April 16, 2026

King Charles’ U.S. Visit Confirmed Amid Political Tensions and Palace Strategy

King Charles’ U.S. Visit Confirmed Amid Political Tensions and Palace Strategy
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Buckingham Palace confirms King Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Washington, New York and Virginia later this month, marking America’s 250th anniversary while navigating a sensitive political backdrop. The trip includes a White House state dinner, a congressional address and meetings tied to military and cultural ties. Commentary from the Guardian highlights the diplomatic tightrope facing the King in his meeting with President Trump, while palace officials address why no meeting with Jeffrey Epstein survivors is planned. Deep Crown examines the language of that decision, and how Queen Camilla’s role is being used as a strategic counterbalance. Meanwhile, reports suggest the King is privately grappling with the emotional weight of upcoming tributes to Queen Elizabeth, even as he continues quieter engagements at home.

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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.