Oct. 10, 2025

Kate Middleton Warns of a “Disconnection Epidemic” as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Accept Humanitarian Honors

Show Notes
Transcript

Princess Kate urges families to put down their phones in a powerful essay on loneliness and tech distraction, while Harry and Meghan collect Project Healthy Minds’ Humanitarians of the Year in New York—amid fresh criticism of their award. Plus: Meghan’s Paris backlash, Harry’s unannounced Movember appearance, Tom Sykes on the mental-health “scrap,” a secret St. James’s Palace tunnel, and Märtha Louise and Durek clap back—lavender and all.

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Calorogus Shark Media.

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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue Game. Your host, Mark Francis.

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Kate Middleton did her best to distract you from talking

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about Megan and Harry winning humanitarian awards by issuing a

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heartfelt warning about what she calls a disconnection epidemic, urging

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families to put down their phones and focus on genuine

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human connection. In a new essay titled The Power of

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Human Connection in a Distracted World, co written with Professor

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Robert Waldinger of Harvard University, the Princess writes, we live

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increasingly lonelier lives, which research shows as toxic to human health,

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and it's our young people aged sixteen to twenty four

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that report being the loneliest of all. While new technology

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has many benefits, we must also acknowledge that it plays

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a complex and often troubling role in this epidemic of disconnection.

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Our smartphones, tablets, and computers have become sources of constant distraction,

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fragmenting our focus and preventing us from giving others the

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undivided attention the relationships require. We sit together in the

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same room while our minds are scattered across dozens of apps,

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notifications and feeds. We're physically present, but mentally absent, unable

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to fully engage with the people right in front of us.

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Yet increasingly it's the most difficult gift to offer. When

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we check our phones during conversations, scroll through social media

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during family dinners, or respond to emails while playing with

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our children, we're not just being distracted. We are withdrawing

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the basic form of love that human connection requires. The

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peace also follows comments from William who recently revealed that

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he and the princess are very strict about not allowing

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their children to have mobile phones. Megan's Paris adventure continues

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to get criticized. Columnist Lee Cohen told The Express, what

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an utterly tone deaf and self absorbed move filming herself

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lounging in a limo with a feet popped up, casually

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cruising past the very spot where Princess Diana met her

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tragic end. It's beyond idiotic. It's downright disrespectful and insensitive.

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It wreaks with someone so wrapped up in their own

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glamorous narrative that they can't even pause to consider the

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gravity of the location. She's not honoring anything or anyone

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She's just flaunting her privilege in the most crass way possible,

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turning a sight of profound sorrow into a backdrop of

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her vapid content. He calls the video a thoughtless stunt

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that exposes her complete lack of empathy in class. No

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wonder she's been universally panned for it. It's the kind

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of thoughtless stunt that exposes her complete lack of empathy

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in class. If she thought this would come across as

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relatable or chic, she miscalculated spectacularly. Instead, it just amplifies

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how out of touch she truly is with real human decency.

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Prince Harry has made an unannounced appearance in New York

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City to highlight what he described as a silent crisis

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facing men's health. The Jew contended a reception at the

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Australian American Association hosted by Movember, the world's largest men's

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health charity. The event marked the launch of the Real

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Face of Men's Health USA and You Report from the

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November Institute of Men's Health that explores the causes behind

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why more than half of American men die prematurely. Reflecting

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on his own mental health journey, Harry said, I found myself.

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Speaking to so many veterans and sitting down with them,

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I realized the silence is killing people. Stamping out the stigma. Globally,

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We've come a long way, access to therapy is still

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a massive problem. The discussion explored the effects of social

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media on young men's mental health, disparities in life expectancy,

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and strategies to improve well being. Harry, a British Army

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veteran and founder of the Invictor's Game, said the conversations

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echoed what he's heard from men around the world. Yep,

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when I speak to men, the same struggles keep coming up,

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he noted, which tells me that the weight they carry

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isn't uncommon. The biggest barrier is the belief that no

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one will understand. Loneliness convinces you you're the only one,

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which is rarely true. Last night, the couple attended the

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Project Healthy Minds World Mental Health de Gala and receive

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the Humanitarians of the Year Award. The event, hosted by

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Today Shows Carson Daily, recognize their efforts to build a

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safer and more equitable online world for younger people today.

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These Sussexes will appear at Project Healthy Minds annual World

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Mental Health Day festival on Friday, where the Archwell Foundation

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will co produce conversations highlighting change makers in the mental

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health sector. Their emotional Lost Screen memorial, featuring images of

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young people who lost their lives to social media related harm,

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will also be on display. In a joint statement, the

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Duke and Duchess said working with families and young people

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to prioritize safety online has been some of the most

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meaningful work of our lives. As parents ourselves, we have

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been moved to action by the power of their stories

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and honored to support them. We're proud to be the

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longtime partners of Project Healthy Minds as we work together

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to shine a light on what remains one of the

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most pressing issues of our time. Not everyone was excited

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for the Humanitarians, Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News

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Digital despite the work that they have undoubtedly done to

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highlight mental health issues, surely they are wrong winners for

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this sort of award. Both Megan and Harry are strained

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from their families and have launched deeply destructive attacks on

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the Royal family for their personal and financial gain. Surely

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winners of such an award should be positive in approach.

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It states that Megan is a cultural catalyst for positive

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change unless Harry's memoir spare among his achievements. What their

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foundation has done in the field of mental health is

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of course to be welcomed. However, their treatment of their

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respective families makes them unsuitable recipients of a humanitarian award.

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One commentator set of Megan instead of focusing on charitable

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pursuits or anything truly transformative to rectify her reputation, she

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is reverting to glitzy, high profile events in an attempt

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good deal and we thank you for your support. In

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The Royalist, Tom Sykes points out Kate, Harry and Meghan

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look like they are scrapping over mental health. Sykes was

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looking towards last night's event, writing it is unmistakably their

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kind of night. Celebrity impact meets high wattage glamour. Megan

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fresh from her Paris Fashion Week reinvention, and Harry, basking

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in a carefully choreographed London visit that brought him face

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to face with the King, will accept the award for

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their work on mental health and digital safety through their

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Archbell Foundation. There's Royal drama on a rather subterranean kind,

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with reports suggesting Buckingham Palace is in meltdown after word

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got out about a secret tunnel. Page six first revealed

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that the Stafford London, one of the capital's most exclusive hotels,

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has a discreet private tunnel that leads directly to the

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doors of Saint James's Place. That revelation apparently sent Pallace

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courtiers into a frenzy tunnel once used by Queen Elizabeth

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II and the Queen Mother for private lunches away from

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the cameras, has long been out of service. It now

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houses the hotel's wine collection. One insider equipped, it's the

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one place you can sip Bordeaux and still fill the

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crown above you. Princess Martin Luise of Norway and her husband,

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Direct Verret have addressed online rumors suggesting their marriage is

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a lavender marriage, the term used to describe a relationship

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arranged to disguise one or both partners sexuality. The couple

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took to Instagram with a lighthearted video seemingly debunking the claims.

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The clip opened with a pair standing side by side

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as a voice off camera asked, what's a lavender marriage?

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Both looked at each other in disbelief before Martin Luise

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fifty four covered the camera lens. When the image returned,

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the two addressed had to tow in lavender outfits, sat

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to whimsical background music. They included screenshots of online comments

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about their relationship such as girl, I don't know if

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you know, but you are in a lavender marriage and

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this is the greatest lavender marriage of all time. In response,

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Martin Luise playfully tugged at her husband's shirt while Burrett

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shook his head saying nah. The caption on screen added

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to be it looked like lavender, but doesn't seem right.

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The video ended with a final message reading, thought it

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was lavender plot twist, It's just love and legacy, accompanied

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by a curious face in a purple heart emoji. Verrett

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has previously shared that he is bisexual, while Martin Luise

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has spoken about how she first introduced him to her

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daughters as a friend they initially assumed was gay. The

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princess daughter of King Harold and Queen Sonja of Norway,

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married the self styled Charman in August twenty twenty four.

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You can learn more about that story on our sister podcast,

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Crown and Controversy, Norway's Royal Rebels and you can get

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that wherever you get this podcast. And there you have it.

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If you'd like to email us of addresses The Palace

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intrig at gmail dot com, please fall us on Spotify, Apple.

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We have choice, leave us a nice review. If you're

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enjoying the show, I'm Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermott.

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Kate Middleton Warns of a “Disconnection Epidemic” as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Accept Humanitarian Honors

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