May 11, 2026
Kate Middleton’s Big Return to the World Stage with Italy Tour
Princess Kate prepares for her first major overseas royal trip since cancer treatment, William jokes about “calorie grenades” in Yorkshire, and a hearing dog steals the show at King Charles’ garden party. Plus: is the Wales social media strategy outplaying Harry and Meghan?
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Calaruga Shark Media now lo and welcome to Palace Intrigue.
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I am your host, Mark Francis. My apologies this week
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is the show comes from a boat in the Mediterranean
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and the only place to do this recording is in
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the bathroom. Okay. So. Catherine, Princess of Wales is said
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to make her first major overseas royal visit since undergoing
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cancer treatment, with Kensington Palace confirming she will travel to
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Italy this week on a solo working trip. The Princess
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will visit the northern Italian city of Reggio Amelia from
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May thirteenth to fourteenth on behalf of the Royal Foundation
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Center for Early Childhood. The visit marks a significant milestone
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in Kate's gradual return to public duties following her cancer
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diagnosis in twenty twenty four. In her announcement earlier last
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year that she was in remission. During the visit, Kate
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will learn more about the Reggio Amelia approach and internationally
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respipt back to educational philosophy centered on nurturing environments, creativity
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and child led learning. A Kensington Palace spokesperson said the
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Princess is very much looking forward to visiting Italy and
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seeing firsthand how the Regio Amelia approach creates environments where
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nature and loving human relationships come together to support children's development.
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The Center for Early Childhood, launched by Kate in twenty
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twenty one, has become one of her signature long term
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projects aimed at increasing awareness of the importance of a
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child's earliest years. The trip will also represent her first
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extended official overseas engagement in more than three years. Kate
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met with families and academics at the University of East London,
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where scientists are examining how early childhood environments and stress
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can affect long term development. During the visit, Kate spent
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time with three year old Michael and his mother Sophia,
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inside the university's Magic Box research room, where children interact
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with parents through a screen while wearing senses that monitor
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brain activity. After the exercise, the princess asked Mikhael was
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that fun? Did you enjoy doing that? She later smiled
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as the young boy complained about the sense of cap,
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asking him you want to take it off? Is it sticky?
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Is it itchy? When he replied that it was hurting,
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before quickly adding it's tickling me, Kate laughed with the family.
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The princess also met another mother, Ashley, alongside her three children,
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and praised her parenting, saying you've done an amazing job.
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Discussing the work of the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood,
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Kate explained, what we're really hoping to do is try
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and make that easier for families, for mums and all
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parents really to try and have access to that really
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important information, that guidance, but in a more agile and
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tangible way. The engagement coincided with the release of a
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new one hundred nine page guade from the Center for
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Early Childhood focused on child wellbeing and development. Royal commentator
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Tom Sykes has argued that William and Kate are out
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performing Carry and Meghan in the public presentation of their children.
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Speaking on The Royalist Podcast, Sikes pointed out to the
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recent birth they posts for Princess Charlotte and Prince Luie's
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examples of a carefully judged approach, warm, polished and controlled
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without feeling intrusive. Discussing Charlotte's birthday images, Sikes said, I
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think that if women and Katherine want to communicate with
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the younger generation, who are going to be their subjects
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when they become king and Queen, and indeed, to Charlotte's contemporaries,
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they need to be all over Instagram. They need to
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be communicating in this language. They described the post as very,
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very controlled, adding we see her on the beach playing cricket.
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It's the perfect, shiny, lovely Instagram post. Sykes said that
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the Wales team appears to understand the medium, saying they
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are hiring people who are naturally fluent in the language
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and it's really working. He added this is the massive
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difference towards the Sussex approach. According to Sikes, the Wales
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succeed because they share enough to make the public feel
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connected without making the images feel exploitative. And the point
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is that by letting us know a bit about the
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children and being able to control it, and by showing
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their faces, William and Catherine, in my opinion, absolutely acing
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it in the pr games a family because we feel
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like we know them enough. But we also feel like
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we don't feel grubby when we look at those pictures
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because they're being given to us in a spirit of
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respectful friendliness. And I think they're accepted in that way
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by contrast sites, and the Sussex's approach feels conflicted because
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Archie and Lillivant are often shown from behind or with
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their faces obscured, he said, whereas I think the sussexy
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is the way the children's faces are hidden. It's almost
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like you're being made to feel guilty for looking at
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a picture of them, because it's like their parents are saying,
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our children are being exposed and exploited, and we don't
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need to see their face. Sikes then question the logic
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of posting such images at all, adding and it's like, well,
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who's actually putting them on Instagram in the first place.
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He concluded that the Whaleses appear to have the stronger operations,
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saying Charlotte's photo isn't just sweet, it's strategic. I think
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that the Waoses, I think they understand what they are
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trying to do. I think they are all over the
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media operation by comparison, he said, and I think the
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Sussex's media operation, frankly is floundering. Meghan did share new
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photographs of Prince Archie to mark his seventh birthday, posting
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on Instagram. Megan shared one image taken shortly after Archie's
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birth in twenty nineteen, showing the newborn and resting on
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Prince Harry's chest, alongside a more recent picture of Archie
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working on a beach with his younger sister, Princess Lillabet
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Meghan captured the post seven years later, Happy Birthday to
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our sweet boy. William was out and about visiting the
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Yorkshire Dales, where he met young farmers and local residents.
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While touring rural community projects, the Prince visited crow Trees
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Farm before stopping at Hammond's Butchers and later heading to
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the Farmer's arms for lunch. According to the pub William
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served a hearty meal of chicken and ham pie, chips,
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mushy peas and gravy during the visit. The Prince arrived
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in swalls Dale carrying a selection of desserts from a
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nearby bakery and quickly joked about the calorie counters he
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handed out treats. Pointing to one dessert, he laughed, that
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is a TwixT mountain of calorie grenade. Looking over the spread,
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William added, I have my eye on the chocolate, before
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joking that TwixT thing is insane. I hat that I've
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been the gym for our three days. The Prince explained
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that he had asked a local bakery to help me
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out for a bunch of farmers. During the visit at
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crow Trees Farm, William met farming families from across the
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area and discussed at some of the challenges facing rural community,
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including rising fuel prices and economic pressures affecting the agricultural sector.
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Farmer Adam Hunter later said he understood the area and
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understood a lot more than you would think. William, who
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oversees the Duchy of Cornwall State, also praised the close
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relationships with farming families, telling one father and son team,
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you clearly have a good relationship. Not every generation I
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have seen has that. Later, the Prince had traveled to
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the village of Bainbridge to learn about a local hydro
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electric energy project that has been powering homes for more
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than a decade. Retired engineer Tom Ferry said William showed
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a genuine interest in the technical side of the project,
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adding he asked a lot of sensible and intuitive questions.
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More palace in just a moment, King Charles first guard
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and party of the season featured an unexpected star attraction,
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a hearing dog named Vegas. Vegas quickly went over the guests,
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enthusiastic with greeting the King, Queen Camilla, and Princess Anne,
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before turning his attention to the palace lawn. Royal journalist
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Rebecca English wrote, in my eyes, there was one star
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of the show, Vegas, the hearing dog who jumped at
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the three Royals, Majesties and the Princess Royal and then
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started to dig up the grass. Everyone loved it. Bill
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Bailey has praised King Charles speaking ability, saying the monarch's
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humor and delivery during his recent US visit showed a
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side of him that has often overlooked. Bailey made the
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comments after receiving an MBE from Princess Anne at Windsor
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Castle for services to entertainment. Reflecting on the King's recent
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speeches in America, including his address to Congress and remarked
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at State Dinner, Bailey said, we talked about comedy, talked
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about the imports of humor and saying how well the
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King did in his speech in America to Congress. It
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was witty, it was beautifully measured, and it sort of
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shows that actually comedy has a way of getting under
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the radar. A little bit. It has got mercurial, It
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has got a mercurial quality to it. I think he
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is underestimated as a speaker. I think he's always been
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a great speaker, but I think the state visit really
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showed off that side of it. It was very well
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conceived and thought through. And there you have it. The
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email us an address is the Palace Intrigue at gmail
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dot com. Apologies this week for any sort of sound
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issues in the background, and to be back in a
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few days. I'm mind, Francis my thanks to John McDermott.
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This is Palace Intrigue and con terms
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00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.600
127
00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:10.959
128
00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.399
129
00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:18.519
130
00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.800
131
00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:25.040
132
00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:27.560
133
00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:30.240
134
00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.079
135
00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.920
136
00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:40.160
137
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.120
138
00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.160
139
00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:48.680
140
00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:53.199
141
00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.160
142
00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.399
143
00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:01.680
144
00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:05.160
145
00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.639
146
00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.279
147
00:08:10.279 --> 00:08:13.360
148
00:08:13.399 --> 00:08:16.160
149
00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.040
150
00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:21.079
151
00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.439
152
00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:27.759
153
00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:30.959
154
00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:34.200
155
00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:36.879
156
00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.799
157
00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.080
