Some users will blunt in their assessment.

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One wrote like a flight attendant, another commented what a

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ridiculous hat, while a third said the look was something

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a nineteen fifties air hostess would wear. A different hat

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also made the news. The princess stepped down in Canterbury

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wearing a wide brimmed Juliet Botterill design that quickly became

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the standout piece of the entire look. One insider said,

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if Megan wore that should be mocked. He's filming a

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spaghetti western. But as is the way with most things,

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since Kate wore it, it was received as being fabulous.

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The wind repeatedly caught the hat during the engagement, forcing

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Kate to hold it in places he arrived and moved

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through the event. That gave the whole thing a slightly

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more precarious feel than the usual polished royal fashion moment,

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and made the hat feel less like an accessory and

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more like an active participant in the day. William, often

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criticized for not being a hard worker, and Kater expected

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to scale back their royal schedule in April as their

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children break up from school for Easter. George, Charlotte and

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Lawi are now on their Easter school holiday with Lambrook

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School the Windsor and not returning until April twenty second.

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As a result, William and Cater expected to keep public

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duties to a minimum while the children are off. It

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remains unclear whether the Wales family will join the wider

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royal family for the traditional Easter church outing this year.

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William and Kate have often attended in the past, and

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in more recent years have begun bringing the children as well,

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but they have skipped the family Easter appearance for the

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last two years. Prince William is said to be deeply

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conscious of the pressures that come with raising not just

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a future king, but also the children who grow up

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beside him. According to royal authors Tina Brown and Robert Hartman,

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the Prince of Wales is determined that Princess Charlotte and

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Prince Louis should never feel less important than Prince George,

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simply because they are not first in line to the throne. Brown,

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writing in his sub Stack Fresh Health, said William is

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determined that Charlotte and Lewis will be well prepared and

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well financed for independent lives and will not fall victim

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to the same cycle of thwarted freedom that has so

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often shaped the lives of royal spares. The subject clearly

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matters to William on a personal level. Any discussion of

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heirs and spares inevitably brings to mind his own fractured

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relationship with Prince Harry, as well as early attentions involving

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Princess Margaret, Prince Andrew, and even the brothers who became

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Edward the eighth and George the sixth. Robert Hartman has

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made a similar point, saying, of course Prince George is

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the heir, and that's the way it's going to be.

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It's a hereditary, hierarchical, constitutional monarchy. You can't change that,

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but there are ways, I think, in which you can

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try and ensure that you don't leave the younger ones

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feeling that they are any less loved or any less relevant.

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New claims in Tom Bower's latest book suggests William may

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already have decided that Harry would have no place at

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one of the biggest moments of his future reign. The

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report says Bower claims a guest at King Charles's coronation

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reception was told that William had decided that afternoon not

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to invite Harry to his coronation. If true, that is

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a remarkable thing to have been decided so early, because

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it suggests William was not simply angry in the moment.

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It suggests he may already have been imagining a future

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monarchy in which Harry is permanently outside the frame. The

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same book sites of Pallace source who told Bauer that

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Meghan Markle struggled to accept the nature of the institution

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she had married into. The source said the royal family

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is the nation's family in a national obsession, and the

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Royals may appear to be ordinary people, but to maintain

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the monarchy, they relied on the public's willingness to treat

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them like God. Meghan is alleged to have resisted that guidance.

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The source added that she thought she should be treated

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as God. Harry and Meghan's spokesperson has already pushed back

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hard on Bower, saying those interested in facts book elsewhere,

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while those seeking deranged conspiracy and melodrama know exactly where

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to find him More Palace in just a moment. If

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documentary to mark what would have been Queen Elizabeth the

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Second's one hundredth birthday, with the program expected to reflect

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on both her life and the century of change that

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unfolded during her reign. The documentary is titled Queen Elizabeth

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the Second, Her Story, Our Century and is expected to

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coincide with the centenary of the late Queen's birth on

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April twenty first, twenty six. The documentary will include contributions

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from a notable list of public figures, among them Dame Helen,

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Mirren Barack Obama, Sir David Attenborough, Dame Chila Hancock and

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Queen Camiller. Catherine Katton, the BBC's head of Factual Entertainment

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and Events, said, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Story, Our

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Century explores the life of her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth

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through the lens of a century of change and offers

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an important reflection on how modern Britain has been shaped.

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According to a report in the Times, the BBC is

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facing criticism of a plans to dramatically reduce the in

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house team responsible for covering major state occasions, a move

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that critics say risks weakening one of the broadcaster's most

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distinctive and important public roles. The unit in question, BBC

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Studios Events Productions, has long been responsible for some of

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the most high profile ceremonial broadcasts in British life, including

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royal events, remembrance coverage and other major national occasions. According

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to the report, the team's now being cut back so

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heavily that just one permanent staff member, Claire Poppelwell, is

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expected to remain, with freelancers brought in as needed. Once

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was familiar with the cuts, was sharply critical, telling The

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Times it is literally the crown jewel of live British broadcasting.

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They would never do this for premiere football events, so

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what is it all about national life that they don't value.

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King Charles was left laughing at himself after a plaque

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unveiling went slightly wrong during a visit to a solar

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energy company in Oxford. The King had been visiting Oxford

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Photo Voltaics, a company focused on advanced solar panels, when

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he was given a tour of the facility and showing

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some of the firm's latest work on clean energy technology.

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As part of the visit, he was invited to unveil

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a commemorative plaque, standard royal engagement moment that in this

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case did not go entirely to plan. As Childs pulled

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away from the silk covering, the plaque toppled off its

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easel and crashed to the floor. A member of staff

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quickly rushed into retrieve it and put it back in place,

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while the King and those around him reportedly saw the

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funny side Child's jokes that the unveiling had been a disaster.

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According to a report in the Daily Mirror, while most

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people barely notice the clocks changing for the British summer time,

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the royal family has a much bigger task on its hands,

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more than sixteen hundred clocks that all have to be

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adjusted by hand. A team of just three horological conservatives

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spent the weekend moving through royal residences, carefully resetting each

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time piece as the clocks went forward by one hour.

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These are not just ordinary clocks either. They are part

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of the royal collections spread across Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace,

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Saint James Palace and the Palace of Holyrood House. According

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to the report, there are around four hundred and fifty

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clocks at Windsor Castle, three hundred and fifty across Buckingham

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Palace and Saint James Pallis, and dozens more in Edinburgh.

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Each one has to be adjusted manually, which turns what

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is a minor inconvenience for most people into a full

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scale operation inside the royal household. One of the oldest

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is the Anne Berlyn clock, believed to have been given

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by Henry the Eighth to Ann Boleyn on the morning

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of their wedding in fifteen thirty two. The collectionals who

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includes Queen Charlotte's watch, an early example of a lever

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escapement mechanism that helped shape the development of modern watches.

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So while the rest of the country is resetting a

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microwave or an oven clock, inside the Royal palaces it

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is a slow, careful process carried out by specialists moving

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from room to room, clock to clock, making sure that

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every piece and every part of history attached to it

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stays exactly in time and they have it. If you

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like to email us addresses the Palace indrig at Gmail

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and dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple, or

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your favorite app I'm mon, Francis my thanks to John McDermott.

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This is Palace intrigue, good times,

Kate Faces Security Fears, Fashion Blowback and More Harry Fallout

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