July 15, 2026
Prince Harry and Elton John Rift? Is Invictus Facing ‘Catastrophic’ Money Crisis?
Is Prince Harry losing one of his oldest and most important allies? A new report claims Harry and Sir Elton John are at odds over money and Invictus, as questions grow about the enormous legal bill from their failed Daily Mail case. Meanwhile, critics accuse Meghan of leaving Harry “in the lurch,” Tom Bower tells the Duke to disappear for a year, Invictus faces alarming funding questions, and Prince William is once again reportedly “furious” with King Charles.
Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.
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A Calarogu Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue
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and am your host Mark Francis. Prince Harry may now
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be facing trouble with one of the oldest and most
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important friends in his life. News Nation's Paul of Frolic
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reports that Harry's relationship with Sir Elton John is becoming strained,
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with money reportedly emerging as a source of tension between
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the two men. The friendship has always carried particular significance
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for Harry because of Elton's close relationship with Princess Diana.
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After Diana's death, Elton remained close to her youngest son,
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at times, acting as a defender, confidant, and almost parental figure.
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He offered his home in France to Harry and Meghan
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during a period of intense media attention. He performed at
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their wedding reception in twenty eighteen, and Elton ultimately stood
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alongside Harry and their legal battle against Associated Newspapers, the
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publisher of The Daily Mail. According to Frolic's sources, the
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relationship between Harry and Elton was already showing signs of
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strain before the judgment, and the issue was Invictus when inside,
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he said, Harry asked Elton to donate to Invictus Birmingham.
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Elton said no, and Harry was very hurt. And then
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came the Daily Mail judgment. Harry Elton and the five
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other claimants lost their case against Associated newspapers, potentially leaving
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the group facing an enormous legal bill. Frolic reports that
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the costs could exceed sixty million dollars. Insurance may cover
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part of the expense, but the sources claimed tens of
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millions could still remain, and one source believes Elton maybe
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in the strongest financial position among the claimants to absorb
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those costs. The insider said Elton is really the only
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one out of that entire group made up of Baroness
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Dorian Lawrence, Harry, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, John's husband David Furnish,
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and Sir Simon Hughes, who can afford to pay that bill.
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He's a little tapped out right now. But one source
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offered a rather blunt assessment. Elton is not a bank
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for the Express. Jennifer Pinto writes, Harry just had us
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reaching for the sick bucket, and Meghan must be raging.
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There are a few things more excruciating than a hefty
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dose of secondhand embarrassment. But having your painfully corny twenty
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eleven era bachelor Facebook messages dragged into the public spotlight
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and picked apart line by line, that really is a
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sick bucket moment. The messages came from a period when
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Harran the journalists knew each other socially, years before he
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met Megan Markle, and she has rejected suggestions that they
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indicated anything more than friendship and lighthearted banter. Charlotte Griffith's
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shared a lengthy account of a friendship with Harry in
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a newly published article for The Daily Mail after the
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texts were revealed in Prince Harry's privacy case back in March.
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Some of the phrases that attracted attention included a reference
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to a fun weekend of naughtiness and Harry using affectionate
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nicknames such as griff and Sugar. A mention of movie
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snuggles also fueled speculation online, but Griffiths has insisted that
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the reality was far more ordinary than the rumors suggested.
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She wrote, but suddenly those messages in which I had
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spoken of about the fun weekend of naughtiness and Harry
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had recalled our movie snuggles were interpreted as evidence of
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some sort of romantic liaison. In fact, we'd merely shared
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a blanket during a film screening in a sitting room
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with other people present on a Sunday afternoon. The naughtiness
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referred to excessive alcohol consumption, a reference by Harry to
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a Cinderella's shoe, and a separate message, and spired further
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misleading headlines suggesting we had been intimate, adding that they
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were instead burrowed shoes that she used to head outside
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for a cigarette. Griffiths also recalled a moment when Harry
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shuffled over to her beanbag, got onto the blanket she
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was sitting beneath him, put his arm around her. She said,
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there was nothing particularly romantic about the sweet gesture. Although
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I wasn't physically attracted to him, I felt slightly uncomfortable.
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I was dating someone else at the time, and besides,
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he'd kissed another girl the night before, a girl who
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had turned up for the weekend on the arm of
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one of his friends. By breakfast, it all seemed to
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have become part of the previous night's entertainment, and everyone
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simply laughed it off. Also in The Express, Emily Ferguson
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writes Megan uncle leave's lost Prince Harry in the lurch.
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The decision was cruel. She asks, was Megan Michael's decision
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not to attend any public engagement in the UK to
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ensure the focus stayed on her husband's passion project due
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to security threats, or simply because she didn't want to
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be associated with Harry's toxic brand. I may be being skeptical,
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but if my other half has had a week from hell,
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I'd want to be by his side to support him
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and help remind him of all the good his charity
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work was doing. And it's not as if he's got
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many friends and family left in the UK to unwine
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with and help forget the issues over his stay at
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Buckingham Palace and his extraordinary legal defeat. Yet, on the
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other hand, deciding to stay away helped avoid the Sussex
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circus from exploding into overdrive. Meghan's first UK return since
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the late Queen's funeral was always going to dominate the
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news agenda, but staying away has projected an image of
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an isolated prince, especially when hours after Harry attended the
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Invictor's countdown event in Birmingham. The Prince and Princess of
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Wales looks the picture perfect couple at the Polo. Royal
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expert Tom Bauer told The Express the best thing he
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could do is go back to Montecito and disappear for
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a year and then start again, try again to build relations,
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but prove that he can be trusted. I think what
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the last few weeks of real speculation about what he
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will or won't be doing, where he would be staying,
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whether Meghan is coming, will the children meet their grandfather?
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All show that he's completely untrustworthy. Harry is a hypocrite
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for using the media he claims to hate to leak
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damaging stories. If he had just handled things quietly, he
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and Megan could have had a private family visit. But
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they didn't want privacy. They wanted a massive public spectacle
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for branding and publicity. More palasy, just a moment after
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all that could Invictis be canceled. Speaking on the Daily
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Expresso podcast, hosts JJ and Cob said he had been
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told the games were undergrowing financial pressure and even suggest
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that the cancelation is now a possibility. He explained and
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Victis is a great idea and it started off really well.
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I'll start with this. It used to be sponsorship was
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the main way it was funded. In recent years for
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the Birmingham Games. It's now majority by whichever country is
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hosting the Games, and Coobi went on to clean that
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while the British government has pledged up to twenty six
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million pounds towards the Games, not all of that money
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is immediately available. He said the UK has underwritten twenty
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six million pounds for next year's Games, but they will
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only release that money if Invictus raises enough money for
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them to go ahead. Currently, the UK government has given
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them approximately three million pounds of that underwritten twenty six
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which means Invictis has got to raise a lot of
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money between now and next year for the Games to
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go ahead in its entirety. And it doesn't seem to
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be going too well. Boeing massive huge company, not a
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company short of a few bob they pulled out. That's
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one huge sponsor already out. The Birmingham contingent are actively
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seeking commercial partners now running around trying to get it.
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The organizers have launched a sponsorship program and they are
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inviting businesses to register interest. Previously you have people like
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Jaguar and Boeing involved, and Victors is now going to
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local Birmingham businesses asking them for money. Podcast A presenter
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and comedian Mark Dolan argued that the stakes could not
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be higher for the Duke of Sussex. He said, this
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is a nightmare on Wills. This is catastrophic and the
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reason why is this is all he's got invictus is
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Harry there, he is invectus. One of the great actors
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of our time is apparently Prince William, who, despite seeming
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happy and relaxed in every single public appearance, is once
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again said to be furious. This time the supposed raging
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air is furious that Charles met with his other son.
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Talk TV host Mark Doland told Sky News it's my
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understanding that William is furious about this. Why because it's
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a reward for the treachery, disloyalty and the cruelty of
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Harry and Meghan. Charles wants to see his grandchildren. I
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understand that, but I think Harry and Meghan had no
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right to be on a royal property. They got their
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way as usual, Royal observers tell Palace intrigue. William attended
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Wimbledon and then went home to one of his many
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properties and enjoyed whatever one does when one has two
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billion dollars in wealth and they have it. If you'd
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like to email us, our addresses the palasintrig at gmail
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dot com. If you're listening on Spotify, leave us a comment.
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If you're listening on Apple, hit that button up there
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that says listen uninterrupted and you can get the show
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commercial free for five bucks a month. We appreciate your support.
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I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is
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Palace Intrigue and good times.
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00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:57.759
131
00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:02.000
132
00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:04.480
133
00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:06.800
134
00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:09.759
135
00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:12.639
136
00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:16.519
137
00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.839
138
00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:23.199
139
00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:26.600
140
00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:29.519
141
00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.120
142
00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:36.079
143
00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.720
144
00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:41.480
145
00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:43.519
146
00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.879
147
00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:50.199
148
00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.480
149
00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.920
150
00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:59.399
151
00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:01.879
152
00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.600
153
00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:07.680
154
00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.120
155
00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:13.279
156
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:16.040
157
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.040
