Sept. 17, 2026

Meghan Markle’s Phone Number Reportedly Leaked: Inside the Sussex School-Run Security Chaos

Show Notes
Transcript

How did Meghan Markle’s phone number reportedly end up circulating online? Screenshots said to come from a school parents’ WhatsApp group have raised fresh privacy concerns after Prince Harry and Meghan moved Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to another school.

What went wrong on the Sussex school run? ITV’s Chris Ship reports that heavy traffic separated the family’s vehicle from its private security escort. Could a less conspicuous approach have worked—and why are former royal protection officers questioning the arrangements?

Plus, four copies of Earl Spencer’s forthcoming Princess Diana memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, have reportedly been stolen from a delivery truck. Was the tightly guarded book deliberately targeted?

We also examine reports that King Charles, Prince William and Princess Catherine could seek a face-to-face meeting with Harry to discuss his future in Britain. What assurances would William want? Meanwhile, William and Kate visit the Isle of Bute as Harry prepares for an Invictus appearance, and the Prince of Wales calls for “urgent optimism” ahead of the Earthshot Prize in Mumbai.

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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.

WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,

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Mark Francis. Megan's mobile phone number has reportedly been exposed

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after screenshots from a parent's WhatsApp group began circulating online,

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creating another security concern just as Archie and Lilibet settle

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into their new school. The screenshots reportedly came from a

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WhatsApp group for parents in Archie's year at the children's

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original British school. Megan had reportedly been added to the

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group the night before the children started classes. One parent wrote,

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Welcome to Megan, who has Archie joining tomorrow. Another responded, Welcome.

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Megan then reportedly wrote, Hi Moms, thanks for the warm welcome.

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Heart emoji, so happy to be part of this community.

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Kiss kiss. The leak comes immediately after Harry and Meghan

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moved Archie and Libet out of that school following concerns

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about the security of their daily commute. One parent told

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the Mirror, The parents' WhatsApp group has been buzzing. It's

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all been very sudden and lots of people are talking

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about it. On the main class group, one of the

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parents wrote, Please welcome Meghan and Archie to the group.

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The school is very academic with a lovely close-knit village feel.

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All the parents talk to each other, so as long

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as they are friendly, they'll fit right in. There's more

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detail now on exactly what went wrong during Harry and

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Meghan's short-lived first attempt at a British school for Archie

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and Lilibet. ITV's royal editor Chris Shipp reports that on

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the first school run last Thursday, Harry and Meghan's vehicle

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was initially followed by a second vehicle carrying their private

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security team. As they reached the more congested area around

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the school, other cars moved between the two vehicles and

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the convoy became separated. With traffic barely moving... Sussex family

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car was effectively stuck while their security personnel were farther behind.

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The security team had tested the route during the summer

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and anticipated heavier traffic once school resumed, but Archie and

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Lilibet's places were only confirmed in August. That meant there

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had been no opportunity to test the journey under actual

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school day conditions before the children arrived. SHIP reports that

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by the end of the first day, it had become

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clear the arrangement was not going to work. Other schools

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Harry and Megan had previously considered were quickly revisited by

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their security team. Archie and Lilibet had a trial day

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at their new school on Monday and officially started there

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on Tuesday. Diane Davies, who spent four years as the

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head of Scotland Yard's Royal Protection Command, questions whether travelling

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as a conspicuous two-vehicle convoy is itself part of the problem.

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If you keep a low profile, most people outside of

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the school wouldn't know where you are, what they're doing

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and all the rest of it. Do they really need

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to go in a convoy with two little children on

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a school run? If they only just kept a little quieter,

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kept a lower profile, they'd be a lot safer in

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my view. One mother at the original school also told

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the Daily Mail that parents were surprised the traffic problem

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had apparently caught the Sussex team off guard. You don't

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need to be an expert to know how congested that

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area is. It's one of the worst places to drive

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in the UK. Royal biographer Robert Jobson seemingly has little

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sympathy for the Sussexes needing to change schools. He said,

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I suggest they buy themselves an alarm clock set at

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three quarters of an hour early and join the real world.

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Nobody asked him to come with his family to a

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country he deemed was unsafe. Round the clock security for

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the non-working royals will cost a small fortune. Four copies

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of Earl Spencer's forthcoming memoir about Princess Diana have reportedly

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been stolen from a truck in the Netherlands less than

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a week before the book is due to be released.

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The book, Swan Song, Diana My Sister, comes out worldwide

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on September 22nd. According to the Daily Mail, the copies

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were being transported from a printing facility to a warehouse

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when the driver stopped by a roadside lay-by Monday night.

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The following morning, the driver reportedly discovered the truck had

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been broken into. What makes the theft particularly unusual is

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that only four books were apparently taken, all copies of

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Spencer's memoir. A source told the Mail, It's extremely suspicious.

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Nothing like this has ever happened before. This is probably

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the biggest book of the year, and the security surrounding

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it has been incredibly tight. This unprecedented incident is being

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taken extremely seriously. More Palace in just a moment. Although

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we're told in every other article that he's furious, the

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master of social media, Prince William made a new friend

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on Dartmoor this week, or rather two of them. The

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Prince of Wales was visiting Prince Town when he met

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Treacle and Noodle, two alpacas belonging to local business owner

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Gary and Karen Mann, who run Hooves and more alpaca trekking.

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William spent some time stroking the animals and examining their coats.

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Their wool is so thick, isn't it? How have they

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fared in this heat this summer? Mr Mann replied, They

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actually have been quite good. They haven't fared too badly.

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William responded, They look very well looked after. Are they

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allowed in the house? Pictures of William looking particularly pleased

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with his new companions quickly attracted attention online. One royal

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watcher wrote, Ha ha ha, the future king looks so happy. Meanwhile,

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there were probably three articles suggesting William was raging about Harry.

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William and Kate are heading to Scotland today for their

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first official visit to the Isle of Bute. The Prince

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and Princess of Wales will use their Scottish titles, the

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Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, as they spend the day

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meeting people across the island and highlighting the importance of community,

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volunteering and local connections. The Palace says today's visit will

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highlight the power of community, connection and volunteering, and to

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celebrate the generosity and dedication of people who give their

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time to support and care for fellow islanders. William and

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Catherine will visit Rothsay, the island's main town, and the

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place from which their Scottish title takes its name. One

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of today's stops is the community-owned Anchor Tavern pub, where

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the couple will meet local residents and hear about the

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importance of small, everyday interactions in creating connected and resilient communities.

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They will also meet people working to protect Bute's natural environment,

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an issue the palace describes as being close to both

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of the Royal Highness's hearts. Today marks William and Catherine's

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first official visit to the Isle and follows their visits

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to the Isles of Mull and Iona last year. With

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Harry expected at the Invictus Spirit Awards, we have the

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curious juxtaposition of the Wales family being out of town

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while Harry has an event, and of course the duelling photographs.

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One imagines we will be fed lots of photos of

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William and Kate doing their cute couple performance today. William

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and Harry could be heading towards a face-to-face discussion about

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the Sussexes' future in Britain, according to a new report

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suggesting Charles and Catherine have also been involved in talks

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about how to approach him. Writing in Woman and Home,

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royal biographer Duncan Larcombe claims the possibility was discussed during

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the family's summer stay at Balmoral. His unnamed source said,

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William is extremely concerned about what Harry's return to Britain

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will mean for working members of the family. It may

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well be too risky for them to just sit back

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and let Harry make the next move. There are suggestions

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that they feel they have no choice but to ask

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the Duke of Sussex for a face-to-face meeting to discuss

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the future and lay down, or at least reiterate, some

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of the rules. Whether Harry will agree to meeting them

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all is up for debate, but it is felt that

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the King and William have little option but to try.

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Larcombe says William's concern would include whether anything discussed could

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subsequently become public. He suggests William would want assurances that

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further interviews or publications would not reopen the family dispute.

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Larcombe adds, William is calling for faster action on the environment,

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arguing that solutions already exist but need to reach more

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people and places. Writing in The Independent ahead of November's

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Earthshot Prize ceremony in Mumbai, William described this summer's conditions

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as alarming. He urged people to face the danger without

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losing confidence that they can do something about it. The

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crisis demands urgency, but without a belief that change is possible,

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its scale can leave us feeling overwhelmed. Optimism gives us

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confidence that our actions can make a difference. We need both.

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This is what I mean by urgent optimism, seeing the

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danger clearly while believing in our ability to respond. For

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the first time in history, Our greatest challenge is not

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inventing the answers, it is deploying and scaling the solutions

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we already know work. It is not naivety or blind hope,

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it is optimism grounded in evidence. Wildfires have captured the

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world's attention, but work to reduce their risk and limit

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their impact is already underway, as our solutions to clean

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our air, fix our climate, revive our oceans, eliminate waste

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and restore nature. We can and must make the remainder

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of this decade count. William is expected to travel to

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India for the November ceremony. There has also been speculation

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that Kate could accompany him. And there you have it.

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If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalacentry

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says listen uninterrupted and get the show commercial free for

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just five bucks a month. We appreciate your support. I'm

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Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue.

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Good times.

Meghan Markle’s Phone Number Reportedly Leaked: Inside the Sussex School-Run Security Chaos

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