March 2, 2026
Operation Distract: Rain, Daffodils and damage control as Kate and William walk in the rain
William and Kate’s rain-soaked Wales walkabout delivers hugs, selfies and glowing headlines in what allies call a crucial show of stability. Excerpts from a new book allege Meghan and Harry created a toxic palace workplace, Mike Tindall faces backlash for a “Make England Great Again” cap, and West End star Ruthie Henshall teases a memoir about her romance with Prince Edward. Optics, nostalgia and crisis management across the House of Windsor.
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Royal Books:
William and Catherine: The Monarchy's New Era: The Inside Story
The Royal Insider: My Life with the Queen, the King and Princess Diana
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Ah Calorougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.
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I am your host, Mark Francis. Operation Distract the Media
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got good reviews as William and Kate made a rainy
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visit to mid Wales ahead of Saint David's Day. Kate
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accepted an impromptu challenge from young fans during a rain
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soaked walk about joining two boys for a quick game
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of rock paper scissors in the downpour. Let's do it again,
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rock paper says as shoot, oh, she said, laughing as
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one child's paper beat her rock. A second round saw
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her lose again, this time to rock, prompting smiles all
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the round. The media were quite distracted as the couple
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were greeted by cheering crowds waving Welsh flags and holding daffodils.
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Despite heavy rain, both wore daffodils pinned to their lapels
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for the visit. In Newtown, Kate met members of Mum's Matter,
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a perinatal support service for women experiencing mental health difficulties
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linked to early motherhood. Among them was Ella Hopkins, who
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began volunteering after fleeing domestic violence with her young son.
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Hopkins described the princess as absolutely incredible, adding she got
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really invested and she was asking lots of questions. You
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could tell she thought it was an important thing to
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be focusing on. She definitely said that it's something that
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she felt passionate about parents being able to be committed
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and devoted through their own stability. Earlier in the day,
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the Prince and Princess visited the Hanging Gardens in Lanardlow's,
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a community project centered on resilience and creativity. They ordered
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hot drinks at a local cafe, met nursery children holding
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handmade signs, and watched school children perform Welsh songs in
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the center's arts space. William, a longtime Aston Villa supporter,
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spotted children holding up a club scarf and joked, that's
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a great way to get my attention. The couple also
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toured local producers stalls with William Sampling's cider, and visited
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a kitchen preparing traditional call and Welsh cakes for St.
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David's date celebrations. After briefly departing, they returned to spend
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around twenty five minutes in the rain reading well wishes
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with Kaefron offering hugs and high fives while William posed
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for selfies. In Newtown, they visited Oriol Davies Gallery to
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learn about a community arts initiative supporting children and young
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people's well being. The project, known as Hand in Hand,
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brings together local families, including those from Syrian and Afghan
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refugee backgrounds, for creative workshops. Kate said, it's amazing what
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happens here. Let's be such a lovely way to make
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friends and share stories. During the walk about, Kate was
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asked by a man in the crowd to sign an autograph. Smiling,
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she perlightly declined, saying I can't sign things. I'm so sorry.
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I can shake your hand, though the pair shared a
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brief hug before she added nice to meet you and
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continued greeting well wishes. She later returned to take a
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photograph with what appeared to be the man's young daughter.
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Members of the royal family traditionally do not sign autograph
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due to concerns that signatures could be copied or used
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for forgery. There have been rare exceptions. King Charles once
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signed a piece of paper for a victim of the
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Cornwall floods in twenty ten, writing Charles twenty ten, but
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the general practice is to decline such requests. Royal protocol
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has also historically discouraged selfies with members of the public,
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though that custom has softened in recent years. The media
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coverage was, of course glowing. In the Telegraph, Hannafiness writes,
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in one of the most difficult months for the monarchy
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in living memory, and in the pouring rain, the Prince
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and Princess of Wales could have chosen to hide away,
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they did not no less than seven walkabouts, most of
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them imprompt You turned into armfuls of daffodil beauquets in
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the reassurance from one well wisher that the monarchy is
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safe in your hands. Prince William escorted a rain soaked
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toddler to see his wife, whom the little boy had
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been waiting for. Catherine stopped for a game of rock
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paper scissors with school children. There were moments of sympathy
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and solidarity. As they got into their car to go
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to Newtown, it became apparent that many hundreds more people
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had been waiting in the rain to see them. Along
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a main road. Oh, I really hope they stop. They
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children are all soaking, said one woman watching the small
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convoys low down on the doors open. Oh they are
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Oh my goodness, this is just wonderful went on. Look,
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I told William, with all that's going on at the moment,
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there could be a swell against them. But when you
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see the time he's willing to spend with people, I
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think it's lovely to see the monarchy save in your hands, sir.
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According to excerpts from Russell Meyer's book William and Catherine
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The Intimate Inside Story, Unnamed Palace insiders alleged that Harry
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and Meghan created a difficult working environment after their twenty
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eighteen wedding. One source claimed William and Catherine had assembled
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a happy team and cultivated a good working environment that
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was being actively destroyed on a daily basis. People were
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being ground down by both Megan and Harry. The book
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suggests Harry's disagreement with William the shoving incident centered on
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William's concerns about how Meghan was interacting with Pallas staff.
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While sources close to William would not confirm the exact
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wording allegedly used, one insider said describing Meghan as difficult, rude,
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or abrasive would have been a fair assessment if he did.
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Another sources quoted as saying it wasn't peddling a tabloid
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narrative to stick up the staff, who were deeply unhappy
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to the point of walking away or having their mental
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health being affected. The book also alleges that the atmosphere
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between the couples became pretty toxic, with one insider claiming
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Meghan was being bullish. Kate found her abrasive more a
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palace in just a Moment. Mike Tyndall has drawn criticism
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after wearing a red make England Great Again cap during
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a recent recording of his podcast, The Good, The Bad
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and the Rugby. The cap, a clear play on President
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Donald Trump's make America Great Again slogan's, did not go
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over well. The gesture followed England's heavy Six Nations defeats
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to Ireland and Scotland and appeared to be intense ended
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as tongue in cheek commentary on the team's form. When
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social media user commented, no, that isn't going to help
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the royal family. He knows with whom that hats associated
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and what it means. West End star Ruthie Henshall has
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announced a new memoir, The Show Girl and the Prince,
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inspired in part by love letters she received from Prince
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Edward during their relationship in the late eighties and early nineties. Henshall,
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fifty eight, said she decided to write the book after
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rediscovering old diaries and correspondents while clearing out her garage.
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She said, I found old diaries which I began writing
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in the nineteen eighties, and then found all my letters
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from Prince Edward, and I was struck by how precious
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this time in my life was. I was on the
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West End stage, my dream since I was a girl,
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and she had a love with a man. Very few
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people even know. If this was someone else's story, I
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would think they had made it up. So here it is.
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I looked behind the curtain of a crazy life in
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musical theater and what happens next when a showgirl falls
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in love with the Prince. Henshall met Prince Edward in
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nineteen eight eight while she was appearing in Cats in
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the West End and he was working in theater production.
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The relationship continued on an off for several years before
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they separated in ninety three. Edward later married Sophie Rhys Jones,
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now the Duchess of Edinburgh. The memoir is expected to
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recount visits to Buckingham Palace and tea at Windsor with
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Queen Elizabeth for second. Henshall has previously spoken warmly about
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the royal family, saying I have nothing but nice things
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to say about them all. The Queen in particular was lovely.
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Here I was this chorus girl dating her son. It
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must have been her worst nightmare. Over the years, she
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has occasionally shared anecdotes about the relationship, including recalling in
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twenty twenty three, I wasn't nervous because Charles had just
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made me a couple of Martini's, which is why I
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ended up singing in front of the Queen. I was
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feeling no pain because I was three sheets to the wind.
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It will always be one of my greatest honors. Diana
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was there, Princess Margaret, the Queen, Mum, Edward and Charles.
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In twenty twenty, while appearing on I'm a Celebrity and
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Get Me out of Here, Henshall caused headlines when she
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revealed she had shared in the bedrooms of Buckingham Palace,
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I remark. She later said she had not realized was
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being broadcast, and they have it. If you'd like to
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email us, I address these the palace intrig at gmail
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dot com. Please followus on Spotify, Apple, Facebook, Instagram. We're
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all over the place. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to
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John McDermott. This is Palace intrigue. Good terms.
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00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.000
139
00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.439
140
00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:48.959
141
00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.160
142
00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:55.560
143
00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.560
144
00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:01.839
145
00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:04.800
146
00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:08.720
147
00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.040
148
00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:14.319
149
00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:16.279
150
00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:19.759
