July 12, 2026

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Accused of Media Briefing Chaos

Show Notes
Transcript

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle face criticism over reports of a WhatsApp briefing group used to share details with selected journalists covering their UK visit. We examine Richard Eden’s claims about conflicting Sussex briefings, Tom Sykes’ analysis of Harry’s costly Daily Mail court defeat, Rebecca Russell’s argument that the House of Windsor outplayed the Sussexes, and Alicia Liberty’s look at why hopes for a royal reconciliation remain complicated. Plus: King Charles climbs aboard a tank, and Phil Dampier warns Buckingham Palace must remain a true royal residence after its renovation.

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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Callarogus Shark Media, Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigy gaming

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host Mark Francis. Harry and Meghan are facing renewed criticism

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following reports about a What's app group used to share

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information with selected journalists covering the couple. According to The

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Daily Mail, the briefings were distributed through a wat'sapp group

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created by the Sussex's Director of Communications, Liam Maguire. Royal

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editor Richard Eden wrote that journalists initially received detailed information

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indicating Harry and Meghan would travel to Britain with their children.

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The briefing also reportedly said the family would stay at

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a royal residence, and several news organizations published stories based

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on that information. The briefing also reportedly said the family

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would stay at a royal residence, and several news organizations

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published stories based on that information. According to Eden, a

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second message was circulated less than a day later, after

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reports emerged that Harry's efforts to regain automatic textpayer under

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police protection had been unsuccessful. Even argued the conflicting briefings

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left reporters scrambling to revised stories they had already published.

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He wrote that members of the wasapp group had been

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made to look like prize chumps. Even concluded that Harry

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and Meghan had sunk to a new low. The article

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also quoted a Daily Beast Royal correspondent, Tom Sykes, who

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was reported to be a member of the watsapp group

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Sikes Brope. It's now blatantly apparent what this whole exercise

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was about. The tour, the announcement that Megan and the

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kids were coming, the whole carefully choreographed media roll out,

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the months of assurances to the Royal household that this

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was happening, the accommodation requests, the detailed planning. It was

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all just to bounce his poor, weak, loving father into

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intervening in the government's security decision, making something Charles, to

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his eternal credit as refused to do. This is the

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high water mark of Harry's emotional blackmail. In The Royalist,

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Tom Sykes writes, now comes the bill under the loser

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pays all. Harry and his co claimants must now bear

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their own colossal spend and pay millions towards the male's

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And there is a live grenade still rolling around the

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court room floor. If Nicklin makes findings of serious misconduct

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over the fabricated statement allegations the male can seek costs

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on the punitive indemnity basis, blowing past the camp entirely.

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The timing completes the misery with asymmetry so cruel no

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screenwriter would dare. The verdict landed at two pm, delivered

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by email while Harry was in Britain on a trip

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already reduced to fast before it began. The King withdrew

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the offer of a bed to Buckingham Palace after Harry

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missed the deadline to accept, rejected it and changed his

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mind with courtious alarmed at the very prospect of the

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monarch hosting his son on the day his own courts

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ruled on that son's lawsuit. Their constitutional squeamishness now looks prescient.

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Harry flew home for a week of worthy engagements in

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Victor Swell Child Scotty Little Soldier's intentative reconciliation. Instead, he

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has had a snub over his accommodation, a self inflicted

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row over his first night photop with miss and Harriman,

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and now a total court room defeat by the newspaper

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he hates most on Earth. Delivered on British soil with

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his family absent and the world watching. He has always

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said he would rather lose fighting than settle. He found

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out what that feels like. Rebecca Russell writes in The

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Express about the accommodation's debate, as if he needed another reminder,

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Prince Herr has just learned once again that the House

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of Windsor will always win. They will win in the

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court of public opinion, they will win over the Sussex's

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shadow pr machine and crucially, they will win over petty

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disputes and a matter how many statements as spokesperson is

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authorized to make. The issue we have here is that

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the constant back and forth from Team Sussex, the tit

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for tat and the deeply defensive responses, erode their status

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and make them appear less like a shadowed court of

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the king's second son and more like a toddler throwing

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a tempered tantrum. Of course, it would have been great

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for this trip to be the ultimate show of happy families,

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but the mess that has been whipped up before he's

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even arrived and ensure that the focus is on that

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rather than the good work Harry has achieved with the

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Invictors Games. It could all turn around, but as you

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might have guessed, the flurry of statements has been issued

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at such a pace that the result is nothing but confusion.

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The real tragedy is that Harry has spent years fighting

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for control of his narrative, yet he remains completely blind

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to how he has been outplayed. The institution has marched

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on without him. It does not collapse under the weight

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of the attacks, and it will not engage in a

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bitter war of worlds. Will Harry have a learn We

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can only hope. So in the express alicia liberty rights.

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None of this means relationships cannot heal. Families argue, Families

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drift apart. Sometimes they find their way back to one another,

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and sometimes they do not. Those realities are not unique

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to Royalty. But equally, pretending this July's visit will suddenly

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produce a picture of perfect reunion worthy of a lifestyle

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series feels optimistic in the extreme. So where does Megan

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fit into all of this? Whether fairly or unfairly, she

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has begun the figure many people associate with the beginning

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of this extraordinary family fallout. Long before she married Prince Harry,

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her own relationships with her father had publicly collapsed, along

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with ties to other members of her family. Then, over

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the years, Harry's closest family relationships also unraveled. Correlation does

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not prove causation, and no outsider can know exactly what

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happened behind closed doors, but it helps explain why so

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many people continue to view the Sussex story through that lens.

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If Harry's return proves anything is that the public remains

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fascinated by the possibility of reconciliation because they remember what

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once existed. They remember the laughing brothers, They remember Catherine

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standing comfortably alongside Harry. They remember a family that, from

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the outside at least looked remarkably close. Perhaps that is

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why so many people continue hoping for a different ending. Reality, however,

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has proved considerably more complicated, more palace. In just a

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moment during the week, there was a humorous photo of

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King Charles a top a tank. King Charles climbed aboard

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a British Army tank during a visit to the Tank Museum,

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marking his first engagement with the Royal Tank Regiment since

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becoming its Colonel in chief. The King toured the museum

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before taking part in one of the days more memorable moments,

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removing his suit jacket, putting on a military helmet with

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a communications headset, and standing in the commander's position as

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a tank drove around the museum's arena. Earlier, Charles arrived

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in the nineteen twenty pattern Rolls Royce armored car and

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joked that the historic vehicle was very slow. The same

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armored car was used by Queen Elizabeth II during a

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visit to the museum in nineteen ninety seven to mark

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the eightieth anniversary of the Battle of Cambray. During the visit,

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the king watched a military demonstration by soldiers from the

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Royal Tank Regiment, many of whom had recently returned from

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deployment in Greece in time for the regiment's annual Family's Day.

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For the Express, Phil Dampier comments, I think it would

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be a big mistake for King Charles not to live

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at Buckingham Palace. When renovations have finished, questions will be

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asked as to why so much money has been spent

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on what will become an office and tourist attraction with

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the feel of the museum. But more importantly, people flocked

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to the building because they sense it is the home

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of the monarch and it provides a focal point for

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major events like Jubileese coronations and tribute the color we

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will know. The King and Queen Camilla find Clarence House

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cozy and prefer living there. And you could argue his

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cancer treatment would be helped by not moving. But this

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will make it easier for Prince William not to live

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at the palace either, and I think that would send

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out the wrong message. William has already made it clear

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he wants his current abode, Forest Lodge in Windsor to

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be his family's forever home. It sounds nice, but what

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all happened to all the royal residents so beloved by

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the late Queen When she and Prince Philip first where

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they lived at Clarence House and wanted to stay there

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when she became queen in nineteen fifty two, but her

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first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, insisted the couple moved to

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Buckingham Palace, just up the mall because it was more

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in keeping with their status. King George the sixth widow

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the Queen Mum moved to Clarence House and it became

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her London home for half a century. In latter years,

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the Queen spent more time at her favorite home, Windsor Castle,

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but that too is under used by Charles except for

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the big state dinners to impress the likes of Donald Trump.

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The simple fact is that the royal family have too

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many residences. When he becomes king, what will William do

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with Windsor Castle, Bow Moral, Sandringham, High Grove, Berkele, Clarence House,

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biking and palace, et cetera, etc. The list goes on

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and on. The King has so far failed to deal

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with this game of homes and maybe leaving the big

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decisions to his son. Some say Versailles outside Paris is

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still a major tourist attraction, even though no royals live there.

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But the French booted out there king and cut his

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head off a long time ago. Most people here still

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support our monarchy, but they have to be seen to

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be believed. Living in a world famous palace should still

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be part of the magic. And there you have it.

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If you late to email us or addresses the Palace

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intrigu at gmail and dot com, please follow us on

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Spotify you can leave a comment there. And if you're

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five bucks a month and you get all this commercial free.

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Hey Mark Francis, my thanks to John McDermott. This is

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palace intrigue and good times.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Accused of Media Briefing Chaos

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