July 2, 2025

Meghan’ Markles $30 Rosé Drops—and So Does the Truth Behind the Brand

Show Notes
Transcript

Meghan Markle’s new rosé has officially arrived, priced at $30 a bottle—but sold only in pricey bundles. In this episode, we unpack the hype, the fine print, and the criticism swirling around As Ever’s luxury pricing, production secrecy, and jam-adjacent marketing. Brand experts weigh in on whether the Duchess can scale without selling out, while sources close to Meghan push back on accusations of manufactured scarcity. Also: Sarah Ferguson makes a surprise Wimbledon appearance, and King Charles kicks off Royal Week in Scotland.
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Caloroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I

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am your host. Mark Francis Megan celebrated Wine Release Eve

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with an Instagram post showing a wine bottle sitting in

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a bucket of ice, captioned Rose joins the party tomorrow cheers,

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and at eight am Montecito time, the wine had arrived.

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Available via wine dot asever dot com, the inaugural bottle

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of Rose priced at thirty dollars and is sold in

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bundles of three, six, or twelve. But the chilled pink

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wine is just the beginning. Began is also teasing a

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method champan wise sparkling wine and other varietals to follow

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in the coming months. While thirty dollars may seem reasonable,

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the pricing starts at ninety For a trio of bottles.

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You can't just order one, and with a twenty dollars

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flat rate shipping fee, customers will need to spend a

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total of one hundred ten dollars to get their hands

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on the pink hued blend. Shoppers can also choose a

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six bottle bundle for one fifty nine or a full

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twelve bottle case for three hundred However, shipping restrictions may

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leave some fans feeling left out. Orders cannot be shipped

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to Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, Rhode Island, or Utah. Hawaiian

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customers are also facing limits. The wine can only be

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shipped to the counties of Hawaii and Kawai and for

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those outside the US, international shipping is not available at

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this time. According to the site, bottels will begin shipping

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on July ninth. Meghan did not mention the July first,

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marked what would have been the sixty fourth birthday of

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Princess Diana. Described as a bespoke blend with soft notes

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of stone fruit, gentle minerality, and lasting finish, the rose

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is positioned as the ideal summer sip. A press release

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from as Ever said the wine was designed for summer's

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best moments, from lunches that turn into dinners and sun

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drenched weekends where the only thing louder than the music

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is the laughter. Brand expert Richard Ead had predicted a

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quick sellout of Megan's wine, telling Newsweek, I'm sure we'll

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see the stories about the wine being sold out within seconds,

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and he's not sure that's the best strategy. Saying from

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a business point of view, it's actually important now to

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have consistency. If you think about how much we consume jam,

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you can't get another for about two or three months.

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That doesn't really make commercial sense. You want to purchase

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things when you want them. That's what we're all about,

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instant gratification. These are not particularly high value items. It's

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not like you're waiting for a Birken bag or a

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Louis Vuitton scarf that's two thousand pounds with a waiting list.

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Because it's a limited addition. This is jam and flower sprinkles.

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They've got to get to a time when they can

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fulfill all demand and there's still opportunity for people to

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go on if they're curious and buy the product too.

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I think for her it's all about authenticity now, and

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I think it would potentially cheapen that product if it

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becomes too mass market. What they do want to do

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is keep it where it feels like. There are small

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batches and they're all quite artisan in their feel and look.

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It would be a shame for her to sell out

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on that. But if you are partnering with Netflix and

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you have the reach of Meghan Markel and you're in America.

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You need to think about the scale right at the beginning.

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It's about the demand, and if the demand is there,

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she might have to look for different suppliers. She might

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have looked at different products, but there needs to be

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some consistency, and it feels that's missing from what she's doing.

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You look at it and think, let's try her apricot jam,

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but you can't get it. Meghan's camp appears to be

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pushing back on the manufactured scarcity narrative, with one source

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telling Newsweek that Meghan was determined not to sacrifice quality

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and taste, which has meant to has taken time to

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increase supply. Newsweek's source said the supply team is constantly

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changing as the business is growing, as is very normal

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for any business that's trying to scale. The critical thing

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is maintaining the quality of the product. And sure, you

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can just go to any bottling plant and anyone who's

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growing raspberries anywhere in the country and get it done

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really quickly. The reason it's taking time is because there's

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been absolutely no compromise on the quality and the ingredients

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and the flavor. The rate at which the products SEMs

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to sell out regardless of the scale and the numbers.

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It's proving very difficult, but that's a great problem to have.

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Last week, Megan came under scrutiny after it emerged that

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her teas were supplied by the Republic of Tea, a

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brand that sells similar products for considerably less. As Ever

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charges twelve dollars for a tin of twelve tea bags,

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while the Republic of Tea sells thirty six hibiscus tea

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bags and a metal tin for fourteen fifty, but its source,

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close to the Dutchess, pushed back on the idea that

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the products are the same, telling Newsweek, the high biscus

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tea that they sell and the high biscus tea that

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she sells sourced from them is different. It's a different blend.

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Her tea is an entirely unique, bespoke blend. They added

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that the packaging is also a factor in the price difference.

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If you look at it the way it's packaged, there

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are lots of differences the packaging and the production that

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as Ever uses is more expensive than the stuff Tea

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Republic users. The label on her fruit spreads don't reveal

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where the products are actually made. And one industry expert

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described it as purposefully vague. The address listed belongs to

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Netflix's corporate off on Sunset Boulevard. Jam maker Donna Collins

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told The Daily Mail a high end client might want

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to give the impression their jams are being made by

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hand in a country kitchen, while they're actually made in

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an industrial warehouse on a sterile production line. After reviewing

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footage Megan released on the process, Colins added, looking at

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the video she's posted, her production looks industrial, not small scale.

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Her raspberry spreads and touched by a human hand, and

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its entire production it's made at scale in a huge

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vat and cooked quickly, pumped down a pipe and squeezed

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into jars. She further explained that celebrity brands often rely

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on copackaging facilities and maintained secrecy through strict non disclosure agreements.

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Megan and Netflix have kept it simple. Labeling the products

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as coming from Netflix means they can source the ingredients

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from anywhere, as long as they come from within the US.

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Colin said, if they buy ingredients from outside the US,

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it has to say so on the label. Legally, she

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can manufacture the jam wherever she wants it's what most

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celebrity brands do. There's just more scrutiny on her. Her

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the legally fruit spread, as advertised as being inspired by

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the recipe Megan craft in her home kitchen. Vanity Fair

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explained the difference between a jam, a preserve, and a spread,

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explaining that it comes down to the ratio of fruit

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to sugar. Jam, which is regulated by the FDA, must

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have at least fifty five percent sugar and forty five

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percent fruit. The sugar content also affects the jam's final consistency.

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As the sugar is heated, it binds to fruit pactants,

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either naturally occurring or added to create a stronger gel.

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As for the wine, it's made from grapes sourced from

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fair Winds Estate in Napa Valley and bottled at the

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Kund Family Winery. According to a source, Megan chose to

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partner with fair Winds in part because of the vineyards

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struggles in the aftermath of the twenty twenty wildfires. In

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twenty twenty, there were the massive, massive fires that RiPP

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through Napa Valley. The soaurce explained, fair Winds was one

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of those vineyards and they're still feeling the effects today

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the cause over fifteen million dollars worth of damage, and

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the Dutchess and Duke are both contributed signifigant lead to

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businesses that have been impacted in and affected. The source

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also pushed back against anticipated criticism around the production scale,

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saying this is her first foray, but I'm sure there

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will be the naysayers and the usual suspects out there

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who claim that she's only bottled fifty bottles. That is

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definitely not the case. It's an entirely bespoke, entirely unique,

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curated blend. She spent months and months and months testing

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and tasting and letting her friends do testing and tasting

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and sampling, giving notes back. She's put a lot of

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love and care into it. More palace in just a moment.

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In other royal news, Sarah Ferguson made a surprise return

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to Wimbledon on Monday, her first appearance in the Royal

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Box at the tournament in thirty seven years. Fergie was

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all smiles as she joined her daughter Princess Beatrice for

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a sunny day at the All England Club, in marked

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nostalgic return for Fergie, who last sat in the Royal

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Box in nineteen eighty eight, famously alongside her close friend

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the late Princess Diana. The two were regular fixtures at

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Wimbleden during the eighties and nineties, often seen laughing and

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chatting courtside. King Charles arrived in Scotland on Tuesday to

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mark the start of Royal Week also known as Holyrood Week,

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with a ceremonial welcome steeved in tradition. The seventy six

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year old monarch was front and center for the Ceremony

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of the Keys at the Palace of Holywood House in Edinburgh,

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where he was formally presented with the keys to the city.

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Keeping the custom, His Majesty then returned them with the

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time honored phrase, I returned these keys, being perfectly convinced

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that they cannot be placed in better hands than those

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of Lord Provost and the counselors of my good city

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at Edinburgh. The ceremonial handover was conducted by Lord at

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Provost robert Aldbridge and accompanied by all the pomp expected

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of a royal occasion. The King inspected a guard of

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honour provided by the King's Bodyguard for Scotland, the Royal

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Company of Archers, and met with senior military officials. Adding

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to the pageantry. Music was performed by the Band of

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the Royal Regiment of Scotland along with the pipes and

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drums of the Second Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. Royal

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Week is a cherished tradition that dates back to Queen

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Victoria's time, offering the sovereign and opportunity to engage with

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communities and celebrate Scottish culture. The Ceremony of the Keys,

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held in the gardens of the Palace, signals the ceremonial

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opening to the week's events and affirms the Monarch's historic

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tized Scotland and they have it. If you'd like to

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email us or addresses the Palace intric at gmail dot com.

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Please follow us on Spotify, Apple, the Apple if you're choice,

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and leave us a nice review if you're joining the show.

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A reminder we have another show from Callaoigashark Media called Feuds, Power,

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Pride and Payback and it's all about the biggest feuds

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going on in the world right now, from Elon Musk

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and Trump to Baldonian Lively. And this week's episode features

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a couple you know, it's the Sussexes. Versus the royal family.

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Check it out. Feuds, Power, pride and payback. Wherever you

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get your podcasts, I mind Francis my thanks to John McDermott.

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This is palace entry and good terms.

Meghan’ Markles $30 Rosé Drops—and So Does the Truth Behind the Brand

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