Meghan’s $259 As Ever Basket Slammed as “Fantasy” Life While Royal Nicknames Revealed

0:03 Caloroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Open up your wallets, because we now have the pricing for Megan's exciting new as-ever products. Let's start with the Pantry Basket, costing just $ 259. It contains three jams, two jars of honey, flour sprinkles, three herbal teas and spice kits for hot toddies and spiced cider. The collection also includes a parlor basket for just $ 242 and a hostess basket at $ 211. A chocolate-covered fruit gift box costs $ 75. Marking the launch on Instagram, Megan shared photographs and footage tracing the brand's development alongside memories of selling homemade scrunchies for a dollar, Girl Scout cookies and lemonade as a child. My entrepreneurial spirit was always there, she wrote. The montage set to the Cranberries' song Dreams includes childhood photographs, footage of jam jars being filled in a factory, and a picture of Harry smiling while Meghan examines a hamper. There was also previously shared footage of Lilibet helping her mother make jam and saying, I think it's beautiful. Meghan referenced her former lifestyle blog, The Tig, and thanked the supporters behind the account, The Tiglets. P.S.

1:23 Love you ladies at The Tiglets. Behind every successful woman is herself, and that's true. But there's more. A community of love, a squad of support, an amazing team. As I pinch myself looking at how this brand has grown and as we introduce our holiday collection, I feel very proud and grateful. A huge thanks to my team at As Ever Official. So proud of what we are creating together. Thanks for helping bring this vision to life. Social media users had their usual reactions. One said, Another one thought, This post captures the essence of a shockingly vainglorious woman who self-worships. So deeply in a fog of delusion, she believes she is iconic. She is not. She is worshipping herself, not celebrating a business. Another simply commented, Honestly, I have never seen anyone so enamored with themselves as hashtag Meghan Markle.

2:21 Meghan is selling a life she doesn't actually live in, according to royal commentator Tom Sykes, who has criticized the Montecito imagery behind her as-ever holiday launch. Sykes questioned the use of family footage in the Sussexes' California home to promote the collection following their reported return to Britain. I think right now the presence of the kids is about creating this fantasy-perfect domestic life, which we're seeing with the advent calendars clearly trying to sell. It's clearly trying to say, we have this lovely, lovely life. Our beautiful house is so perfect. We can't wait to get back there for Christmas. But people are not stupid. They're looking at this and going, but you don't live there, so none of this makes any sense. Why haven't we seen much of Megan? An insider tells Heat World, Megan was advised a while ago to be less accessible because it creates more interest, so that's the strategy she's leaning into. She is deliberately biding her time and staying out of sight intentionally, but she's also got plenty of things keeping her busy. Between unpacking, getting the kids settled into their new routine, and keeping her brand and all her other projects moving... She's going from morning until late at night. When she does start stepping out more, the hope is that she'll have built up enough anticipation that people will be excited to see her rather than having her everywhere right away and the public getting sick of her. King Charles joined Sir Elton John at a music workshop in London, meeting young people learning the skills needed for careers in the creative industries.

3:50 The event brought together Apple and the King's Trust Creative Labs at the technology company's headquarters in in the restored Battersea Power Station. Charles and Elton listened to singer-songwriter Skye Newman perform. The King also spoke to participants about their ambitions and the obstacles they face. One young musician highlighted the difficulty of finding enough money to turn creative ideas into reality. When Charles met Prophet Guillory, Apple's music head of artist services, tools and community, he appeared familiar with his mentoring work. Wow, you did your homework, Guillory told him. The King's Trust, formerly the Prince's Trust, is now in its 50th year and has helped 1.3 million young people across Britain. The Apple partnership focuses on practical experience with technology used in music and other creative work. Elton has supported the charity for many years, although he did not feature on the 17-track playlist Charles released through Apple Music last year. The venue has its own royal connection. Battersea Power Station once supplied electricity to Buckingham Palace. Its control room connection was discreetly labelled Carnaby Street, to discourage anyone who might have been tempted to switch off the palace lights.

5:01 More palace in just a moment. A former royal gardener says William and Harry used WhatsApp to contact staff, but their names weren't necessarily what appeared on the screen. Jack Stookes, who worked at Highgrove for 21 years, told GB News, I remember Princess William and Harry always had the latest phones. They actually gave their numbers out to staff so we could contact them about logistical things. They also had our numbers, and they would just WhatsApp us if they needed anything. We couldn't have them saved under their real names, so they had nicknames instead. They said William was Bobcat, Harry was Baz, and when Catherine joined the family, she became Mrs. Bobcat.

5:41 There was a wrinkle in that recollection. Speaking separately to Fox News Digital, Stukes remembered a different name for William. The nickname I gave to Harry on my phone was Baz. He was always called Baz by his friends, so I just took that. From memory, William was Wombat, again because that is what his friends called him. We had the family under different names so that if anyone's phone was taken, the number could be differentiated. That way no one knew which number was which. They would change their numbers regularly, so I don't have any of their phone numbers now. He may have a lot of privilege, but William was never one to demand something from staff. He was really polite. He would always check how busy I was before asking me to do errands for him, and whenever I said I would do something for William, he would always reply, you're a legend. Stukes told GB News that royals are big WhatsApp users with conversations extending beyond work. They have groups with their friends, and there is also a family group with the royal cousins, including Prince William, Zara Tindall, Peter Phillips and the York sisters. They're very much like any other family when it comes to keeping in touch through their phones. Fox News also gathered accounts of older royal nicknames, some affectionate and others reportedly used to protect identities.

6:48 Broadcaster Ian Palin-Turner said William and Catherine had used Danny Collins and Daphne Clark, linking the initials to their Cambridge titles. He also claimed the late queen was known as Sharon, with the initial standing for Sovereign. Turner recalled Charles and Camillus reported names for one another, Fred and Gladys and Philip's nickname for Elizabeth, Cabbage. Broadcaster Helena Chard linked that last one to the French expression, mon petit chou, meaning my little cabbage. She added, I believe he also affectionately called her sausage. Royal commentator Hilary Forditch offered an account of a young William struggling with the word granny. When Prince William, as a little boy, fell at Buckingham Palace, he was overheard by a guest crying out, Gary, Gary, she said. The Queen told the surprised guest, I'm Gary, he hasn't learned to say granny yet. Forditch also said, Courtiers have long referred to Prince Harry and the former Prince Andrew as the Dukes of Hazzard, which needs no explanation.

7:43 Turner repeated a claim previously made by author Tom Quinn when Kate is getting a little bit upset with William in any way she starts using the names of Baldy and Big Willie. As for whether the King now appears in a WhatsApp group under an alias, Stokes could only speak of his time working for him. The King didn't really use technology at all when I worked there, he said. He used to have a very old-fashioned basic mobile phone, but he never used it. I remember William and Harry trying to get him to keep up to date with it. They were always encouraging him to use his phone, but he wasn't interested. He wasn't a fan at all. 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 and get the show commercial free for five bucks a month. We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott.

8:31 This is Palace Intrigued. Good times.