Aug. 11, 2026

Meghan and Harry’s Cookie Queens Beaten by Cat Videos at Box Office

Show Notes
Transcript

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Cookie Queens gets strong reviews but struggles badly at the box office — even finishing behind CatVideoFest 2026. Plus, Meghan shares new behind-the-scenes video from the Sussexes’ Canada date night, her dramatic gown divides royal watchers, Harry celebrates a major legal ruling against Meta, and a commentator says Meghan deserves “permanent exile” from the Royal Family. We also look at reports Harry wants King Charles at the 2027 Invictus Games and why Holly Willoughby’s new lifestyle series is drawing comparisons to With Love, Meghan.

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

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Callarogu Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue. I

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am your host Mark for Ancis. Meghan Markel and Prince

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Hary's latest Hollywood project had a rough opening weekend, with

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their documentary Cookie Queens finishing behind, among other things, a

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seventy minute compilation of Internet cat videos. The documentary marks

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Harry and Meghan's theatrical featured debut as executive producers through

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Archworld Productions. According to Box Office Pro figures cited by

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Page six, Cookie Queens earned three hundred and twenty seven thousand,

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seven hundred and ninety seven dollars from four hundred and

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forty six screens, for an average of just seven hundred

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and thirty five dollars per screen. That put the movie

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at number fifteen for the weekend Cat Video Fest twenty

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twenty six. Essentially, a theatrical collection of popular cat videos

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finished five places higher. Another tracking service, box Office Mojo,

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placed Cookie Queen's at number thirteen because it did not

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include reported grosses for two Indian films that Box Office

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Pro ranked ahead of it. Media analyst Jeff Bock of

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Exhibitor Relations things at least part of the problem was

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timing Buck told Page six the documentary probably should have

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been released at the height of Girl Scout Cookie season,

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when the cookies and the girls selling them are part

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of the national conversation. For a small documentary timing as marketing,

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it missed the very window that could have made it

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feel relevant and turned curiosity into ticket sales. Guess that's

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the way the cookie crumbles. The disappointing opening is likely

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to receive extra attention because of Harry and Meghan's uneven

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record in entertainment. There Apolo documentary struggled to make an impact,

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while With Love Megan was not renewed for a third season.

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There have also been two podcasts which appeared discontinued. But

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people involved with Cookie Queens apparently had positive things to

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say about working with Megan. One sourced Tall Page six.

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I have to say I really do like her. I

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haven't met Harry, but she has been good to work with.

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Megan shared a new behind the scenes look at her

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night out with Harry and Canada. The Duke and Duchess

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of Sussex attended the David Foster Foundation's fortieth anniversary gala

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in Victoria on Friday. Megan posted photos and video from

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the evening on Instagram, including a selfie of the couple

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dressed for the black tie event. Another clip showed Megan

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and Harry laughing as they walked past a group of

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musicians playing bagpipes. Megan could be heard asking do you

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know how much my husband loves bagpipes? Harry then joked

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with the musicians, so where are mine? Their appearance quickly

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generated the familiar debate on social medium, with critics questioning

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everything from their relevance to their reasons for attending. One

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critic wrote, Dad and side hustle mum have a date

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night in Canada. Harran Meghan clearly have nothing better to

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do and we're in some desperate need of something glamorous

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and Victoria is the best they could do. Another question

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why Harry and Meghan were appearing at someone else's charitable

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event rather than staging more events through their own Archwell organization,

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writing they always write on someone else's coattails. After five years,

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they should have been the ones hosting fundraisers for Archwell.

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But the reaction was certainly not universally negative. Supporters pointed

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out that Harry and Meghan were attending an event benefiting

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children and families. Dealing with serious medical circumstances. One defender responded,

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while they certainly had something better to do than you

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obsessing about their whereabouts, They supported David Foster's Foundation for

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children in need of donor organs. Maybe you should focus

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on something positive and stop gossiping about Harry and Meghan

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be kind. For the gala, Meghan wore a dark evening

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gown by Canadian fashioned label Gretta Constantine and accessorized with

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sapphire and diamond ear rings that previously belonged to Princess Diana.

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For the gala, Megan wore a dark evening gown by

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Canadian fashioned label Gretta Constantine and accessorized with sapphire and

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diamond earrings that previously belonged to Princess Diana. The dress

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retails for about seventeen hundred and ninety five dollars and

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features an asymmetric neckline with one bare shoulder and a

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long cape like panel of fabric extending from the other.

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One critic on social media wrote, who dress looks like

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a toga costume. One royal watcher even compared the look

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to a recent outfit worn where the Princess of Wales

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at Wimbledon, writing my first thought was that it was

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a very badly executed riff on the beautiful green dress

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worn by the Princess of Wales on the final day

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of Wimbledon. One commenter offered a more mixed assessment, saying

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I think a dress would look better on someone that

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was taller, but agree I've seeing her wear worse. Harry

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is calling a major quarter ruling against Mata a turning

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point in the fight to protect children from harm on

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social media. The Duke issued a statement after a new

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Mexico judge offered Matter, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram,

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to pay five hundred and sixty seven million dollars and

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implement new safeguards for younger users. Harry, who has made

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online child safety one of his major causes in recent years,

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welcomed the decision. In a statement, Harry said, for years

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we've argued the big text harm to children was a choice,

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not some inevitable side effect. This is not an accident,

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It is not a glitch. What we've seen in the

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last twenty four hours is what accountability looks like. This

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is what happens when the law finally catches up to

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decisions made in boardrooms, product meetings, and algorithm reviews, decisions

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that put social media engagement ahead of safety. The bar

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has moved, and every platform still choosing engagement over safety

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should take notice. Change cannot wait another day. American columnist

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Lee Cohen told The Daily Express that he believes there

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is little prospect of Megan rebuilding her relationship with the institution.

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Cohen said she brought endless drama, grievance, and attention seeking

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to an institution built on duty, discretion and service, casting

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a shadow over the final years of the beloved late Queen.

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Rather than embracing the privilege she was given, she chose

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profit and publicity over loyalty, and in doing so, incinerated

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every bridge behind her. And Cohen was even more emphatic

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when asked about the possibility of another chance of Megan

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within the family, He said, another chance to anything. She

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deserves his permanent exile from the family she insulted so despicably.

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In The Express, Chris Richards writes, it has now been

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reported by sources that it would mean the world to

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Harry for King Charles to be by his side either

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at the opening or closing ceremony to his Invictus Games.

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When they take place in Birmingham in twenty twenty seven.

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You have to admit he's got some goal. Next he'll

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be asking Prince William and Catherine to put on a

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spread at their home for the athletes, using Megan's jam

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More Palace in the moment, one of Britain's best known

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television personalities has been compared to Megan Markel after launching

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a new lifestyle show of her own for American listeners

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who may not know the name, Holly Willoughby spent fourteen

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years as the host of This Morning, one of Britain's

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biggest daytime television programs. Think of her as a longtime

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fixture of British morning TV, A familiar celebrity host who

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spent years interviewing stars, covering lifestyle topics, and becoming a

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household name in the UK. Willoughby left This Morning in

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twenty twenty three and has since been rebuilding her television career.

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Her latest project is Holly Willoughby Together, a YouTube lifestyle

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series that launched last month and releases new episodes twice

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a week. The format has Willoughby spending time with celebrity guests,

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cooking and talking with them. Her first episode featured Stanley

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Tucci making past her with her. It didn't take long

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before viewers and critics started comparing the show with Meggan's

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Netflix series With Love. Megan Willoughby says she doesn't mind

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speaking of the time. She said, I never got an

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absolute hammering, but I actually really enjoyed her show. The

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Independent gave Holly Willoughby Together two stars and noted the

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similarities between the two programs. Critic Annabel Nugent wrote, say

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what you want about Megan Markle, but she never subjected

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us to a dramatic reading of the ingredients in a

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fray Bento's steak and kidney pier, which is precisely what

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occurs around the thirty four minute mark. She did give

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Willoughby an advantage in one area, writing where Willoughby has

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the edge of her American counterpart, though, is her natural

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charm something that takes no effort on her part? And

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there you have it. If you like to email us

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I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermot. This is

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Pallace Intrigue. Good Tins.

Meghan and Harry’s Cookie Queens Beaten by Cat Videos at Box Office

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