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A calorogu Shark Media that hello and welcome to Pallace Weekly.
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I'm your host of Francis. It's been a week in
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which Princess returned to the international stage. A duchess updated
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her Instagram profile photograph in a very specific moment, A
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hearing dog duck up the Buckingham Palace lawn in front
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of three royals. Sarah Ferguson was linked in print to
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Sean Combs, and Rod Stewart told King Charles he had
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to put that little rat bag in his place. The monarchy,
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as ever, contains multitudes. Let's get into it. We begin
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the story that deserved and largely received the most serious
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attention of the week. On Tuesday, Catherine, Princess of Wales
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arrived in Reggio Amelia, Italy for a two day working
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visit focused on the Reggio Amelia educational approach, a child
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led learning philosophy she had been examining through her Royal
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Foundation Center for Early Childhood. It was her first overseas
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working trip since her cancer diagnosis in early twenty twenty four,
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and her first extended solo international engagement in more than
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three years. The coverage was understandably warm. Jenny Bond said
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the King would be delighted and described the trip as
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a likely gateway to further official trips overseas. The Times
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Hillary Rose noted that Kate's last solo overseas visit to
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Denmark in twenty twenty two was also focused on early
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childhood development, a signal of long term intent rather than
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improvised scheduling. One Express columnist went further, arguing this was
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the moment the princess moved beyond being a popular royal
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figure and into something far more influential. The language, for
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once did not feel like an over statement. Deep Crown,
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who was asked for a comment and delivered rather more
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than that, wrote that Catherine had not chosen a ribbon
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cutting or a gala dinner for her return. She had
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chosen a working trip grounded in a she has prosecuted
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seriously for years. Early years development is not a glamorous brief,
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he wrote. It generates instead the impression of a woman
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who means what she says. That impression is, at this moment,
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exactly what the institution requires. He also noted, with a
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characteristic directness, that Charles has watched his working family contract
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considerably in recent years, and that Catherine's return restores something
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that had been missing, the sense that the center is
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holding the full pieces linked in the show notes. Back home,
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William had his own notable week Aston Villaby Nottingham Forest
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for nothing to reach the Europa League Final, and the
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Prince of Wales was photographed in the stands pumping his
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fists with an enthusiasm that required no diplomatic interpretation whatsoever.
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He later joined the players in the dressing room. Manager
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Unai Emery confirmed he was in the dressing room with
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the players and with me, and of course he is
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so happy as well Kate at home with the children.
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Reporter that even Louis had been making so much noise.
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Wim arrived at a garden party the following day, admitting
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he had bags under his eyes from the celebration. He
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is not expected to be any less enthusiastic of Villa
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make it to Istanbul for the final. The Prince also
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visited Birmingham to open these cities New James Place Center,
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a facility offering free support to men in suicidal crisis,
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and spent time in the Yorkshire Dales meeting farmers and
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rural community groups at crow Trees farms, he ate chicken
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and ham, pie chips, bushy bees, and gravy. At a pub,
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arrived bearing treats from a local bakery and joked about
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a particularly elaborate dessert. That TwixT thing is insane if
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I ate that I'd been in the gym for about
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three days, a farmer said afterwards, he understood the area
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and understood a lot more than you would think. That is,
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in its quiet way, the point more palace in just
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a moment. Now to the stories that arrived alongside Kate's
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Italian milestone, with what Deep Crown described with studious even
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handedness as no coincidence of timing. On the day before
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the Princess of Whale stepped back onto the international stage,
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Megan Remarkable updated her Instagram profile photograph for the first
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time since relaunching her account, unveiled a redesigned website for
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as Ever, and released a suite of new promotional video content.
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The footage shows Megan arranging flowers, sampling raspberries, drizzling honey,
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and walking through an orchard. Halfway through, she changes into
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what many have identified as her Stella McCartney reception gown
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from her twenty eighteen wedding. The brand caption read, what
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began with fruit from Meghan's garden simmered into preserves in
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her home kitchen has inspired our curated collections to bring
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surprise and delight to your every day. The same week
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also brought Disneyland photographs. Archie Newly seven was photographed hiding
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shyly behind a pillar near Sleeping Beauties. Princess Aurora Lullabit
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Nearly five embraced Cinderella. Dria Ragland appeared with Mickey Mouse.
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The family was in Star Wars Galaxy's Edge. A source
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told people it was a birthday celebration combined with a
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Mother's day outing. Megan captured the post with a red
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heart emoji. Tom Sykes, writing in The Royalist, was not
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in a red heart emoji kind of mood. Under the
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headline desperate Megan sells her kids as brand lurches from
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chaos to mess. He described the as Ever video as
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a bucolic Montecito fantasy, noted the forty five thousand dollars
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Oscar Delaurenta gown appearing mid jam session, and then identified
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what he called the marketing funnel Meghan's personal Instagram with
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four and a half million followers driving traffic toward as
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EVAs eight hundred and eighty one thousand. The personal account
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is the funnel, the children are the bait. He then
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drew the line that landed hardest, noting that Harry has
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said under oath that being commercialized without consent damaged him
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as a child, has warned publicly about social media farming
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children's minds, and has described his own childhood under the
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camera as a form of harm. While his wife's four
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and a half million follower Instagram would count drip fed
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partial images of their children to build what the marketers
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called a curiosity gap. Harry's team did not respond. Deep
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Crown more Measured as ever made a similar observation from
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a greater altitude. He noted that the redesigned website, new
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video content, wardrobe, callback, and family photographs all arrived in
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the same days as the Princess of Wales returned to
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the international stage, and wrote one is permitted They raised eyebrow.
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He then said that the business of raised eyebrows was
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the lesser issue, and that the more significant question was
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the distance between what Harry says publicly about media, children
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and commerce and what the households social media operation does
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in practice, he did not resolve the question. He simply
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placed it on the table. Chris Jenna received a Mother's
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Day gift package from as Ever and thanked Megan publicly
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on Instagram, calling the candles so delicious. A handwritten note
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reportedly read, Dear Chris, Happy Mother's Day to the most
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maternal woman in the world. This followed months of speculation
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about a rupture between the families. After Birthday photographs from
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Jenna's party featuring the Sussexes were deleted. Kim Kardashian subsequently
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explained on her sister's podcast that the pictures were removed
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to respect remembrance Day. The explanation was received with varied
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degrees of credulity. The Cookie Queen's documentary also got a
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trailer this week. The Archwell produced film, which follows four
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girl scouts through Cookie season and premiered at Sun Dance,
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is scheduled for theatrical release on August eighth. On the
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financial front, former People magazine editor Dan Wakeford reported via
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his Celebrity Intelligence newsletter that Harry lacks basic awareness of
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what things cost. That the couple's full time staff has
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fallen from sixteen to five. Multiple sources suggested the inheritance
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from Princess Diana and the Queen Mother has largely been
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spent on the house and legal costs, and that the
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couple faces approximately four point one million dollars annually in
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security expenses alone. One source described them as wildly unhappy.
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Another said Harry would be content to downsize, move somewhere
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like Montana, live modestly. Megan is not, by any available account,
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considering Montana. Harry was also described this week by Gossip
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columnist Rob Shooter as mister marm spending the majority of
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his time with his children while Megan focuses on the
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business side. Tutor said their common interests now extend largely
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to the Sussex brand and little else. Former BBC Royal
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correspondent Dickie Arbutat told The Talk TV the marriage had
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always looked a bit dodgy for quite a long time,
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and that leaving the British Army in twenty sixteen was
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the biggest mistake Harry ever made. Tom Bower said the
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marriage would survive because Harry is a lonely, sad man
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who needs the relationship and she needs the label. This
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assessment has now appeared in this program's summary episodes on
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at least three consecutive weeks, which we note without further
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comment more palaceing just a moment now to the stories
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that arrived from entirely different directions, and reminded us that
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the monarchy never produces a quiet week if it can
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possibly help it. Andrew Lowney's updated paperback edition of entitled,
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due for release on May twenty first, contains new claims
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alleging Sarah Ferguson had a relationship with Sean Combs beginning
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in two thousand and four, that she introduced Princess Beatrice
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and Princess Eugenie to Combs on multiple occasions, including a
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yacht trip in two thousand and six when Eugenie was sixteen,
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and that Combe's two thousand and six Fragrance Unforgivable was
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inspired by Ferguson. A source close to Ferguson called the
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allegations absolutely fabricated nonsense, blatantly untrue. Lowney said he stood
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by the reporting. Combs, currently serving a prison sentence, called
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the claims utterlydiculous. Deep Crown observed that Ferguson is no
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longer a working royal. Her connection to the institution is
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familial and historical rather than operational, and yet the stories
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attach themselves to the crown regardless because the publican press
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do not maintain the careful distinctions those inside would prefer,
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the House of York remains in the public imagination Royal.
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He wrote, what touches it touches the wider family, however unfairly.
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He also advised those within the institution who had allowed
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themselves to exhale following the successful state visit to hold
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their breath once more. The same week brought reports that
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Ferguson is considering an extremely savage tell old book focused
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on Andrew, with one source claiming she believes he left
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her to deal with the consequences of difficult situations alone,
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and that beneath all his bluster, there's a real panic
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about what she might actually say, because if anyone knows
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his secrets, it's Sarah. A source also described her, less sympathetically,
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as a hyacin grifter moving between wealthy friends' homes across Europe.
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Neither framing particularly helps either of them. Andrew meanwhile faced
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a separate incident this week when a Balaklavi clad man
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allegedly jumped from a vehicle and charged toward him near
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his Sandringham estate while he was walking his dog. Andrew
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retreated to his car and drove away. A man was
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arrested and charged. No injuries were reported. Jenny Bond noted
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that Andrew would likely use the incident to argue he
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needs more security funded by the King, and that I
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don't think he will let the King forget it. Reports
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also confirmed this week that Andrew is likely to remain
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in the line of succession for at least another year,
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as any parliamentary action to remove him would require agreement
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from multiple Commonwealth realms and risk triggering wider constitutional debates
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in countries including Jamaica. His front door at Sandringham tenancy
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is painted the same light blue as all the other
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state properties. A local resident noted this reflects just how
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far he has fallen from Greece. He was described this
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week as deeply unhappy about his removal from Royal Lodge
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and believes it was done unnecessarily to appease the Baye media.
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Princess Eugenie, whose pregnancy was announced earlier this month, was
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reportedly nervous about informing King Charles and only wrote to
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him after encouragement from Zara Tyndall. According to the Mail
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on Sunday, Eugenie sent an Easter card with a carefully
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worded letter and was surprised by the warmth of the
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Palace's response. Andrew meanwhile learned he would be a grandfather again,
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not from Eugenie directly, but via Sarah Ferguson and inside.
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He said. Eugenie has not spoken to her father since
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he gave up the lease on Royal Lodge. She and
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Beatrice did, however, attend Poppy de la Vigne's fortieth birthday
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party this week at a Marilla Bone pub, where Taylor
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Swift and Travis Kelsey were also in the guest list.
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The sisters, whatever else is happening around them, are getting out.
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At the first Royal Garden party of the season, the
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undisputed star was a hearing dog named who jumped up
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enthusiastically at the King, Queen Camilla and the Princess Anne,
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before turning his attention to the lawn and beginning to
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dig it up. Royal journalist Rebecca English reported everyone loved it.
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The King and Queen appeared undisturbed. This is one feels
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the correct response. The King's trustmarked it's fiftieth anniversary at
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the Royal Albert hallwere Sir Rod Stewart congratulated the King
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on the state's visit, telling him to put that little
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rat bag in his place, and turned to Camilla to add,
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so great, so brave, so proud. The King appeared amused.
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Ronnie Wood grinned it was, in its way, a more
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honest verdict on the American trip than anything delivered in
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diplomatic communic k and Meghan finally was reported to be
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furious about a Saturday Night Live joke in which Colin
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Joe suggested King Charles had visited America to seek the
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release of a British hostage held by an American terrorist,
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at which point a photograph of Harry and Meghan appeared
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on the screen. I saw said Meghan does not laugh
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when she feels publicly humiliated, and that once she feels mocked,
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she shuts the door. Another source speaking to this program
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offered a different perspective. Does that mean she won't do
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the deal or no Deal reboot? We present that without
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editorial position, and they have it. If you'd like to
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email us or addresses the palace intrigue at gmail dot com.
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Please follow us on Spotify, Apple or the app of
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your Cherisa, Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This
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is Palace Weekly and continues