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Caloroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome through Palace Intrigue. Am
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your host Mark Ransis. Megan Mikal has been labeled the
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most disappointing celebrity of twenty twenty five by her former
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hometown newspaper, The Toronto Star. The opinion piece argues that
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despite having all the ingredients to become a global success,
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she has failed to live up to expectations over the
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past year and has instead slowly deflated. Meghan spent seven
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years living in Toronto while filming the legal drama Suits,
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a period she has often described as allowing her to
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live a normal life despite her growing fame. It was
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also during the time in the city that she began
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her relationship with Prince Harry, who reportedly traveled quietly to
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Toronto in twenty sixteen to visit her. Toronto has long
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held symbolic importance for the couple. It was where they
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made their first public appearance together at the Invictus Schemes
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and twenty seventeen, and as recently as November, Harry publicly
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thanked the city for giving him a wife during a
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speech at the True Patriot Love Foundation National Tribute Dinner.
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Despite that history, the Toronto Star article offers a sharply
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critical reassessment, while stopping short of calling Megan an abject failure.
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According to Star, tensions between William and Harry have reportedly
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flared once again, this time over how the legacy of
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their late mother, Princess Diana should be handled and Inside
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It tells the magazine that the Duke of Sussex is
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determined to honor his mother and share her story with
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the next generation, and does not believe his older brother
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needs to be involved. The source ads that Harry intends
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to use his existing Netflix relationship when the time comes,
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saying he would go straight there, a move that is
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said to further anger the Prince of Wales, particularly given
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lingering resentment over the crown. What is said to trouble
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Prince William most, however, is Meghan Markle's alleged involvement. According
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to gossip columnist Rob Shooter, sources claim that Harry and
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Meghan are developing a feature film centered on Diana, and
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that Megan wants to direct the project. Shooter Scoops Insider
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reports they've been meeting with writers, agents and producers, breaking
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story and talking casting. Meghan is intensely hands on and
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wants control from start to finish and inside a Telstarr
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doesn't want her anywhere near his mother's story, But of
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course that doesn't matter one bit to Harry. He is
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absolutely second that Harry and my extension, Meghan will be
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profiting off Diana. To him, it's nothing more than a
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shameless money grab, and he's vowing to do whatever it
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takes to stop them. Harry's not asking anyone's permission anymore,
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especially not Williams. In his eyes, the monarchy failed Diana,
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so they ought to be the last ones in charge
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of honoring her. We'll have our popcorn ready either way.
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A series of high level staff departures from Prince Harry
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and Meghan Michael's team has prompted fresh criticism from communications experts,
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who say the turnover is unusual, high and potentially damaging.
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Doug Elridge, founder of Achilles pr told Fox News Digital
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that losing five senior communications advisors within a year is
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highly irregular outside of the final months of an outgoing
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government administration. He said it remains unclear whether the exits
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were driven by budget pressures at archwell, a strategic consolidation,
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or the natural end of consultancy contracts, nothing there has been,
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noting there has been no indication that any advisors were
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formally fired or quit in protest. Elrich said successful communications
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operations depend on clarity, continuity, and execution, adding that stability
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is difficult to achieve when a team becomes a revolving door.
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Royal photographer Helena Chard echoed that concern, telling Fox News
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that the latest departures feel like deja vu as what
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she described as the couple's high staff turnover merry go
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round continues. She suggested that the controversy surrounding Harry and
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Meghan's appearance at Chris Janet's birthday party may have contributed
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to former Chief Communications Officer Meredith Mainz deciding to step
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away amid scrutiny over media handling in public perception, Chad
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said means a well regarded communications professional may have chosen
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to protect her reputation, stressing that a strategy only works
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if all parties adhere to it. She was appointed to
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what she call a lack of clarity and consistency in
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the Sussex's messaging, adding there are murmurs the couple do
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not always follow expert advice. Royal commentator Hilary Fordage was
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more blunt, describing the departures as confirmation that Harry and
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Meghan are unimaginably high maintenance and calling them the common
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factor in what she labeled a dysfunctional situation. She noted
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that senior communications professionals typically stay in rolls for three
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to five years, with frequent turnover more common in startups
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or organizations, and crisis. Such patterns, she said, can signal
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either difficult principles, shrinking operation, or both. Fortage contrasted the
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Sussexes situation with that of Prince William Kate Middleton, whose
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senior communication staff have remained in place for years, a
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stability she attributed to clear hierarchies and established protocols. Elridge
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and Chard also warned that the departures themselves are creating
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the very headlines Harry and meganusent to want to avoid.
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Elridge said that without a strong communications team shaping narratives,
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attention inevitably shifts to why senior advisers keep leaving, a
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perception he believes will be particularly damaging in both the
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UK and the United States. Fortage added that the ongoing
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turbulence could make it increasingly difficult for the Sussexes to
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attract top tier professionals in the future, arguing that experienced
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advisers are unlikely to commit to what she described as
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a volatile environment with unclear strategy and a contracting philanthropic operation.
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More palace in just a moment. By the way, I
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want to thank our subscribers for putting up with our
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little glitch over the weekend with Apple and the inability
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to remove the commercials. We seem to have gotten everything
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resolved and hope you are enjoying once again a commercial
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free experience and appreciate the support very much. Thank you
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for putting up with that. In The Guardian and at
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Whitelock Rits Walter Bagohart, the Victorian journalist and political essayist,
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I argue that the British monarchy's mystery is its life,
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and that we must not let in daylight upon magic.
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This has for more than one hundred and fifty years
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provided the justification for our constitutional monarchy to remain shrouded
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in secrecy, above scrutiny and protected from sustained critique. As
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Bagohart wrote, above all things, our royalty is to be
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reverenced and if you begin to poke about it, you
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cannot reverence it. Yet automatic deference or reverence is no more.
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Contemporary expectations of transparency and accountability are finally beginning to
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focus on the monarchy. Silence now suggests there is something
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to hide, and this erodes public trust and with it
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acceptance of a minded faction for the institution. There are
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questions around what was known and ignored regarding Andrew mount
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Batten windsor what further questions of accountability and transparency may
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arise should it not be more widely known and considered
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that as monarch, our head of state has sovereign immunity
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and so cannot be tried in court. And then there
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is the little known fact that the King's consent has
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sought for all legislation that affects the personal property or
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personal interests of the crown. The royal family has consistently
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been reactive rather than proactive when it comes to change
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in public opinion, and continues to believe in privilege and
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privacy at all costs. Yet for the monarchy to survive
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and thrive, and the king to continue to play a
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role as a unifying figurehead supporting charitable causes and exercising
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soft power internationally, he needs to embrace openness and accountability.
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Reverence towards the institution is all but lost, but without
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transparency and letting in the daylight, it risks further alienation, mistrust,
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and fatal irrelevance. As the King is praised for the
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openness with which he has spoken about his health, perhaps
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he might reflect on the expectations the public may have
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of a truly modern monarch. Queen Camilla has spoken publicly
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for the first time about being indecently assaulted as a teenager,
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sharing her experience during a special edition of BBC Radio
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fours Today program. The queen said the incident occurred when
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she was attacked by a stranger on a train while
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reading a book. Recalling the moment, she said, somebody I
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didn't know attacked me and I did fight it back.
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She added that she was left deeply angry by the experience,
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saying I was so furious about it, and it sort
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of lurked for many years. Camilla told the program that
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when she arrived home, her mother immediately noticed something was wrong,
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asking why a hare was standing on end, why a
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button was missing from her coat. Reflecting on the long
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term impact. The Queen said the memory resurfaced strongly as
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she became more involve in supporting victims of domestic abuse
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and sexual violence. Throughout her public life, Queen Camilla has
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made supporting survivors of rape, domestic violence and sexual abuse
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a central part of her work. King Charles and Queen
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Camilla marked the arrival of the new year by sharing
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a distinctive animated message on social media. The post featured
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a stylized display of fireworks bursting above Bunkingham Palace before
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forming the words Happy New Year, accompanied by the sound
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of cheering as twenty twenty six began. Alongside the animation,
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King Charles the Third and Queen Camilla wrote, as twenty
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twenty six arrives around the world, we wish you all
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a very happy New Year, and they have it. If
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you'd like to email us or address it's the Palace
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Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple,
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or Facebook or Instagram or all the social media sites
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were all over the place. Come say hi, I'm Mark
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Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue
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in good terms.