May 18, 2026

Kate’ Middleton's Italy Triumph Steals Meghan’ Markles Jam Jar Thunder

Kate’ Middleton's Italy Triumph Steals Meghan’ Markles Jam Jar Thunder

Princess Catherine receives a warm welcome in Italy on her first major overseas visit since her cancer diagnosis, while Meghan Markle’s latest As Ever promotion sparks fresh questions about timing, spotlight, and royal narratives.

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Calorougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue Gay.

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I'm your host, Mark Francis. Andrew mount Patten Windsor is

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reportedly facing another family setback with claims he will not

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be invited to the upcoming wedding of his nephew Peter Phillips.

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Peter Phillips has set to marry his fiance Harriet Spurling

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on June sixth at All Saints Church in Gloucestershire. The

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ceremony is expected to be a private family occasion, although

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a number of senior royals are reportedly expected to attend,

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including King Charles, Queen Ca Miller, and the Prince and

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Princess of Wales. Andrew, however, is said to be absent

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from the guest list. Some fear Andrew will evade justice.

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Royal author Andrew Lowney was on Tom Sykes Royalist podcast

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Sikes asked do you think that Andrew will actually evade

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justice after all of this? Lowney replied, yes, I think

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he will. I mean we're already being prepared for no

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charges to be laid. The last thing the royal family

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wants is all their dirty linen aired in public, So

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I think it can go different ways. One is to

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say that he was never a public servant, he was

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just a royal secondment, so that malefeasance doesn't work. I

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think we may have difficulties getting women to give evidence

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for the sex trafficking. I think the lion will be

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he's not going to get a fair trial because of

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the publicity. The danger is that he wants to call

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his brother to give evidence in the court, which he's

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entitled to do, and of course the king couldn't appear

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in his own court. The worry of blackmail behind the scenes, saying, look,

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why am I being fingered when you guys all knew

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about it and did nothing. So I agree it's been

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kicked into the long grass, and the hope that there

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will be a new rain and everyone will have forgotten

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and they can kind of bury the whole story. I

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share your cynicism that you know, whatever the king says

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about the law, following its course, the law will know

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that this is not somewhere it wants to go. Even

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Andrew's eventual death stir things up for the royals and

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inside are told Radar Online. For years there has been

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enormous curiosity about how Andrew continues to maintain his lifestyle

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after effectively being removed from public royal life. The assumption

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inside royal circles is that his will could finally expose

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the true state of his finances, his investments, his property arrangements,

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and exactly how wealthy he really is. What makes this

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especially explosive is that Andrew no longer occupies the protected

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status he once had as a senior working royal. Traditionally,

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royal wills are still to preserve privacy and protect the

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dignity of the institution, but there is growing belief that

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Andrew's estate may not receive the same protection because of

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his changed status and the damaged caused by the Epstein scandal.

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A palace aid said, the Epstein scandal fundamentally changed how

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Andrew is viewed, both publicly and institutionally, and it may

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now effectively lead to his finances finally being unraveled in public.

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Any future disclosure of his finances would attract extraordinary attention

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because people believe there are still unanswered questions about privileged

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money and how he has been protected for so long.

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Royal finances are facing a rare public funding cut, with

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the BBC reporting that the Sovereign grant is expected to

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be reduced for the first time since it was introduced

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in twenty twelve. The issue comes amid renewed scrutiny of

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royal money following the scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten Windsor in

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questions over value for money at royal properties. BBC Royal

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Correspondent Sewan Coughlin wrote that if Queen Elizabeth once described

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nineteen ninety two as her Annis horror BILLUS, King Charles

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Rain has now had, what that might be called is

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Andrew Horror BILLUS. The Sovereign grant currently stands at a

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record level, boosted temporarily to help pay for repairs at

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Buckingham Palace, but Treasury ministers have already indicated that the

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grant is expected to fall once those works are completed.

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Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Livermore, told the House

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of Lords in March the Government is committed to bringing

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forward legislation to reset the grant to a lower level

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from twenty twenty seven to twenty eight once Buckingham Palace

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reservicing works are completed. The funding review comes as MPs

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on the Public Accounts Committee prepared to examine the Crown

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at state and leasing arrangements for properties occupied by members

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of the Royal family. That inquiry follows public anger over

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Andrew mount Patten Windsor's former residence at Royal Lodge in

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Windsor and broader questions about whether the royal property arrangements

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represent good value for taxpayers. Royal biographer Andrew Lowney said

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Andrew's downfall had raised wider questions about royal finanswers. Lowney

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said it's open to can of worms for the rest

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of the Royal family about their own financewers, and I

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hope there's more scrutiny as they need to be more open.

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The BBC also quoted a former senior civil servant criticizing

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Andrew's travel expenses during his time as a trade envoy.

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The former official said, I couldn't believe it. It was like

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it wasn't real money. They weren't spending any of their

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own money. Constitutional expert Craig Prescott said royal fineans answers

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have long been a weak point for the monarchy. Prescott

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said it's always a weak spot for the monarchy. He

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added the Royal family looked like they had fantastic wealth,

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and so the perception is of tax payers money going

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to people who are very, very wealthy in the first place,

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and it's never a good look. However, Prescott also said

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if you want to have a monarchy that carries out

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public functions, then the state should pay for that fundamentally.

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The BBC noted that the current grant is calculated as

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a percentage of Crown of State profits, even though the

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Crown of State itself pays its profits to the Treasury

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and the grant is paid for public funds. A controversial

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feature known as the golden ratchet has historically allowed the

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grant to rise but prevent it from falling. The Treasury

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says forthcoming legislation would allow a one off cut for

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twenty twenty seven to twenty eight, while keeping the mechanism

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in place long term. The Treasury spokesman said the golden

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ratchet would still stay long term. Critics are calling for

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greater openness. Former Minister Norman Baker wrote, it is instructive

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that whatever changes to royal fight answers have been announced

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by governments over the last fifty years, we are always

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told they are prudent and represent good value for money.

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He added, yet they nearly always end up increasing significantly

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the income for the royals. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed

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Davies said in Parliament we must build a culture of

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transparency and accountability. Labour MP Rachel Maskell said unaccountable. Power

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must not hide, privilege must not be protected, money must

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be accounted for. Historian Anna Whitelock said there was once

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a public reverence for the royal family, but that modern

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questions now focus on accountability, transparency, power, influence and money,

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which might well be thought to shed much needed light

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and heat on the monarchy. She added that the royals

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receive public funding if the financing of the monarchy is

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really a matter for public discussion, and we are left

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quite deliberately in the dark, more palacing just a moment.

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A landmark court ruling involving the faire family of the

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Marquess of Bath could eventually have implications for the wider

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aristocracy and even the royal family. A High Court judge

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has ruled that the youngest son of seal and Twynn,

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the eighth Marquess of Bath, and his wife Emma, Marchioness

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of Bath, could potentially inherit part of his father's fortune

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despite being born via surrogate. The decision is being viewed

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as a significant moment for Britain's hereditary system, which has

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traditionally relied on centuries old definitions of legitimacy that predate

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modern fertility treatments and surrogacy. Lord and Lady Bath shared

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two sons, John and Henry. After Lady Bath developed a

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serious medical condition during her first pregnancy, the couple used

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an American surrogate to have their second child, Henry, who

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was their biological son. Because Henry is believed to be

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the first known member of the British aristocracy born via surrogate,

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questions emerged about whether he qualified under long standing inheritance

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rules to aristocratic titles and trusts. In his ruling, Justice

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Matthews said it would be unfair not to recognize Henry

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as his father's son. The judge said Henry is the

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son of Lord and Lady Bath. Not only is he

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treated by them and will be treated by the world

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in general, as a child of Lord and Lady Bath's marriage,

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but he is also their genetic child. Justice Matthews also

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explained why the family sought the ruling now rather than

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waiting until later in Harry's life. He said a decision

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can then be taken at a later stage, in the

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light of appropriate advice, whether to exercise the power to

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add him. Legal observers say the ruling could eventually influence

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how aristocratic succession and potentially royal succession rules are interpreted

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in cases involving assisted reproduction. The article notes that the

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last major change to royal succession came in twenty thirteen,

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when Parliament passed the Succession to the Crown Act, ending

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the system of male preference primogeniture for young royals. That

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change meant birth order now determines succession regardless of gender,

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allowing Princess Charlotte to remain the head of Prince Louis

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in the line of succession after his birth. The Barr

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family has already made modern aristocratic history before. In twenty twenty,

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Emathyn became Britain's first black Marchioness when her husband inherited

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the title following the death of his father. Emma, the

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daughter of a Nigerian oil businessman and a British mother,

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has also become known through television appearances and fashion events,

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including a recent appearance at the met Gala alongside Serena Williams,

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and there you have it played. Email us addresses the

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Palace Intrigu at gmail dot com. Please followus on Spotify,

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Apple or the app of your choice. Mark Francis My

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thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and good turns.