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Ah Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Intrigue Game,
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your host, Mark Francis. The Thomas Markel storyline continues to
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be weird, The Royalist writes. One of Meghan's team appears
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to have briefed The London Times that they thought the
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leg amputation might have been a hoax. The Times reported
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on Friday that a spokesperson had told them Meghan had
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instructed AIDS to find out if her father is unwell.
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Meghan's office subsequently denied any such order had been given.
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Thomas's friends have reacted with outrage. Lady Colin Campbell, the
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friend of Mircale Senior, told The Royalist it was disgraceful
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for Meghan's team to accuse Thomas of inventing health problems
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to victimize Meghan, adding when he hops out of the hospital,
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well she say his foot is strapped up behind him.
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In The Standard, Melanie macdonnaugh writes, the normal of a
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child of any age when a parent has taken ill
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and may let's say it die, is to rush to
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the bedside, no matter where in the world that bedside
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may be. That's what normal people do. She has never
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allowed him to see his grandchildren Archie six and Lily,
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for which he says he wants to, and to his
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eternal shame, Prince Harry has never insisted that they should.
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She has, in fact maintained her record to date as
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a callous daughter, the kind who, if she ever sat
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through King Lear, might feel a bad squeak of recognition
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at the conduct of Goneril and Reagan. Her ruthlessness in
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discarding a parent who had made the mistake of voicing
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criticism of her after her cooking show he said she
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was not authentic and who may not quite look the
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part she has framed for herself, tells you everything you
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need to know about her. There probably isn't anyone who
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sat through her dire Netflix series on The Perfect Christmas
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with the hokum about it being all about the company
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of those you love without feeling a sense of how
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to put it incongruity given the mismatch between the beautiful
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sentiments and actual conduct of the fragrant heroine. If Thomas
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Michael had been an abusive parent, Meghan's failure of duty
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might be comprehensible, but he wasn't. In all of Tom
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Dower's mesmerizing biography of Megan, there wasn't any hint of
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cruelty or unkindness. Rather, he was the means by which
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she established herself on the route to her glittering apotheosis
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as the star of suits. He looks after her, and
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if he is now frail and old and not looking
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as felt as she might like, it's all the more
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reason to rally round to what might be his deathbed
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Death cancels out of the nonsense. If your father is
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in danger of death, a normal daughter would forgive any
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slights or resentments and be there to ease his passage
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to the next world. It would not be too late
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to bring his grandchildren to meet him. The young noticed
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the conduct of their parents. If she so obviously lacks
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any sense of duty to her father, she can't hope
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that her own children will be any better when her
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time comes. It's not too late yet to remedy matter
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by making for his bedside and making him happy. If
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nothing else, it would make her look good, and that's
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what she likes, isn't it. Princeterry is said to be
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exploring the possibility of securing Jennifer Lopez for a future
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Invictus Games engagement. The Duke of Sussex, who established the
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Invictus Games in twenty fourteen, is a recovery pathway for
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international wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, is reportedly
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reaching out to several well known figures in the hope
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of strengthening the event's profile. According to one source of
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Harry can Land, low Pears to make an appearance at
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an Invictus event, it would be phenomenal for the charity
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and the thrill for him too. He's reaching out to
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everyone that he's got a connection to. It's not just
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low Peirs that he's trying to lure in, but no
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doubt she's the most thrilling prospect for him because he's
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very star struck by her. The magazine report also noted
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that Harry is very competitive and that witnessing his brother,
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Prince William rule in all these big names for his
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charity has lit a fire under him. Star Magazine previously
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reported that Harry Meghan joined Lopez and her then fiance
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Alex Rodriguez on a double date in early twenty twenty.
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If you're wondering what else we can blame Harry for,
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some suggest he's responsible for cancer specifically that of Charles
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and Kate. Speaking to News Nation, biographer Andrew Lowney said
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there are arguments that some of these illnesses are being
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brought on by the problems of the so called spares.
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He went on to warn that the institution could face
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a deeper challenge should the Princess of Wales be unable
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to carry out her public role. I do think there
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will be a real crisis if something happens to Kate
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and she's incapacitated. She is the linchpin on which the
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whole future of the monarchy depends. Moving on to titles,
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he said, I think now that we've seen the royal
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titles can be struck out in an afternoon. I think
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we're going to see a lot of titles go if
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you're not a working royal, or you're not the direct
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line of succession. He added that the whole reputation of
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the monarchy has been sullied both by Harry and by Andrew,
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and that's the inheritance that he's going to have to
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deal with. More Palacing just a moment. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor
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is said to be making a series of astonishing requests
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before relocating to a property on Sandringham Estate following his
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removal from Royal Lodge in Windsor. Reports now suggest the
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transition has being delayed due to what have been described
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as unreasonable demands over his new accommodation. According to these claims,
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Andrew is reeling off demands and ultimatums, prompting what has
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been characterized as a fresh feud between him and the King.
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Among the requests are said to his substantial six or
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seven bedroom house on the sandringhammert State, complete with staff
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including cook garden, a housekeeper, driver in police security. A
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source told the Daily Beasts royalists Andrew has done exactly
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what has been asked of him. He just wants to
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be left alone. He's giving up the lease on one
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of England's finest houses and expects to be treated fairly.
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A former courtier suggested that financial considerations were always likely
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to dominate negotiation, saying Andrew is essentially being bought out
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of the lease, so he will haggle over every last
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detail of the deal. Andrew's difficulties continue to cast a
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long shadow over the Royal family, with renewed scrutiny now
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falling on the homes occupied by Senior and Extended Royals.
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His peppercorn rent arrangement at Royal Lodge and the subsequent
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surrender of his lease has highlighted how certain family members
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reside in Crown Estate properties at substantially reduced rates. The
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Crown Estate, which manages assets held in the right of
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the Crown and returns its profits to the Treasury in
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exchange for the sovereign Grant, is believed to hold hundreds
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of properties. Royal biographer Ingrid Sewards said, the Crown Estate
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contains a huge number of properties, but most of us
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haven't been aware of what exactly is out there, and
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until now few of us have cared to ask. Now
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that has changed, which means Andrew has opened the door
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to a lot of problems for his family and the
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way they live. Attention is also turned to bag Shot Park,
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the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh's one hundred and twenty
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room mansion in Surrey. The couple renewed their lease in
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two thousand and seven with a one off payment of
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five million pounds. Calculations suggest that, depending on how long
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they remain, the effective annual costs could fall well below
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market value. Former Home Office Minister Norman Baker argued that
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any failure to maximize crown and state income represents less
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money for the public purse, and so an indirect public
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subsidy to rich members of the royal family. Sue defended
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the edinburghs all they get is travel that they may
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not even want, in some money for clothes when they
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do go abroad, and then this hugely reduced rental. The
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trouble with Royal Lodge was that Andrew was doing bugger all,
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so it felt wrong. But in my opinion, Sophie and
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Edward add a lot to this country and don't deserve
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the criticism. Another property drawing comment is thatched House Lodge,
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where eighty eight year old Princess Alexandra pays two hundred
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and twenty five pounds a month. Royal correspondent Robert Jobson
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noted her decades of royal service, she did a lot
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of work for the family and is now old and
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frail and not very well. And you can't go in
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and suddenly put the rent up. But when she dies,
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that would be the time to put it on at
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market prices. And that should be true. Even if another
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member of the family moves in, they need to pay
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a commercial rate, some royals already do. King Charles pays
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the Duchy of Cornwall a six figure son to lease
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Highgrove from Prince William. William also pays a market rent
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for Forest Lodge, though he is unlikely to pay commercial
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rates for his Kensington Palace apartment. Several other family members,
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including the Gloucesters, the Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess
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Michael of Kent, and Princess Eugenie, are based in the
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accommodation on the Kensington estate at Saint James Pallace. Princess Anne,
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Princess Beatrice, Princess Alexander all occupies substantial apartments, with Beatrice's
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flat said to include a ballroom. Jobson noted that Andrew
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had at one point allegedly covered the London rent for
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his daughters, though this is thought to have stopped. Sue
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would argue that renting these properties can Rushley would create
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greater burdens. If they weren't given to family, they would
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be empty. In fact, putting them on the market would
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be a burden to the taxpayer because of all the
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police who would have to be around keeping tabs on everyone.
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Jobson said, greater clarity is needed, particularly regarding non working royals.
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I'm not questioning the right to have somewhere to live
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in London, but we do have a right to know
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what they are paying, particularly in the case of people
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like Eugenian Beatrice who are not working Royals. Longer term
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reform is expected to fall to the Prince of Wales.
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When Charles first became king, he wanted to reevaluate how
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it was all working, but I think the cancer stopped
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him in his tracks. Jobson said he was hoping to
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limit the number of people having access to Crown and
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State properties, but I suspect all that will be left
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to William. Jobson cautioned that Britain must consider what the
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Crown and State is meant to be a commercial entity
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or a vehicle supporting royal residences. If they're going to
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run the Crown of State as a business, then they
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could rent all of them these palaces out to oligarchs.
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But that certainly wasn't the original purpose of it, so
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it added. The criticism of royal living arrangements often reflects
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wider national unease. There is a malaise in Britain at
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the moment. People feel like it is too expensive to
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live in this country, and at times like that they
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tend to turn on the monarchy. But what they don't
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realize is how hard some of them work and how
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joyless much of their lives really are. The least we
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can do is let them live somewhere lovely must be
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rough and yeah, if you'd like to email as the
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addresses the Palace intric at gmail dot com. Please follow
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us on Spotify, Apple or on Facebook Instagram. Come by
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and say hi. By Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott.
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This is Palace Intrigue and good terms