Dec. 20, 2024

Of course Harry and Meghan's Holiday Card was criticized

Show Notes
Transcript

Cheesy pictures? Generic Greetings? Seems like Harry and Meghan can't even get a Christmas Card right.

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Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, and welcome to Palace Intrigue Game,

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your host, Mark Francis. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward told The

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Mirror the Duke of York's close links to the alleged

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Chinese spy Yang Tangbo have come at a most inopportune moment.

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Christmas for the royals is the only time in the

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year so many of them get together under one roof.

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The multiple scandals he has been associated with have embarrassed

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his family and made him a subject of ridicule. Although

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when the Queen was alive he was partially protected by

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her devotion. His irresponsible behavior and dubious friendships have exasperated

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his older brother for some time now, but nothing has

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been quite as damaging to the monarchy as Andrew's current situation.

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It involves the British government MI six and the Chinese government.

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It almost sounds like a television spices. Can the King

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dismiss his brother? He will leave it up to his

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advisers to deal with that. That is why kings throughout

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history have surrounded themselves with what we now call gray men.

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A royal source added, the King and other members of

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the family are as exasperated as can be with the

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Duke with this latest issue. It is of grave embarrassment

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to him. In the Institution, Royal author Phil Dampier told

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the Son the fact that this guy obviously inveil himself

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into Prince Andrew's circle and was seemingly in and out

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of Royal Lodge is a worry for the security services.

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Who knows what a spy might stumble across. It's a

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very big scandal. Certainly. The problem for Andrew is that

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on top of this scandal he was involved with the

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late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It's not a very good look.

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It's backfired on him dramatically, and on top of the

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Epstein thing, it's kind of a final nail in the coffin. Really.

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In The Guardian, Marina Hyde writes under the headline pity

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the Royals, How could they possibly have seen this coming?

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Marina writes, No matter how much you try to digest

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the implications of the alleged Chinese spy scandal, some details

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are just comically indigestible. Take the fact that Prince Andrew

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has somehow contrived to find staff even stupider than him.

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Here is one senior aide called Dominic Hampshire, writing in

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March twenty twenty to the Chinese businessman with whom the

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Duke of York has found himself unfortunately entangled outside of

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Andrew's closest internal confidence. You sit at the very top

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of a tree that many, many people would like to

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be on. Sorry is this March twenty twenty, a full

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four months after the four dimensional pile up that was

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Andrew's newsnight interview, which was followed immediately by the Duke's

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own mother sacking him. Dominic, there were ventilators that people

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would rather have seen on that tree. Anyway, if you're

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just joining us after a news fast, I'm afraid that

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Prince Andrew may have let the wrong one in again.

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If the Duke's mate does turn out to be a spy,

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it feels a little too easy and a lot too

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convenient to blame this latest calamitous episode for Andrew solely

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on him. After all. The thing about spies is they

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are supposed to be quite hard to detect. If it

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can be a struggle for the security services to identify

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who was a spy to a suitable threshold of proof,

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then it's unlikely to be a Doddle for the dimmest

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member of a family internationally recognized for its dimness. Obviously,

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the international sex trafficker should have been a somewhat easier

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one for Andrew to spot. I guess the biggest clue

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was that one the guy whose New York house he

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went to stay in twenty ten, was that Jeffrey Epstein

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had quite literally just finished serving a grotesquely plea bargained

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jail sentence for soliciting girls as young as fourteen for sex.

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If only there had been science, etc. But speaking of science,

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if only there had been some before this week that

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could have indicated to the Royal Family that Andrew was

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permanently unsuited to activities involving either judgment or money. He

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should really have been forcibly retired from both these arenas

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in the mid nineteen nineties. After all, strange things invo

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foreign money and influence have been happening to him for decades.

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His previous trade envoy job, though seemingly concocted to get

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him flown around international golf courses on the public dying

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without arousing too much criticism, in fact ended up taking

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him willingly into the orbit of some of the world's

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least appealing dictators and political operators. All of this and

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so much more has long been known to the royal family, who,

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with the obvious sole exception of Andrew himself, are more

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responsible for his permanent liability status than anyone. Yet again,

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the King and his so called firm find themselves at

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a fork in the road. Either they let Andrew carry

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on trying to seek his fortune in the real world,

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or they pay for him to a level sufficient to

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close him down. Those are the only two choices left.

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The family very deliberately shut off the third avenue, allowing

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Virginia Geoffrey's claims against Andrew to be tried and tested

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in open court. Instead, they felt the wiser option was

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to retreat into their money and set behind closed doors

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for many millions of dollars in the absence of allowing

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some form of justice to at least play out and

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exonerate Andrew or not. The fork they should now take

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as using more of that money to pay entirely for

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their black sheep. This mad situation where a proven liability

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is forever grubbing around grim regimes and their operatives, is

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ultimately of their making. Why should the people of this

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country be exposed to unknown security risks simply because King

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Charles thinks it looks bad to keep Andrew with palatial

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grace and favor splendor and not have his courtious leak.

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And Andrew said to be turfed out of Royal Lodge

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story thrice yearly. It does look bad, but it was

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the family's choice that them own it. The cost to

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the state of investigating this latest fell up by Andrew

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probably runs into many millions. The Crown might consider itself

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lucky again not to have those build to it too.

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Palace indrinca browback. Harry and Meghan shared their holiday card,

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which features the children and the family's three dogs. The card,

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it warmly reads on behalf of the Office of Prince

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Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Archbold

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Productions and Archibald Foundation. We wish you a very happy

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holiday season and a joyful New Year. Harry's father, Charles,

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is the head of the Church of England, which is

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gearing up for Christmas this holiday season. Princess Anne also

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shared her annual Christmas card, featuring a striking photo of

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herself and husband Sir Timothy Lawrence riding in a carriage

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following a service at Saint George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The

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card's message reads simply with best wishes for a happy

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and peaceful Christmas and New Year from Anne. In the image,

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the possible former Royal Secret sax Bomb becuts a regal

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figure in her dark blue velvet garter robes, complete with

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white gloves and a Tudor style hat adorned with plume

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ostridge feathers. Well. Sir Tim looks sharp in a formal

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morning suit and top hat. Anne and Sir Tim quietly

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marked their thirty second wedding anniversary on December twelfth to

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form the Princess Royal remained busy with engagements in Norfolk

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and Suffolk, showing no sign of slowing down even as

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the holidays approach. Comedian Matt Ford divided opinion during the

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Royal Variety performance after he opened his set with a

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personal revelation about his cancer diagnosis. Entering the stage where

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the crutch, Ford explained his health journey, telling the audience,

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just over a year ago, I had terrible nerve pain

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in my leg. I went to get an MRI scan.

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I was diagnosed with cancer he quickly lightened the mood, quipping,

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I'm telling you this mainly just to get you onside,

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because I'm going to impersonate a few politicians now, and

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if I insult one you like, just remember I've been

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very brave. Ford, who also confirmed he has now cancer free,

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proceeded to deliver impressions of figures like Keir Starmer and

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Donald Trump. While some viewers praised his performance as funny

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and engaging, others found his initial remarks to be poorly judged,

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particularly given the context. King Charles, who was in attendance,

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had reportedly been undergoing cancer treatment this year, a fact

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that didn't go unnoticed by critics. One viewer commented, is

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a joke about cancer really the way to start a

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comedy routine? It certainly did not get me on his side.

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Another added, as a cancer survivor, I'm amazed Matt Ford

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thought it appropriate to use his diagnosis as the basis

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for jokes given what the royal family has gone through

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this year. Tasteless. Others felt the timing was off, saying

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a cancer joke with a king watching bit tasteless. Still,

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there were those who appreciated Ford's humor, with one audience

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member remarking funny guy Matt Ford, and another calling his

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impressions spot on and the habit. If you'd like to

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ninety nine a month. All the details are in these

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show notes or episode notes and Mink Francis my thanks

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to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and good terms

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and

Of course Harry and Meghan's Holiday Card was criticized

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