Sept. 15, 2024

Prince Harry's 40th Birthday: what's next for Diana's lost child?

Show Notes
Transcript

Happy Birthday Harry, may you find happiness somewhere.

A collection of thoughts from the tabloids about Harry at 40 - and what comes next?

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Ah Caloroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome through palace intrigue.

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I am host of Mark Francis Coppy Sowerby, writes in

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Unheard Somewhere in Montecito. On Sunday, a balding Englishman will

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celebrate his birthday over a bold tig and yellow clinking

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glasses with his glamorous Californian wife, like footloose Agadou and

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the original apple Mac. Prince Harry is turning forty, leaving

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behind a torrid decade of public spats, toddure confessions, and

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expensive therapists. Nothing quite boils the blood of middle aged

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men more than the departure of the Duke of Sussex

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for a better life out West, an upside down Steinbeck protagonist.

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Most will claim to be enraged by the Duke's abandonment

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of duty, or some such sniffing notion, but we all

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know that his great crime greater even than the suggestion

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that his wife once made these painted Princess of Wales's

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cry over bride'smaid's dresses, his self involvement. His twenty twenty

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one interview with Oprah alongside his wife Megan, confirmed our

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most seconding fears that the toxic creed of speaking your

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truth had become irreversibly lodged in good old Harry Windsor's brain.

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Despite having two of the most unpopular qualities in British culture,

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he is, after all, a ginger posho. Harry was always

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respected among the bulk of the public, who we must remember,

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regard the royal family with nothing more and nothing less

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than detached, bemused affection. He was the light relief to

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William's somber nobility, the cheeky spare who went naughties led culture,

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seeming to enjoy his privilege rather than WinCE at it,

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frollicking around in states of controversial dress or undress and

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injecting a sense of normality fun even into a unit

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which had been so racked by tragedy and worse off

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putting stuffiness. But his capture by millennial therapy culture signaled

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the death of this happy, go lucky persona. When the

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winks stopped, we sobered up and realized we had been

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sat opposite a quift clown made up to look like

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a cheeky friend. Prince Harry is, without a doubt, the

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most millennial millennial to ever have breathed in his trajectory

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from cheeky chappy to earnest self regarding counseling patient lies

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the story of his generation's downfall into cringe. What really

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sticks in the craw is not the Sussex's progressive values,

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which I find to be admirable, requiring considerable bravery in

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today's media climate, but the damned hypocrisy of it all.

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It is difficult to be told to check your privilege

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by two monte seats and millionaires, and I fear they

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represent a very millennial crusade for justice, that is, one

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which privileges instagrammable opportunities over substance. Harry's millennial earnestness has

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gone down like a cup of warm sanset with gen Z,

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who are on the whole much funnier and much less cringe,

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and right behind us, Jen Alfa is ready to snatch

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the crown from their parents' receding hairlines. Prince Louis will

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no doubt prove that we againsteen nothing. Yet one wonders

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how Harry's own story will end. In The Daily Mail,

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Jan Moyer writes Katy Perry, Ellen Degeneras, Steve Martin, Jennifer Aniston,

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Ariana Grande Gwyneth Poulter and Robblow were just a few

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of the stars who owned properties in the Montecito area,

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alongside newer residents, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. We

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treat all of them just like ordinary folks, is the

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mantra you hear over and over in the restaurants and

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boutiques along the coast Village Road. So on the morning

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of September fifteenth, Prince Harry could be forgiven for congratulating

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himself on the road he has traveled to reach this

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point as his milestone birth the approaches. He certainly deserves

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credit for having the courage to change history and his

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own destiny by choosing a future he felt was a

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better fit for his family for himself. Yet, although Harry

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has gained much in the four years since he fled

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to America to escape the oppression and tyranny of inherited wealth,

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it could be argued that he has lost even more.

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Perhaps the truth is that the Duke of Sussex had

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to destroy his past to create his future. But even

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though sympathetic to his cause, wondering if he really had

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to damage so many other members of the royal family

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in the process, Harry may have glory in his new life,

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and he may indeed have much to celebrate, but the

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sadness is that he will never have another brother and

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he can't make new old friends. Prince Harry's past birthdays

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give an indication that, despite the high born benefits, his

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passage through life has not been easy. There are a

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few years of innocent birthday teas featuring cakes and sawbey

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before the tragedy of nineteen ninety seven, the year he

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turned thirteen. Wreathed in a little boy's deep shock, he

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initially refused to believe his mother had been killed in

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a car creation in Paris. In Spare, he reveals his

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thoughts at the time, She'll be back. She has to be.

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It's my birthday. In two weeks he shot his first

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stag about moral on his fifteenth birthday. Had a low

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key twentieth as he was preparing for his Sandhurst entrance exams,

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although the following month he was brawling with photographers outside

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a London nightclub. On his twenty fifth birthday, he was

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on holiday in Botswana, celebrating with cake and cocktails. On

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his twenty eighth he was a soldier under Taliban fire

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at Camp bastion in Afghanistan. His thirtieth birthday was major,

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having survived the naked Billiard's incident in Las Vegas two

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years earlier. He inherited a large sum left to me

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by mummy, had just left the Army, split up with Cressida, Bonus,

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launched the first Invictus Games, decided to track to the

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South Pole, and was speaking of hopes that he would

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find someone to settle down with and have children in

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the standard Luciana Bellini reminds us it's a far cry

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from the Duke's last milestone birthday. Then a thirty year

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old Harry was fourth in line to the throne and

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at the heart of the firm, regularly voted the most

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popular member of the royal family. He celebrated his birthday

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with a black tie bash at Clarence House, thrown by

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his brother, with bottles of high Grove champagne sent by

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his father. Today, those closest to him say he's at

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a crossroads, with his future uncertain. Many he was projects

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in the US haven't panned out the way he'd like,

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and friends say he spends more time looking back than forwards.

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Harry's a bit of a lost soul in that he's

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lost his chief official role in life, says Stephen Bates,

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author of Royalty Inc. Britain's best known brand, He's becoming irrelevance,

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stuck in a golden cage. Royal expert Ingrid Seward spoke

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to the son about the old adage, if you haven't

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made it by forty you never will. Ingrid said, but

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of course that's not true. But I think in the

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back of Harry's mind probably he's thinking, I've got to

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get on with it. I've got to really go for it.

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Now he has success of the Invictus Games, which we

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will know, but we can't really name anything else. There

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were lots of other philanthropic things, but just off the

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top of my head, I only think Invictus. So I

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think Harry needs to kind of get a stronger foothold

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into that world that he says he wants to promote

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so badly. In The Daily Mail, Brionny Gordon tells us

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what her friends Prince Harry and Megana really like. She writes,

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people want to know what they are like, but only

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if it talies with the version of the famous person

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that they have created in their own head. I mention

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this because about eight years ago I became friends with

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Prince Harry, and ever since life has been peppered with

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questions from people curious to know more about his character.

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Has he been brainwashed? Is he intent on bringing down

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the monarchy? Does he smell of money? And so on

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so forth? And when I tell them my honest opinion

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that he is kind, funny and pretty damn normal, all

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things considered, I often see a flash of disappointment cloud

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their faces, followed quickly by words to the effect of

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well you would say that you know him, as if

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knowing someone should disqualify you from having a trusted opinion

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about them. There are no heirs or graces with them,

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no desire to do anything other than protect their children

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from an increasingly digital world that likes nothing more than

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seeing the worst in people, a world that forgets that

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no matter how high profile a person is, they're just

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doing their best like everyone else. This is not what

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people want to hear, but it is what I've found

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time and time again. So happy fortieth birthday, has May

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you continue to make a difference for the next four years,

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regardless of the naysayers. Harry told the BBC, I was

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anxious about thirty. I'm excited about forty. Whatever the age,

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my mission is to continue showing up and doing good

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in the world. Palacindri could be right back. In the Telegraph,

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Hannah Furness writes about what's next for Harry. The Duke

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and Duchess are committed to their mission, show up, do good,

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we are told next up. Shortly after his birthday, Harry

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is planning a trip to New York for meetings with

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four of his familiar organizations, African Parks, the Halo Trust,

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the Diana Award and ecotourism company Travelists. They seem set

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to re establish Harry's own long term projects, as well

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as positioning him as Diana's son. He usually travels back

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to Britain for the annual well Child Awards, which take

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place in September. He is a long term patron of

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the charity for seriously ill Children. Then the next Invictus

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Schemes will be held in Vancouver in February. If only

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his security in the UK could be permanently settled in

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line with his wishes, a Sussex source tells US celebrity

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magazine People, it would be swords down on his interviews

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until then, the need to make serious money remains. The

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Sussex's commercial deals have not always been smooth sailing. The

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Netflix deal, announced to huge fanfare, is still there. Some

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programs have been made, the six part Bombshell Harry and Meghan,

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an Invictus documentary, and a series about activists, but there

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has been the ever present issue of staff to parting

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and criticism from outside the industry over how long things

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have taken to come to fruition. They have parted ways

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with Spotify with that unflattering but lingering description from an

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executive who called them effing grifters. There was a time

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one source joke that they seemed to be losing their

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Sussex appeal. But there are projects coming up, including a

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rom com, Meghan's cookery show and a Polo documentary which

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Harry is undeniably well placed to make. On the money

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making front of the Duchess has launched a new lifestyle label,

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American Riviera Orchard, unveiled in April when she sent fifty

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jars of jam to friends including reality star Chris Jenner

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and model Chrissy Tigan. Not yet off the ground, it

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has a recently run into difficulties securing a trademark. Many

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of those who worked with Harry and years gone by

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remain fond of him, even as some of them admit

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to being deeply frustrated his choices. The horrified reaction in

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royal circles to his memoir, documentary and many interviews scarcely

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needs repeating. More recent articles in which Harry's friends lamented

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his security, frustrations and lack of family warmth were described

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sadly by one sources, a howl of rage. Conscious that

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the younger generation are always the more glamorous and fascinating

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to the public, allowing them to win column inches in

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broadcast time for their favorite causes. He once said he

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would use his own platform until I become boring or

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until Prince George ends up becoming more interesting, and they

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have it to email us and addresses to the Palace

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intriguet gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple

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or the app of your choice dand senders a review. Hi,

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those stars of you enjoying the show. I'm marked front

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is my thanks to John McDermott. This is palas Intry.

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Good times. Yeah,

Prince Harry's 40th Birthday: what's next for Diana's lost child?

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