April 1, 2026

King Charles Heads to America as Trump, Harry and Andrew Questions Loom

Show Notes
Transcript

Buckingham Palace has now confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla will travel to the United States in late April for a major state visit — one that is already shaping up to be far more complicated than a standard royal tour.

The trip will celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, but it lands amid rising tensions with Donald Trump, renewed questions about whether Charles will see Harry, Archie and Lilibet, and fresh calls for the King to confront the Jeffrey Epstein shadow hanging over the monarchy.
We also hear from Deep Crown on why the real palace professionals will be trying to keep every other royal out of the frame — and why the Sussexes have a habit of doing the exact opposite.

Plus: Charles gets a very on-brand new flower show at Sandringham, Carey Mulligan is honored at Windsor Castle, and Buckingham Palace is reportedly worried that BBC cuts could weaken coverage of major royal moments when they matter most

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Callarogu Shark media. Hello and welcome to the Palace Intrigue.

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I am your host, Mark Francis. According to reports in

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both the BBC and The Guardian, King Charles and Queen

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Camilla will travel to the United States in late April

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for a state visit that is now confirmed by Buckingham Palace,

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despite growing political unease around Donald Trump's rhetoric on Iran

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and wider questions about whether the trip should still go ahead.

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Buckingham Palace said, on advice of His Majesty's government and

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at the invitation of the President of the United States,

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the King and Queen will undertake a state visit to

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the United States of America. Their Majesty's program will celebrate

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the historic connections in the modern bilateral relationship between the

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United Kingdom and the United States, marking the two hundred

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and fiftieth anniversary of American Independence. The King will then

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continue to Bermuda to undertake His Majesty his first royal

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visitor's monarch to a British overseas territory. The visit is

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expected to include Washington, a White House, state dinner, and

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an address to Congress, making it one of the most

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significant overseas trips of Charles rhein so far, in purely

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ceremonial terms, this is exactly the kind of visit monarchs

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built for soft power symbolism, historical pageantry, and a carefully

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choreographed reminder that the special relationship still exists even when

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the elected people involved appear to be testing it to destruction.

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But the timing is what makes this more than just

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a standard royal tour. The trip lands at a moment

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when Trump has been publicly lashing out at Britain over

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the war in Iran, at one point telling the UK

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and other allies to go get your own oil from

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the Strait of Hormuz and suggesting America would not be

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there to help. He has also taken repeated shots at

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Prime Minister Kiirstama, including mocking him as no Winston Churchill.

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So the state visit is now unfolding against a backdrop

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of and Transatlantic irritation rather than easy alliance. Officially, Charles

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is going to celebrate two hundred and fifty years of

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American independence. Unofficially he is being sent into a diplomatic

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mind filled with a smile and a state banquet. There

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is also a deeper irony. Sitting underneath all of this,

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Britain is sending its king to celebrate the anniversary of

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the moment America stopped wanting one, and yet in twenty

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twenty six, the monarchy may be one of the few

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remaining tools the British government fills it can still use

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to steady relations with Washington. Trump himself has made no

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secret of his enthusiasm. He said he's going to be

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here very soon, as you know. We're going to have

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a state dinner. It's going to be great. He also

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said of Charles, he's a friend of mine. Earlier he

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praised the king more broadly, saying I think he's fantastic.

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Then there is the family subplot, because of course there

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is any royal trip to America now immediately raises the

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question of Harry. The BBC notes there is already likely

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to be interest in whether Charles will see his younger

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son while he is in the US. The Guardian goes

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even first, pointing out that this visit will inevitably raise

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questions about whether the King might reunite with Archie and Lilibet,

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whom he has reportedly not seen in four years. There

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is also a darker shadow hanging over the visit. The

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BBC notes that US Congressman Roe Canna has called on

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Charles to meet survivors connected to Jeffrey Epstein during the trip,

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arguing that the matter is not solely an American issue.

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That means the visit may not just revive questions about

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diplomacy and Trump, but also bring Andrew back into the

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conversation on American soil at exactly the wrong time for

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the palace. When you put it all together, this is

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shaping up to be one of those royal tours where

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every layer comes with its own risks. At the time

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of this recording, no date has been announced, but rumors

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have it set for April twenty seven through twenty ninth.

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In his Substack Royal inside a Deep Crown Rights, one

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of the less visible functions of a well run royal

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household is the management of optics around major engagements. When

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the King undertakes something of this significance, the diary of

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every senior working royal is quietly organized to ensure no

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competing noise. It may be confident that the Prince and

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Princess of Wales will not be photographed throwing darts in

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a pub on the evening of the State dinner. This

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is not an accident. It is choreography, and it is

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done by professionals who understand that the institution speaks with

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one voice. At moments then matter. The Sussexes, it should

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be noted, do not have those professionals, or rather they

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have professionals of a different kind. Harry and Meghan will,

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by all accounts, be returning from an Australian tour around

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this period, a trip whose optics have been to put

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the matter charitably complicated. One does not wish to prejudge,

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and yet there is a pattern here that even a

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charitable observer would be hard pressed to ignore. At moments

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when Royal protocol suggests stillness, when the diary calls for

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a kind of graceful absence, the Sussexes have demonstrated a

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remarkable talent for generating exactly the sort of noise that

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draws attention toward themselves and away from the occasion at hand. Harry,

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I think, understands this calculus better than he acts on it.

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The difficulty, and I choose that word with care, is

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that understanding something and being free to act on that

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understanding are not always the same. Thing Megan understands two.

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Of course, she simply has different priorities. We shall see

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what the three days around the Washington visit produce. I

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have learned not to predict. They've also learned not to

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be surprised. Remember you can subscribe to Deep Crown's free

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Substack newsletter by searching for Deep Crown on Substack, or

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just click the link in the episode notes more Palacing

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Just a moment, King Charles is about to add one

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more very on brand item to the royal calendar, a

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flower show. For the first time ever, the Royal Horticultural

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Society will stage a major flower show at a royal residence,

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with RHS Sandraham said to debut this summer at the

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King's Norfolk State. The five day event will run from

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July twenty second through July twenty six, and if there

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were ever a story designed and a lab for King Charles,

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this might be it. Both Charles and Camilla are expected

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to take active roles in the event. The King will

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personally choose his favorite exhibit promoting biodiversity, which feels about

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as close as Charles gets to judging a reality competition show.

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Somewhere the be friendly perennial is about to get the

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royal treatment. The centerpiece of the royal involvement will be

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something called the RHS Royal Legacy Garden, created in collaboration

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with landscape designer Katherine McDonald. The garden will feature native

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species including u and hornbeam, along so called future trees

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that are better suited for rising temperatures. In other words,

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this is Charles's favorite subject matter all in one place heritage, climate,

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conservation and plants. Camilla meanwhile will judge the Upcycled Container Competition,

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which challenges community groups to turn discarded materials into miniature

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planted displays. There will also be a new category called

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Grow Forward Gardens, with entries focused on climate chain and sustainability.

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One garden will draw on Himalayan methods for climate resilient gardening,

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while another will use rain water tanks fitted with hydrophones

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and still drums to create sound as rain falls, which

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sounds either deeply thoughtful or like the world's postiesst Garden

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percussion experiment. Catherine MacDonald said, I hope the garden will

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inspire visitors to take a closer look at the incredible

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patterns found in nature all around us. From the repeating

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branch formations of oak trees to the spiraling leaf patterns

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of ferns. We want to encourage people to make choices

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in their own gardens that work with nature, recognizing the

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role we all play in supporting wildlife and promoting tree

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and plant diversity for now and the future. Actress Kerry

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Mulligan was among those honored by King Charles at Windsor

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Castle on Tuesday, receiving a CBE for services to drama.

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During an investiture ceremony, Mulligan said, I feel so unbelievably

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lucky to get to do a job that I really

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really love. To have this kind of recognition on top

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is just sort of extraordinary to me. Buckingham Palace is

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reportedly concerned that the cuts that the BBC could affect

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coverage of royal deaths. The BBC Studios Events team, which

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has long handled some of the country's biggest ceremonial broadcasts,

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is reportedly being reduced from six people to just one.

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This is the team responsible for helping the BBC present

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state funerals, coronations and other major national events to the world,

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the sort of broadcasts where getting it wrong is not

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really an option. One source put it this way. In

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an age where not many people watch linear national television,

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these are the people who present national moments for the

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eyes of the world. That source also pointed out the

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obvious problem with reducing a team like this too far.

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Some royal events can be prepared for years in advance,

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but others cannot. The concern is not about whether the

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coverage happens, but whether it still carries the weight, polish

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and sense of national occasion that these events are meant

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to have. A spokesperson for the BBC said, as a

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prudent commercial business with a mandate to maximize returns for

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the BBC pre regularly look at our we're set up

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and where we can work more efficiently. The BBC and

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its production team BBC Studios, remains committed to broadcasting and

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producing events of national importance, including ceremonial and live events.

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And there you have it. Email us addresses the Palace

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Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify,

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Apple or the app of your choice. I'm Mark Francis

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my thanks to John McDermott. This says Balace Intrigue in

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good terms

King Charles Heads to America as Trump, Harry and Andrew Questions Loom

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