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Caalarougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I
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am your host in Mark Francis. The King's visit to
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the United States is now official, with the itinerary largely
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matching the previously leaked information. King Charles and Queen Camilla
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will visit from April twenty seventh through the thirtieth, with
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the occasion intended to mark the two hundred and fiftieth
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anniversary of American independence and to reinforce what is often
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described as the special relationship between the UK and the US.
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During the time in Washington, the King is expected to
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meet privately with President Donald Trump and deliverate address to
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a joint meeting of Congress, becoming only the second British
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monarch to do so, following Queen Elizabeth the Second in
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nineteen ninety one. The program also includes a state dinner
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at the White House and ceremonial events highlighting the long
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standing military partnership between the two countries. In New York,
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the King and Queen will mark the anniversary of the
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September of eleven attacks, meeting families of victims and visiting
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organizations supporting young people, while also engaging with business and
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cultural leaders. The final leg of the visit will take
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them to Virginia, where they are expected to meet indigenous
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communities and attend events linked to the anniversary celebrations. The
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trip has been carefully planned over several months, but comes
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at a sensitive moment in Transatlantic relations following recent tensions
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between President Trump and the British government. Following the US visit,
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the King and Queen are expected to travel onto Bermuda
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for a separate engagement. In The Guardian, Zoe william asks
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as Trump depicts himself as Jesus Christ and insults everyone,
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from Keir Starmer to the Pope, how can the King
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hope to keep this state visit on track. The most
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awkward thing to happen when King Charles visited President Nixon
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as a young man. It was nineteen seventy, the then
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Prince was twenty one, was that officials kept wheeling out
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Nixon's daughter Tricia to stand next to him at events.
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Were both single on paper anyway. This was the same
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year Charles met Camilla. The optics were a little primitive.
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Here you're a young man, how about this young woman
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is a token of our esteem? Visiting Ronald Reagan eleven
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years later, Charles was unaccountably handed a cup of tea
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with the bag still in it, and didn't know where
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to put himself or the tea. Reagan was mortified and
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still talking about it years later. You could split hairs
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about who was more at fault here, the tea bringer
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or Charles himself, who met the occasion by merely staring
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at the tea. It would have been more courteous, surely
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to fish out the tea bag and drink it. Possibly
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no one gave him a spoon, Maybe they thought he
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always traveled with one in his mouth, visiting the Clintons
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and Bushes, all of them. Nothing mortifying happened. And when
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Charles went to see Obama in twenty fifteen and delivered
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a generalized rebuke to the world of its inaction on
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climate change, that might not have tickled all the boxes
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on the royal family's bump a list of polite conversations,
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but history has already shown it to have been worth
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the etiquette breach, which isn't to say anything came of it.
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Rather than talking about things that matter is the only
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thing that puts the power into soft power. Walking into
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Donald Trump's White House by contrast, which the King unaccountably
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still intends to do in two weeks time, will be
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fraught with conversational hazard. It will be the diplomatic equivalent
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of Catherine's zetad Jones and the lasers in entrapment. Or
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to update that the fans of celebrity traitors Joe Marler,
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Which is not to say that Charles isn't nimble, just
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that the human agility doesn't exist to make this relationship normal.
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Is it a problem that Trump has been so stridently
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rude about the Pope that US pontiff relations have irrevocably
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broken down. Does Charles have a particularly strong feeling about
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the Pope? Will the King have been made aware of
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the aiimage Trump posted over the weekend, in which he
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donald As pictures as Jesus healing the sick. The patient
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looks a bit like Jeffrey Epstein, but no time to
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read between the lines. There's a lot going on. Five
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ghost soldiers, one of whom has four arms and a
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statue of Liberty crown, fly behind the orange godhead like
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heavily Miller to rise to tinker bells. A nurse from
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the nineteen forties gazes into the distance as another young
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woman praised as the President and his goodness. What was
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Trump actually saying with this image which is since deleted,
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and more importantly, what happens if he says it to
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King Charles's face, which he definitely will once he figures
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out what it is. Charles will not meet survivors of
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Jeffrey Epstein during his upcoming state visit to the US.
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According to Buckingham Pallace sources, there had been calls for
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the King or Queen Camella to meet Epstein's victims, particularly
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in light of the ongoing fallout from Prince Andrew's past associations. However,
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Palace officials have ruled out such a meeting, citing legal concerns.
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A source said, we fully understand and appreciate the survivor's position,
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but can only reiterate that our position is clear that
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anything could potentially impact ongoing police inquiries and assessments, and
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any potential legal action that could result from that would
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be to the detriment of the survivors themselves in their
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pursuit of justice. While no meeting with Epstein survivors is planned,
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Queen Camilla is a expected to meet representatives from organizations
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working on domestic abuse and violence against women during the visit.
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Royal Inside a Deep Crown had an observation about Buckingham
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Palace's statement. The precise language is worth examining because it
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was chosen with considerable care. The Palace did not say
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the King was unwilling. It did not say the request
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was inappropriate. It said, with some specificity that anything which
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could potentially impact on ongoing police inquiries, legal assessments, or
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any criminal trial that could result would be and I
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am paraphrasing closely here to the detriment of the survivors
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themselves in their pursuit of justice. That is a very
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particular construction. It declines the meeting while framing the declamation
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entirely in terms of survivor interest. The Palace is not
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protecting itself, or so the statement would have you understand.
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It is protecting the survivors from themselves in the sense,
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or at least from the risk that a high profile
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meeting with the King of England might complicate the legal
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proceedings they are depending upon. What I find equally interesting
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is the Camilla to mension. The statement points with some
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deliberateness to Her Majesty's long term advocacy in support of
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victims and survivors of domestic and sexual abuse, including though
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the statement does not say this explicitly, her own experience
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of assault, which he has spoken about publicly over the years.
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Camilla is being deployed here as a form of moral counterweight.
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Where Charles cannot go constitutionally or politically, his wife's record
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is being placed in the room instead. That it's not
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an accident. Someone in the Palace communications operation understands exactly
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what they are doing, and I think it is reasonably shrewd.
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Radar Online suggests. King Charles is said to be facing
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the deeply emotional challenges he prepares to deliver a major
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public address marking what would have been Queen Elizabeth's one
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hundredth birthday. According to reports, the King is feeling devastated
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at the prospect of speaking publicly, with insiders suggesting the
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weight of ongoing royal controversies has made such moments increasingly difficult.
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The address, scheduled for April twenty first, will form part
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of a national and Commonwealth commemorations honoring the late Queen,
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including a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the King
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and Queen Camilla, alongside exhibitions and tributes across the UK.
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While Pallace Aids are said to be emphasizing a celebratory
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tone focused on Elizabeth's life and legacy, sources suggest the
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reality behind the scene is more complex. One aide said
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for child's giving speeches like this has become emotionally draining.
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There are simply too many unresolved issues hanging over the
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family and it is impossible to ignore them completely. Those
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unresolved issues are described as the elephants in the room,
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with one source explaining that moments meant to honor the
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late queen are now layered with ongoing tensions within the
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royal family. There are also suggestions of what have been
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described as a secret sadness, with the King reflecting on
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how much has changed since his mother's death. A source
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noted there is a strong sense that he is reflecting
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on how much has changed since he passed, and not
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all of it for the better. One source summed up
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the balancing act facing the monarch, saying Charles remains determined
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to honor his mother in the way she would have expected,
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with dignity and focus on service, but behind that public
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composure there is no denying that these occasions are becoming
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increasingly difficult for him to navigate more palace. In just
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a moment, King Charles's surprised locals in Scotland with an
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unannounced visit to a small village near bow Moral. The
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monarch traveled to a boyne they probably pronounced that incorrectly,
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roughly thirty minutes from Bowmoral Castle, where he visited George
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Strake and Limited, a local newsagent's and whiskey shop holding
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a royal warrant. A visit markedly businesses one hundredth anniversary,
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and during his time there, the King told residents he
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had frequented the shop as a child whils staying in
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the area. Residents were caught off guard by these sudden appearance.
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One local said, it all happened so fast. We heard
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all these sirens, next thing we knew. I was shocked.
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Despite the surprise, the King was described as delighted during
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the visit, spending time speaking with the Straikan family and
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shop staff. The engagement was not announced in advance and
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is understood to be the King's first public outing since
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attending the Easter service at Windsor earlier this month. The
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low key visit stands in contrast to the larger international
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focus on Prince Harry and Megan's Australia trip, offering a
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reminder of the King's continued presence in more traditional local
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engagements within the United Kingdom. And there you have it.
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If you like to email us, he 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 you're using now. I'm Mark Francis
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my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and
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good terms.