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Caloroga Shark Media, Hello and Welcome to Palace Intrigue game
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host Mark Francis. A source close to the Sussexts has
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claimed that a recent Canadian opinion piece has had a
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profound impact on Meghan Markel, describing it as the most
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painful criticism she has faced in years. This is the
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most painful review Meghan has had because it comes from
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a city that once gave her refuge and normality. It's
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shaken her confidence, the insider to Old Radar Online. According
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to the source, the criticism cut particularly deep because of
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Megan's long and openly affectionate connection to Toronto, where she
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lived for seven years while filming suits. The criticism at
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the center of the controversy appeared in an opinion piece
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published by The Toronto Star written by columnist Patricia Treble.
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In the article, Treble argued that Megan has not fully
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capitalized on the opportunities of available to her since stepping
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back from royal duties, despite having all the ingredients to
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become a global cultural force five years on. While stopping
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short of calling the Duchess of Sussex and outright failure,
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Treble wrote that Meghan's career had slowly deflated over the
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past year. She suggested Meghan could be famous by being
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open and real, adding it worked for the Kardashians, who
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got rich by working NonStop to sell themselves to a
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world eager to see their latest reinventions. Treble also questioned
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what she described as a central contradiction in Meghan's public positioning,
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writing Meghan wants everyone to know and acknowledge that she's
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royal without the obligations of working on behalf of the monarch,
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including all those endless engagements for worthy causes. Radar Online
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recapped Meghan's ear from hell and inside her she had
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They've got very few friends to lean on. Staff continue
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to walk out in droves. Hawy's brother, Prince William is
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still baying for their blood, and their paycheck possibilities are
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thin and humbling. Meghan had no choice but to swallow
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her pride and take this acting role, playing herself in
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a movie close personal friends. But she's having to start
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again from the ground up. It seems like more of
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a cameo than a leading role. Those money spending, fifteen
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million dollar gigs are hard to come by these days,
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even if you're George Clooney or Angelina Joel Lee never Mind,
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a former balist actress. Right now, Harry and Meghan are
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regrouping and planning to go again, but it all feels
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quite desperate and depressing, especially as they're clashing and bickering
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a lot more these days. It really has been a
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year from hell, and so many respects, it's left them
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emotionally frayed and wondering if they're ever going to catch
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a break. Meghan appears focused on twenty twenty six. The
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Duchess began the year where they carefully curated personal posts
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that blended family life with promotion of her lifestyle brand
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as Ever. Although she did not share any New Year's
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Eve photographs, a collage appeared on the as Ever's official
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Instagram account, later reposted by Meghan to her own page.
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The images were arranged around the word January, with a
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caption beneath the original post reading January Reset and Rituals.
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The collage combined intimate moments with brand imagery. One photograph
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showed Meghan and Prince Harry laughing together while holding hands
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in an open field. Another image captured Megan carrying a
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small basketball holding one of the couple's children. Other images
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focused on as Ever products, including a branded candle and
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a handwritten good morning note featuring Meghan's calligraphy. Additional shots
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included a solo image of Meghan in her home garden.
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The post followed a message Meghan sent two subscribers of
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the as Ever newsletter in which she described her plans
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for a quiet New Year's Eve at home with Harry.
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In the note, titled Pop the Bubbly, she wrote, when
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the clock strikes midnight, we'll be celebrating. Write along with you,
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glasses raised, bottles of bubbly popping, and confetti in the air.
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Only in our case its flower sprinkles falling instead. She
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went on to wish readers good company, memorable and plenty
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of reasons to celebrate, while also directing them to the
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as Ever Napper Valley Wine collection released last summer. Meghan
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closed the message with a lighthearted cheers, DearS. One story
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we saw while prepping the podcast was that Megan may
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be preparing a cookbook. As the story goes, Meghan is
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planning a spring launch for the book, timed to align
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with the next phase of her as Ever brand. One
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insider is quoted as saying Meghan is looking at a
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cookbook for early twenty twenty six, and there will be
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more lifestyle products coming in the spring. Twenty twenty six
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is looking like another big year for her. There will
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be more wine and definitely more homeware too. Candles and
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homeware are also forecast to be part of the expansion,
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while some of the earlier offerings may be phased out,
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but she will ease off selling her biscuits and crape kits.
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The Insider added our caution in not yet lining up
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at the bookstore, as the cookbook mentioned seems to have
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originated in an article from nearly one year ago, with
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secondary sites citing that piece and then aggregators running off
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that foundation regard. If Meghan does put out a cookbook,
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will be sure to let you know how much everyone
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loves it. Another source told The Male that Netflix is
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still assessing the performance of Megan's holiday programming before committing
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to further ventures, saying they are monitoring the Christmas show
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to see if it picks up before they do any
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proper pop ups or experiences. We'll be happy to save
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the Netflix research department some time and money if they
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need our help and figuring out that answer, well, Palace
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it just a moment. According to reports from Radar Online,
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those close to Meghan playing she is working toward a major,
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long term recalibration of her business strategy, with billionaire status
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said to be the ultimate goal. The outlet reports that
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Meghan and Prince Harry are currently worth close to eighty
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one million dollars, but sources suggest that figure falls far
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short of aspirations. One insider told the publication those around
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Meghan say she is openly focused on reaching billionaire status,
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and it's thinking far beyond short term projects, with a
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clear ambition to build something on the scale of the
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world's biggest celebrity led businesses. Another source explained that to
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get anywhere near that level of wealth, she has to
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create a brand that goes well beyond small, curated lifestyle
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items into something much broader and more scalable. What we're
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seeing now is just the foundation, suggesting that Meghan's current
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ventures represent only the early phase of a much larger plan.
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A branding expert cited by the outlet pointed to the
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Kardashian business empire as a model for scaling celebrity driven ventures, saying,
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for anyone trying to learn how to build a billion
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dollar celebrity driven business. There are few better examples or
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sources of insight than the Kardashians. When Harry declared it
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was impossible for him to safely bring Meghan and their
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children back to the UK after losing his court battle
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over police protection last year, it appeared to slam the
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door on any near term royal family reunion. However, where
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a new government led review now under way into the
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Sussex's threat level, there is renewed speculation that the Sussexes
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could return to Britain as early as this year. The
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couple have not been together in the UK since the
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funeral of Queen Elizabeth in September twenty twenty two. Royal
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author Duncan Larcom believes that if the updated security assessment
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works in Harry's favor, Meghan will face some uncomfortable choices.
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The security issue has essentially been used as an excuse
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for Megan not to come to the UK in the
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last few years, he said, but many people think the
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real reason is to do with the public reaction that
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she'd receive over here. If the protection is put back
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in place for Harry and Meghan when they're on UK soil,
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then there's really no excuse for her to stay away,
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so she has to be considering doing a U turn.
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She has no choice but to think about it given
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the new review. But effectively she'll come face to face
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with the British public and members of the family that
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she's been at pains to criticize. She will want to
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support Harry how she can, and has also said that
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she doesn't like to be away from her children for long,
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so there are going to be some difficult decisions either way.
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I don't think it's in Meghan's character to eat humble pie,
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and if she comes to the UK, humble Pie is
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exactly what's on the menu for her. As of last month,
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bookmakers were already offering odds on when a Sussex family
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visit might happen. The twenty twenty six currently the favorite,
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followed by twenty twenty eight. However, the Invictor's Games are
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scheduled for Birmingham in the summer of twenty seven, making
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that year another strong possibility. Spring is on the table
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our Royal inside of Deep Crown Rights in his free substack.
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The proposed window of late February early March is no accident.
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It's far enough from any major royal occasions to minimize disruption,
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yet early enough in the year to suggest a genuine intent.
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But the fact that Prince William is reportedly urging caution
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speaks to a deeper reality. This is about whether the
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institution can withstand another manufactured crisis. Larcom suggests the Invictus
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Games could also provide a useful cover for Megan, noting
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that it could become a pr disaster if she were
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to stay away while Harry attended alone with Archie and Lilibet.
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Meghan is not stupid. She knows that staying away would
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do her no favors in terms of how people view
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her over here. He said, it would start to raise
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all sorts of questions about the couple's relationship and them
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wanting different things. I'm sure they'll be talking to the
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UK advisers about how the land lies and if you
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believe the polls, people may want to see Harry back
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in the fold, but at the moment they are the
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outcast couple who live in self imposed exile and have
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stirred up a lot of trouble and made a lot
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of money off the royal family during the rift. There
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is also the unresolved issue of where the couple would
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stay and who would they see. Larkham asked, if they
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come to the UK, who do they see? Do they
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see Harry's old friends that he's had to isolate from.
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Does he see his brother who won't talk to him?
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Does he see his father who only gave him minutes
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of his time when they met before. It's a really complicated,
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complex situation that Harry and Meghan have managed to get
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themselves into, and there are a lot of questions of
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exactly what a visit to the UK would look like,
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and they have it. If you'd like to email us,
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he addresses the Palace entry get gmail dot com. Please
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foll us on Spotify, Apple on Faceboo, Instagram, all the
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social media sites. I Mark Francis my thanks to John mcturmott.
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This is Palace intrigue and good terms