Meghan Markle Reportedly Wants Out of Britain as Harry Fears Marriage Rift and MasterChef Backlash Grows

0:01 Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Royal commentator Carol Malone has questioned Meghan Markle's decision to co-host Junior MasterChef Australia, arguing that the role offers limited opportunities compared with the acting career she left behind. Speaking on the Royals' unscripted podcast, Malone said, She's making this sound like it's a really big, fabulous gig. No, it isn't. She's having to go to the other end of the world to do a show with a relatively small audience, co-hosting. Now, where is this going to take her? Now, had she stayed in suits, maybe she would have been a big movie star by now. Maybe Hollywood would have beckoned.

0:47 Malone suggested that Megan could have made it big by continuing to pursue acting, although the assessment is speculation about how her career might have developed. She said, Malone suggested that reports surrounding Megan's possible involvement in The Gentleman point to strained relationships with Netflix. When that story first broke, she might be in The Gentleman. Team Sussex didn't actually deny that, did they? There was no great big denial on it, and it actually looked good for Megan, I think. Malone argued that the subsequent pushback really was a smack to Megan, I think because if you're about to launch some kind of project with Netflix, if they had projects in the pipeline, Netflix are going to come and defend her.

1:33 Come out and defend her honor. She claimed that they had instead slated her and backed Guy Ritchie, concluding, that tells me the relationship is in the toilet. Megan is reportedly receiving support from close friends as she deals with allegations against her estranged father, while also facing criticism of her new role on Junior MasterChef Australia. An unnamed person described as a friend told Radar Online, The allegations against her dad have left her deeply distressed, particularly because she is raising two young children. Megan is absolutely heartbroken by everything that has emerged and cannot stop crying. It has been an incredibly painful and overwhelming experience, and there have been moments when she has really struggled to get through the day. Being a mother herself makes the allegations particularly distressing when she looks at her daughter, Lilibet, she cannot help thinking about the children who may have suffered and how vulnerable they are. The thought of any child being subjected to something so horrific is almost unbearable for her.

2:30 It has brought an entirely different level of anguish to an already deeply complicated family situation. Megan had made a conscious decision some time ago to protect her peace by stepping away from the constant cycle of headlines and online speculation to do with her father, but something of this magnitude is almost impossible to shut out. People have been contacting her from the US and elsewhere, expressing their sympathy and concern, so the allegations keep finding their way back to her. She is trying to create some distance from the situation, but the emotional weight of it has been extremely difficult to escape. Megan is fortunate to have a close circle of people who are looking out for her and making sure she doesn't have to confront everything alone.

3:11 There is an enormous amount of her to come to terms with, particularly given the complicated history with her father and the seriousness of what has been alleged. Some days are naturally harder than others, but she is trying to remain strong for her children and concentrate on the things she can control. Those closest to her are giving her the space, reassurance, and emotional support she needs while she works through what has been an exceptionally upsetting period. Megan is likely to continue with her business, charity work, and reported acting ambitions despite the distress, according to royal editor Emily Nash. Speaking on Hello's A Right Royal Podcast... Nash said the Duchess doesn't have any option other than to carry on. She has kept a relatively low profile for long periods over the last couple of years, but that doesn't make sense at the moment, where she is trying to relaunch herself, where she's running this business, and she's also trying to get back into acting. So it's a really, really awful situation for her to be dealing with, but I think, as we said earlier, having the distraction of work, the children, and her various projects is probably a good thing.

4:13 Meghan is reportedly considering spending longer in California over Christmas than Harry had anticipated, with an unnamed source claiming the couple have different expectations about their future in Britain. Closer reports that they plan to travel to the United States with Archie and Lilibet ahead of Thanksgiving on November 26 and stay through Christmas with Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland. Despite reportedly being emotional and overjoyed by the welcome they received during their joint visit to Nottingham, Megan is said to remain homesick. A source told Closer, Megan had her doubts about this move back from day one, and unfortunately a lot of her fears have come true. The even more worrisome part is she's already saying a few weeks won't be enough, and has even suggested he go back ahead of her and the children, which is just not anything like Harry is envisioning. It's pretty devastating for him that she's suggesting it. Harry sees this as a long-term thing.

5:03 He wants their children to grow up connected to his homeland, and he's begging Megan not to give up yet. but she's seriously questioning whether this move was a mistake. The danger is that if neither of them compromise, they could end up living completely different lives, which could turn into a much bigger problem for their marriage. They're both insisting that they can find their way to a solution, but it's hard for people not to be sceptical when it just seems like they are both wanting to go in such different directions. The King hasn't made time for them, William and Kate are still as ice-cold as ever, and even Eugenie's been distant. They are being treated as though They aren't there. It's no wonder Meghan is counting down the days until she can get back to California. Harry wants to get back out there and keep building on the momentum they've created. Having Meghan by his side in Nottingham meant everything to him, especially with the fantastic reception they got. As far as he's concerned, it would be crazy not to capitalise on all that goodwill and really establish a foothold for them in Britain again. He sees this as a huge opportunity and doesn't understand why they wouldn't want to make the most of it. As much as Meghan has enjoyed all the positive attention, she's not really interested in doing a bunch of royal-style appearances. She absolutely wants philanthropy to be a part of her work.

6:13 She has a number of charities in the UK that she's been working with for years, and she's focused on them and will continue to be. But she feels the lion's share of her energy needs to go to generating paid work right now. That means acting and most likely working on American projects, very likely in California. They both agreed it's best not to have the children moving around constantly. so the plan is to keep the UK as their base for a reasonable amount of time, but she is by no means seeing this as a permanent arrangement. Harry knows that, but he doesn't seem to want to accept it, and he's still hoping that she'll eventually settle in and see how great England is. But there's also a very valid fear that the opposite could happen, that once Meghan gets back to California and is surrounded by her mother and her friends and everything she's been missing, she may decide it's the only place she wants to be. Megan's Netflix series With Love, Megan missed out on a daytime Emmy to a program about dogs. Some critics seized on the winning program's subject matter. One person wrote on X, The Animal Kingdom is having a better Hollywood run than Megan.

7:14 Another posted, Megan Markle really needs to have a word with the Animal Kingdom. First the cats took down the cookie queens at the box office, now the dogs have taken down With Love, Megan at the Emmys. More Palace in just a moment. Sir Patrick Stewart's encounters with the royal family included a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, an OBE presented by King Charles, and a suspicion that the King was a Star Trek fan. Patrick Stewart recalled his royal honours in a 2023 interview with The New Yorker, describing both the formality of the occasion and the Queen's conversational approach afterwards. I have met Her Late Majesty several times on occasions of contrast in formality, maybe at a Buckingham Palace garden party. I then, to my astonishment, was offered a knighthood, and I was thrilled when I learned that the person who was going to knight me would be Her Majesty, because when I got my OBE it had been presented to me by Prince Charles, who is, I find, a delightful and remarkable person. On the day that I was knighted, she performed the ceremony, and I managed to do it without falling over or tripping on the carpet.

8:19 When it was over with everyone who was receiving an award that day, she then had a little chat, she said to me, with a nice smile on her face, and how long have you been doing this? And I said, a very long time, Your Majesty. Charles presented Stuart with his OBE in 2001, and the Queen knighted him at Buckingham Palace in 2010. In his memoir, Making It So, Stuart reflected on the repeated meetings with Charles and wondered whether the Royal recognised him as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He wrote, I am convinced that King Charles is a Star Trek fan. I'd met him several times when he was the Prince of Wales, and though he never broached the topic, I got a sense he was familiar with the show. He was less certain that the Queen knew who he was, but said she was as gracious as I had imagined she would be. Stewart also publicly supported Harry and Meghan after they announced their decision to step back from royal duties in January 2020. While promoting Star Trek Picard, he said, I am actually very proud of what they have been doing.

9:16 must have taken a great deal of courage, and the future is unknown for them. Whereas, as a member of the family, your future is pretty graphed out until the end, and I really admire them. And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is ThePalaceIntrigue at gmail.com. If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button up there that says Listen Uninterrupted. Get the show commercial free for just five bucks a month. We appreciate your support. And if there is a creator or podcaster in your family, tell them to check out a new program from Calaroga here called Linnet. L-I-N-N-E-T. It's at linnetmedia.com. And it's a program to help you be a better creator. We use it for this program. And listen to how good I sound.

9:56 And it's available free through November. Give it a try. Linnetmedia.com. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Ballast Intrigue. Good times.