Oct. 17, 2025

Meghan’s “DS” Bag & the newest Andrew Fallout

Show Notes
Transcript

A soft open before a diifcult story: Meghan Markle’s D.C. trip sparks chatter after eagle-eyed viewers spot a navy travel bag monogrammed “DS” for Duchess of Sussex in her Fortune Summit reel—cue Deep Crown weighing in on the optics.

Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir lands with explosive claims about Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and being trafficked to Prince Andrew—allegations he has always denied and for which he reached a 2022 settlement with no admission of liability. We lay out what’s new in the book, how the palace may respond, and what commentators are urging King Charles and Prince William to do next.

Check out "Palace Intrigue Presents: King WIlliam" here.

👑 Follow our hit series Crown and Controversy! Season 1 is fully available now for everyone. Season 2 has new episodes every Sunday on the regular feed. GET THE FULL SEASON 2 BEFORE REGULAR LISTENERS as a subscriber! Hit that "UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING" Banner on the top of the Apple player. AND listen to Crown and Controversy "NORWAY'S ROYAL REBELS" here and get the full season as a premium subscriber now.

PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS get all these shows plus Deep Crown COMMERCIAL FREE LISTENING!! NO ADS!!

👑 The Palace Intrigue Social Hub is Live! Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram or click the links to start your royal journey!

Plus you unlock 25+ series from Caloroga Shark Media!se

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:14.599
Calorogus Shark Media.

2
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:20.359
Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I'm your host, Mark Francis.

3
00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.760
Our main story today is quite serious and for adult

4
00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.480
years only, so we'll do a fluff story first to

5
00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:28.600
give you a chance to hit stop if you choose.

6
00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.000
Meghan Michael has once again proven that even her luggage

7
00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:35.840
carries a message. The Duchess of Sussex was seen in Washington,

8
00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:38.840
d C. With a Navy travel bag monogrammed with the

9
00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:43.240
initials DS, a subtle nod to her royal title. Sources

10
00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:46.039
a Queen Elizabeth the seconds grave at Saint George's Chapel

11
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.520
reported hearing what sounded like someone rolling over in their grave.

12
00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.320
In a new Instagram reel, Meghan offered followers a behind

13
00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.280
the scenes look at her whirlwind twenty four hour trip

14
00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:00.679
to the Capitol for Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit. The

15
00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.079
clip opened with shots of the Washington Monument before revealing

16
00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.719
the tote in question. Blue and white lettering for Duchess

17
00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:12.239
of Sussex's luggage rolled down a hallway. Our royal inside

18
00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:14.359
of deep Crown was the one who sent this to us,

19
00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.719
adding one would think that after all the hand ringing

20
00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:21.400
about the unbearable burden of royal life. After the tearful

21
00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:26.359
pronouncements about wanting privacy and normalcy, that monogramming one's luggage

22
00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:29.040
with DS might strike even the most tone deaf as

23
00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:33.000
rather rich. But here we are what galls is the

24
00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:35.640
sheer audacity of it all. We're meant to believe that

25
00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.079
she fled this toxic institution, yet she clings to its

26
00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:43.359
nomenclature like a life raft, whenever it suits her commercial interests.

27
00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:46.560
The video then followed Meghan through her busy day behind

28
00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.840
the scenes at the summit, speaking on stage about women

29
00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.000
in business, toasting with champagne, and chatting with flight crew

30
00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.400
in a plain cockpit. She captioned the post love being

31
00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:59.519
surrounded by strong women supporting each other. Thanks to Fortune, MPW,

32
00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.079
my teen DC and my sweet friends for the twenty

33
00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:06.040
four hours of impact and fun. Speaking to people earlier

34
00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.199
this year, Megan said that the Sussex name has come

35
00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:11.360
to symbolize her family's bond. It's our shared name as

36
00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.479
a family, and I guess I hadn't recognized how meaningful

37
00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.159
that would be to me until we had children, she said.

38
00:02:17.639 --> 00:02:20.520
I love that that is something that Archie, Lily h

39
00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.039
and I all have together. It means a lot to me.

40
00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:26.240
At the DC Summit, the Duchess reflected on her work

41
00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:28.840
as a female founder. As women, we support each other.

42
00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:31.479
We are not simply supporting each other's lives, we are

43
00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:35.159
supporting each other's legacies. She said. When I'm supporting or

44
00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:38.120
investing in another female founder, I am investing in what

45
00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.560
she is going to do for the culture, for her business,

46
00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:44.479
and the legacy she's going to leave. And now for

47
00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:48.159
that serious story. Virginia Geoffrey, the woman whose allegations helped

48
00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:52.120
bring down Jeffrey Epstein's criminal network, has detailed her story

49
00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:56.319
in a posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl, a memoir of surviving

50
00:02:56.360 --> 00:03:00.599
abuse and fighting for justice. In the book, Jeffer remembers

51
00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:03.319
the day at sixteen when she was recruited from Mara

52
00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.960
Lago by what she calls an apex predator. She describes

53
00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.360
being spotted by Gallaine Maxwell, who says she stopped her

54
00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:14.479
car and followed her into the resort spa. Geoffrey recalls

55
00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:18.479
Maxwell's first words, are you interested in massage? How wonderful?

56
00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:22.759
From there, Jeffrey writes her life changed forever. She says

57
00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:26.479
she was invited to meet Maxwell's wealthy friend Jeffrey Epstein,

58
00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.360
and that this encounter began what she calls a nightmare.

59
00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:33.520
Dressed up as opportunity, Epstein and Maxwell, she writes, broke

60
00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:37.159
down my defenses step by a practiced step. Geoffrey recalls

61
00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:39.840
Epstein asking her do you have siblings? Where do you

62
00:03:39.879 --> 00:03:42.759
go to high school? Do you take birth control? She says,

63
00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.400
every time I felt a twinge of discomfort, one glance

64
00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:49.680
at Maxwell told me I was overreacting. Over time, Jeffrey

65
00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:53.479
claims Epstein and Maxwell used manipulation, money, and threats to

66
00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.479
control her, even warning you must never tell us soul

67
00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:58.479
what goes on in this house. And I own the

68
00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:02.120
Palm Beach Police Department, so they won't do anything about it.

69
00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:05.039
She writes that she was lent out to eight number

70
00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:10.120
of Epstein's powerful associates, including politicians, academics, and businessmen, and

71
00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.560
that Maxwell functioned as a party planner, scheduling and organizing

72
00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.439
the endless parade of girls she recruited to have sex

73
00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:20.160
with him. In one of the memoirs most explosive passages,

74
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.560
Geoffrey writes of being trafficked to Prince Andrew. She says

75
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:25.639
that Maxwell told her one morning, get out of bed,

76
00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:28.279
sleepy head, just like Cinderella, You're going to meet a

77
00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.079
handsome prince. That meeting, she claims, took place in London

78
00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:34.839
at Maxwell's home near Hyde Park in two thousand and one.

79
00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:38.399
Geoffrey says that when the Duke of York arrived, Maxwell

80
00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:42.399
was more coquettish than usual. She recalled the Duke being

81
00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.639
asked to guess her age and that he answered correctly seventeen.

82
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:50.360
According to Geoffrey, the evening entered back at the house,

83
00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.519
where Maxwell and Epstein headed upstairs, signaling it was time

84
00:04:53.560 --> 00:04:56.079
that I take care of the prince. She writes that

85
00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:58.600
he was friendly enough, but still entitled, as if he

86
00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:02.600
believed having sex with me his birthrate. She says she

87
00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:05.360
was particularly stuck by his attention to my feet, adding

88
00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.079
he was eager to get to the bed. In my memory,

89
00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.279
the whole thing lasted less than half an hour. The

90
00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.040
next morning, she says, Maxwell told her you did well.

91
00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:16.519
The Prince had fun. Geoffrey writes that Epstein later gave

92
00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:21.000
her fifteen thousand dollars. Geoffrey alleges there were three encounters

93
00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.000
in total, in London, New York and on Epstein's private

94
00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.199
island in the US Virgin Islands, describing the final incident

95
00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:30.839
as an orgy involving eight other young girls who didn't

96
00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:35.399
really speak English. Reflecting on the culture that enabled her abuse,

97
00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:38.399
Geoffrey writes, so many young women, myself included, had been

98
00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.839
criticized for returning to Epstein's lair, even after we knew

99
00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.240
what he wanted from us, But that stance discounts what

100
00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:47.480
many of us had been through before we encountered him.

101
00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.639
She adds, a master manipulator, he threw what looked like

102
00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:54.759
a lifeline to girls who were drowning. Later, she reflects,

103
00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.279
some people still think Epstein was an anomaly, an outlier,

104
00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.079
and those people are wrong. The way he viewed women

105
00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:04.519
and girls as playthings to be used and discarded is

106
00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.959
not uncommon among certain powerful men who believe they are

107
00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:10.680
above the law. Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations.

108
00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.279
He says he never met Jeffrey and had no knowledge

109
00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:16.720
of Epstein's crimes. In February twenty twenty two, he reached

110
00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:20.279
a financial settlement with her, made without any admission of liability.

111
00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.519
More graphic excerpts can be found in the Guardian, including

112
00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:28.680
Jeffrey's first encounter with Donald Trump at Maru Lago. Virginia

113
00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.759
Jeffrey died in April, aged forty one, back with Pallace

114
00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:39.279
in just a moment, King Charles faces fresh pressure to

115
00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:43.879
further distanced Prince Andrew. As Virginia Jeoffrey's posthumous memoir arrives

116
00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:46.800
for the first time, the wider public will be able

117
00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.000
to read Jeffrey's full account, including a claim that she

118
00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:51.519
was trafficked to London, New York and US Virgin Islands

119
00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:54.079
to have sex with Prince Andrew at age seventeen. In

120
00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:56.439
the London chapter, she writes that the Duke correctly guest

121
00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.360
her age and told her my daughters are just a

122
00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:01.560
little younger than you, and later that he was friendly enough,

123
00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:03.560
but still the titled as if he believed having sex

124
00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:07.240
with me was his birthrate. Biographer Andrew Lowney, author of

125
00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.920
entitled About Andrew, and Sarah Ferguson, told Newsweek, this is

126
00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:13.160
more pressure on Andrew. It's more evidence, and so I

127
00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:16.600
think most people don't know about the billionaire's playboy club,

128
00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:19.480
so they feel this as new. It's more pressure and

129
00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:21.480
clearly the press are moving in on Andrew in a

130
00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.519
big way. It seems to me the Palace need to

131
00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.120
take it seriously. They're going through the motions, but they

132
00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.839
don't see any concrete action being taken on potential steps.

133
00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.759
He added, signing himself the Knight of the gartera is

134
00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.720
incredibly pompous, but also what is he doing being a

135
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.439
Knight of the Garter. That's an easy enough thing to remove.

136
00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.600
Lowney also argued the Royals should consider removing the Duke

137
00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.199
and Duchess of York titles. Take away the Duke of

138
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.199
York and he's still a prince. But we don't have

139
00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:50.120
the Duchess of York then, and she needs to be

140
00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.959
kind of sanctioned. Though these may not make a huge

141
00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.759
amount of difference, at least they're seeming to do something,

142
00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.639
which is what the public wants. I think they now

143
00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:02.240
need to look at accountability and transparency over their finances,

144
00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:06.519
over the royal records, Royal commentator Hillary Fordage told Fox

145
00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.600
News given recent revelations, with mounting media outrage threatening the

146
00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.560
overall reputation of the monarchy, the extended family isn't taking

147
00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:18.399
this lightly. Prince William is enraged. He is actively lobbying

148
00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:21.399
to ensure Andrew was completely excluded from all than any

149
00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.879
family activities. He is also behind removing titles once he

150
00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.839
becomes king. Royal broadcaster Helene de Chad told Fox News

151
00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:34.080
Digital that Andrew's narrative doesn't match the intercepted emails, adding

152
00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.039
that the general consensus is he didn't ever attempt to

153
00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:41.519
end his friendship with Epstein, indicating that he has continuously lied.

154
00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:44.840
She said the Duke believes he's done no wrong, describing

155
00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:48.399
him as completely detached from the consequences of his actions.

156
00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:53.600
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams warned that as more embarrassing material appears,

157
00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:57.279
and very possibly more that involves Sarah Ferguson, there isn't

158
00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.200
much the monarch can do. It may get worse and

159
00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:04.559
this will damage the monarchy. Andrew Lowney adds, I think

160
00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:07.279
the reason that Epstein and Andrew were such good friends

161
00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.200
was that they were interested in the same stuff, basically

162
00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:14.679
money and sex. Andrew gave Epstein respectability and some useful

163
00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:18.279
contacts from his role as a special trade envoy for Andrew.

164
00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:21.600
Epstein provided someone who would pay Sarah Ferguson's bills, a

165
00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:26.000
ready supply of women and access to wealthy connections. In

166
00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:29.240
the Telegraph, Rowan Pelling writes, there's only so much outrage

167
00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:32.440
a jaded sulcan muster at assorted second tier royal or

168
00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.200
so at thought. However, the news of Prince Andrew sent

169
00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.200
a ludicrously chummy email to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein nearly

170
00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:41.559
three months after the date he claimed to have severed

171
00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.159
all ties with the jailbird makes my flesh crawl. I

172
00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:48.600
can't be alone in feeling furious whenever I see photos

173
00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:50.679
of Andrew trotting around wins a great park with the

174
00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:54.519
Queen's long serving stud groom, Terry Pendry, or when you

175
00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.000
hear his entertained friends on a royal estate, or introduced

176
00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:00.600
his daughters to wealthy Arab contacts, still a parent peddling

177
00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:05.000
some last vestige of royal influence. In short, isn't it

178
00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:07.440
about time? At least one old nursery rhyme was rewritten

179
00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.720
the grand old Duke of York. He told some porky pies.

180
00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:13.639
They marched him out the royal firm, and he said

181
00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.840
it big bye bye. There you haven't I'd like to

182
00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.720
email us addresses the palasintrig at gmail dot com Please

183
00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.279
follow us on Spotify, Apple, Facebook, Instagram, all the social

184
00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.840
media hubs. We're out there everywhere. Don't forget. This month

185
00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:30.080
is October and Halloween. We have a couple of great

186
00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.320
channels from Callaoygushark Media up and running. One is called

187
00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.960
Halloween Pop Up and it's full of several of our

188
00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.519
shows and the Halloween themed elements, Halloween murders, Halloween ghost stories,

189
00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:44.519
Halloween music. Check it out. It's called Halloween Pop Up Channel.

190
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.799
And our grand old granddaddy of ghost stories it's called

191
00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.320
Ghost Scary Stories, Ghost Scary Stories, and that has a

192
00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:56.399
new show every day this month. Check it out Ghost

193
00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:59.120
Scary Stories and Halloween Pop Up Channel. Wherever you get

194
00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:02.159
your podcasts. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermot.

195
00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.440
This is Palace Intrigue in Good Times.

Meghan’s “DS” Bag & the newest Andrew Fallout

Listen On

Recent Episodes