PALACE WEEKLY: NETFLIX NIGHTMARE AND ROYAL DEPARTURES - The week in Royal news.

0:03 Calorouga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Weekly. I am your host, Mark Francis. This is the abbreviated version of all the stories we brought you during the week on Palace Intrigue, and if you'd like the original full length versions, you can go back and take a listen to them daily there. Starting with Megan, Mikael and Prince Harry's time at Netflix appears to be coming to an end. According to multiple reports, the couple's one hundred million dollar deal with the streaming platform will not be renewed when it expires later this year. Under their Archworld Productions banner, they delivered several non fiction titles, including Harry and Meghan lived to lead Heart of Invictus in the lifestyle series With Love Megan. A source told People magazine that the decision not to extend the contract reflects a shift in Netflix's broader business strategy. Another insider shared with the Sun that there's no animosity from either side and things have just run their course. Though the Archwall Netflix relationship is winding down, the already filmed second season of With Love Megan is still expected to roll out as planned. Meghan's wine is making headlines once again, this time not for what's inside the bottle, but for how it's wrapped. Now that the deliveries have started arriving, reviews are pouring in, and not just about the taste. What's dividing fans the packaging.

1:35 Each bottle arrived wrapped in white tissue paper and nestled inside a simple cardboard box. Some fans were delighted by the presentation, isn't it lovely how it was packaged? Just a lovely experience opening that box for the first time, one customer posted on x Another compared it favorably to established California wineries, saying, as ever, packaging is my father best. But others were less than charmed an massive waste of tissue paper. One critic wrote the bottles looked like bowling pins, ghosts, or something worse. Another joke that the design might be more suited to Halloween. All they need is a couple of eyes and a spooky mouth on there, and she's got a Halloween winner. Oprah Winfrey appeared on Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripper, making a lighthearted remark about Harry and Meghan's family name, referring to them playfully as the Sussex while discussing her hypothetical plans for a baby chicks.

2:32 The moment drew laughter from the crowd and a subtle nod to the tongue twister that is the Duke and Duchess's shared title. Oprah also recalled the day Harry and Meghan called her on Easter weekend with an unexpected dilemma, A duck emergency. Sorry to bother you, oh, but we have a duck problem here, Harry reportedly said. A duck had wandered onto their property, laid eggs, and hatched ducklings, but with no proper pond. The couple were hoping Oprah's estate might offer a more suitable home. Oprah agreed, but things quickly descended into feathered chaos. As Harry opened the car door in front of Oprah's friend Gail King and her children, the mother duck made a break for it, flying off while her ducklings remained in a box. What followed, he Oprah said, was a half hour of duck herding as she, Harry and Meghan, and others dashed around trying to reunite the panicked mother with her fluffy offspring. Harry's running after her, Megan's running after her. We've got ducks in the box. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen, Oprah laughed, adding that yes, there is video. Family Guy is once again taking aim at the Sussexes. In a recent episode, Stewie warns Brian that interfering in the past could alter the future. Brian scoffs, doesn't the history pretty much suck? He then battles off a list of history's low points, Hitler, the Crusades, and finally, Prince Harry marrying Megan.

3:53 Michael cue the cutaway and animated Harry watching the episode on TV size again before turning to the camera, hands on his hips, and asking, oh, like all of your wives so much better. It's not the first time Family Guy has mocked the couple. In the twenty twenty three episode, cartoon versions of Harry and Meghan were shown lounging by a pool as a butler delivered their millions from Netflix for no one knows what. Meghan then receives a notification for a paid Instagram post, and Harry groans, I shouldn't have left the made up nonsense. That same year, South Park took its own satirical swing. In the infamous Worldwide Privacy Tour episode, thinly veiled charactures of Harry and Meghan marched around, demanding to be left alone while simultaneously making global appearances. The show even lampooned Harry's memoir Spare, rebranding it where a newly decoded exchange between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is raising fresh questions about just how early the couple may have begun plotting their royal departure. According to a new Channel five documentary titled lip Reading the Royals, the secret conversations the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were overheard via lip reading during a solemn event at Westminster Abbey in twenty eighteen. The occasion was the Service of Remembrance marking one hundred years since the end of the First World War, a formal moment with the entire royal family in attendance, including Queen Elizabeth. But while the cameras captured polished expressions and respectful silence, lip reading expert Nicola

5:23 Hickling says something else entirely was unfolding in the hushed tones between the Sussexes. She claims Megan quietly told Harry to take advantage of the situation, prompting him to ask today. Her reply, do it tonight. Then, In what has become the documentary's most startling moment, Harry is said to ask, you do realize that this is the end, to which Meghan reportedly responds, yeah, I do know. Happy birthday to Prince George last Tuesday, who will find a major change in his life. Once a royal in the direct line of succession turns twelve, they are no longer permit to travel with the person ahead of them in line to the throne. That means George, now second in line, will have to begin traveling separately when undertaking official duties. The custom, which dates back generations, is designed to protect the line of succession in the event of a tragic accident. Royal watchers believe the Prince and Princess of Wales have made up their minds about Prince George's next chapter. According to a well placed insider, all roads lead to Eton. Currently, George attends Lambruck School in Berkshire along with his younger siblings Princess Charlotte and Prince Leoid, but with secondary school on the horizon. George is expected to move in September twenty twenty six. The decision about where he'll go next has been the subject of intense royal and media interest.

6:47 During a recent call into LBC Radio, a listener named Hugh shared a memory that stuck with him from William's military days. On a rainy, miserable three am training exercise on Salisbury Plane, the future king wasn't issuing orders, he was browing tea. You described the moment one of the soldiers who was on Stag's sentry duty, kicked the other one who was in his doss bag, and said, Somaja, would you like a cup of tea? And Smudger stuck his head out of the magan and said, s please, Boss, that would be great. He asked, how would you like your Bruce Mudge? He said, NATO milken, two sugars. The man who made that NATO standard tea, Prince William. You added, that is what the military teaches you, that we're all the same, we respect one another and look after one another.

7:31 Host Nick Ferrari then asked the obvious follow up, can William make a good cup of tea? Hugh refused to answer. Or just assume it was at least serviceable. King Charles monarchy won't see an increase in its day to day allowance this year, but the royal household is still points to receive a dramatic funding boost. According to released figures, the Sovereign Grant, the public money used to fund royal duties and maintain palaces, will surge by more than forty five million pounds or about sixty million dollars in the twenty twenty six to twenty seven financial year. For now, the grant remained steady at around one hundred and ten million for twenty twenty four twenty five, but thanks to record profits from offshore wind farms leased by the Crown of State, that figure will jump to approximately one hundred and seventy million dollars next year and remain that level into the next couple. Plans for the funeral of King Charles, code named London Bridge, remain among the most closely guarded secrets of the monarchy, but a recent media leak has sparked a storm of recriminations behind palace walls, revealing the iron grip with which royal communications are managed, even in matters as sensitive as a Monarch's death. When The Telegraph published its headline Grabbing Peace, Prince Harry and megane at heart of King's funeral plans, it marked the first time the British press had seriously lifted the veil on the operation surrounding the King's adventures passing. The article claimed Harry

9:02 and Meghan would be invited to take central roles and that the traditional morning period might be shortened. But no sooner had the story hit the newsstands than Pallace officials sprang into damage control, despite the detail having reportedly come from within the palace's own funeral planning team. According to The Daily Beast, the King's top communications chief, Turbin Andrea, was livid, multiple sources confirmed, and Drea made frantic attempts to halt or delay publication. One Fleet Street insider described it as a meltdown on the phone with the Telegraph's editors, despite the paper typically being among the more Pallace friendly publications. Will Harry and Charles meet again? Roll biographer Tom Bower thinks perhaps not saying whether they'll meet again in charles lifetime depends on how long Charles lives. I couldn't say never, because I'm sure Charles wants to meet his son, but so much depends on how Harry behaves. Harry is seriously worried that when his father dies one day, William will list thoroughly banish him and he will have no status in Britain at all. He will be persona non grouter.

10:06 Harry needs a meeting with Charles to show he is part of the royal family and to establish his credibility in Britain, but as long as the Palace won't give him access to Charles, he can't take the first step. They suspect that the moment he meets Charles, he will use it to establish his credibility, because that's what he desperately needs, and that's also why he's kept away. My money would absolutely be no if he did meet him, it would be in private. A lot depends on charles health. That is the unspoken issue in Britain today, more palace than just a moment. Queen Camilla may now be at the very top of the royal hierarchy, but even after twenty years of marriage to King Charles, she continues to keep one foot outside the gilded gates of pallace life in a subtle yet telling detail. Royal photographer Chris Jackson recently shared the Queen's new birthday portrait on Instagram and image showing Camilla looking relaxed with her rescue dog Molly.

11:03 But it's the setting, not the smile, that drew attention. Pictured here happy and relaxed at home in ray Mill, Wiltshire, Jackson wrote confirming that Camilla had once again chosen to be photographed at her personal residence rather than at a royal estate. The repetition of at home in ray Mill was an accidental. While Clarence House is her official residence with the King, and the couple often spend time at High Grove House, ray Mill remains Camilla's private retreat, quietly apart from the Royal Foal. She purchased the eight hundred and fifty thousand pound property in nineteen ninety four after her divorce from Andrew Parker Balls and lived there until her two thousand and three marriage to Charles, but she never gave it up. With speculation mounting about Prince William's future plans for the monarchy, Charles has taken a very public step to secure Camilla's legacy within the royal family.

11:55 Charles has formerly named Camilla Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom, making her the first woman in British history to hold the honorary title. The ceremonial role, granted with the approval of the First Sea Lord, Sir Gwynn Jenkins, is seen as a significant affirmation of Camilla's standing in both the royal family and the military establishment. Sir Gwynn said the appointment would further enhance her Majesty's relationship with the service, adding that her recent visit to HM Naval Base Devonport had been a tremendous booster morale. The move comes at a delicate time. While Camilla's marriage to the King has lung since shifted from scandal to stability, and she is said to get along well with both William and Kate, the complex legacy of Charles's earlier relationship with Diana still willoms large. In particular, Prince William is believed to retain strong feelings of loyalty towards his late mother, which could shape the monarchy's future direction. But while the King appears open to reconciliation within the family, particularly with Prince Harry, William is reportedly far less forgiving. The Daily Beast recently quoted a friend of the Prince of Wales saying William absolutely effing hates his brother and that he will never ever forgive Harry for what he has done. The naming of Camilla as Vice Admiral is the latest in a series of moves by Charles to solidify his wife's position.

13:12 After originally bestowing the title Queen Consort, he later issued a royal warrant updating her official style to simply Queen Camilla, a sign of her full integration into the core of royal life. Harry did receive a rather unexpected show of public support, this time from a European royalty. Princess Delphine of Belgium, speaking on its Reigning Men podcast, said they lost such an important figure, and I feel very sorry for Harry because I think that was traumatic for him. She was referring, of course, to the death of Princess Diana when Harry was just twelve years old. Delphine went on, I think Harry suffered so much, and I think he was traumatized and it's coming out now. He's just traumatized.

13:55 He's doing these things and everybody's bullying him. But not thinking about his trauna, and I just find terrible because I feel like he's just been kind of left. Dauphine herself has personal experience navigating royal tensions. She discovered in adulthood that her biological father was King Albert the Second of Belgium and endure it a year's long legal battle before finally being recognized as a member of the Belgian royal family in twenty twenty. And there you have it. You'd like to email us. Our address is the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follows on Spotify, Apple or the appletract choice and leaves a nice review if you're enjoying the show. By the way, a new episode of Crown and Controversy drops today. It's our new series that picks up where The Crown on TV kind of left off. Check it out. It's called Crown and Controversy, available now wherever you get your podcasts, just like this one.

14:50 I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue in good Times.