Oct. 5, 2025

Prince William’s Shock Interview: Fit for Purpose or Fit for Battle?

Show Notes
Transcript

Prince William’s candid comments in a travel show interview have ignited a royal firestorm. Speaking with Eugene Levy, William said he wants to avoid the mistakes of his parents—and openly questioned whether the monarchy, in its current form, is still “fit for purpose.”

Royal expert Tom Sykes calls it the clearest sign yet of a deep rift between the Prince and his father, King Charles. Deep Crown weighs in on William’s sudden ruthlessness, while Sky News explores how “change” has become William’s quiet manifesto.

Meanwhile, King Charles reacts to the tragic Yom Kippur attack in Manchester, Aunt Sophie shines a light on sexual violence in the Congo, and Thomas Markle says he’s safe—and watching Charlie Chan movies—despite what Samantha Markle claimed.

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Calorougus, Shark, Media.

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Ballo and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,

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Mark Francis. There are plenty of reactions to Prince William's

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interview with Eugene Levy that he wants to avoid making

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the same mistakes as his parents. In The Royalist, Tom

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Sykes writes how he has been reporting for months on

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how King Charles and Prince William have secretly been enduring

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an intensely strained relationship and are at loggerheads over the

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direction of the monarchy. The King's team have denied and

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sought to rubbish my revelations in the pages of craven

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British medium. So I must say it is with some

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satisfaction that I observe we now have chapter and verse

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on this matter from the Prince of Wales himself, who

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at one stage openly questions whether the monarchy in its

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present state is fit for purpose. This is astonishing stuf

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and is the pathology of decades of resentment of his father,

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which has exploded in spectacular style recently over charles appalling

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handling of the Harry and Andrew crises. William openly talked

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about his reign in an astounding breach of protocol that

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is likely to wound his father deeply. It will be

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seen by many as high level acknowledgment of the open

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secret that the King, who has cancer is not expected

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to live many years, hence in an undisguised rebuke to

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his father that will stoke fears that relations between the

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two are even worse than the royalists have been reporting.

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William said that changes that need to happen, and added,

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tradition has a huge part in all of this, but

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there's also points where you look at tradition and go

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is that still fit for purpose? Today? Sikes wrote a

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second piece reacting to the criticism of his first column.

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In this one, he writes, when I say William is ruthless, obstinate,

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and challenging his father's anachronistic and weak style, while we

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need kings to be ruthless, stubborn, and not content to

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have the supreme friends of the world's most famous pedophile

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appear alongside them at church on Christmas Day, William's comments

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about his parents are not a million miles away from Harry's.

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In the twenty twenty one Apple TV Plus series The

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Me You Can't See, where Harry recalled his father saying

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to both boys at unhappy moments during their childhood, well,

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it was like that for me, so it's going to

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be like that for you. William is more tactful, but

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stripped back William's measured and deliberately non inflammatory language. And

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you see at the core that both men believe they

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were profoundly traumatized by their upbringings. Royal expert Phil Dampierre

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tells the Express the King may be slightly taken aback

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by the frankness with which William has spoken. He may

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be slightly upset that William has said that he made mistakes,

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but they are undeniable. We will know that his first

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marriage didn't work, and sadly there are always consequences from that.

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Royal inside a deep Crown adds. One is to ask

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whether this new William is ruthless. Surprisingly so, perhaps at

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least compared with the cautious Charles we watched for decades.

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But I don't think it is Mary. It is clarity.

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He knows exactly what he wants to do, and he

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is no longer afraid to assert it. That determination feels

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very much like his grandmother's influence. Elizabeth instilled in him

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the lesson that monarchy is not for the faint of heart.

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One must project confidence or risk being diminished. Of course,

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the irony is a For years, William was labeled as lazy,

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too fond of the country life, too reluctant to shoulder

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a full schedule. What we are seeing now is almost

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a complete reversal. A prince who is exacting with his staff,

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determined to set his standards, and willing to test his

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voice in public. Whether the public warms to that or

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bristles at it remains to be seen. But I do

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not think this is a man hiding any longer behind duty.

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He is showing us the king he intends to be.

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For Skye News, Rhianna Mills writes over a paint of

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cider with his pet dog Orler, by his feet, Prince

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William sets out in one sentence his manifesto for the monarchy.

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Change is on my agenda. The setting and the choice

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of platform for it a travel series where a Hollywood

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actor could not feel more unexps and we are told

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it wasn't necessarily planned to happen that way. Those close

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to William would say it's the most publicly vulnerable we

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have seen him. What does change really mean Fewer garden parties,

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ditching the ermine robes, less ribbon cutting and blank and veiling.

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That is all leys clear, But just the fact that

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we have now seen William exactly say it is hugely significant.

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Why well, you have to remember this is a family

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who don't like to talk publicly about transition. Remember that

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death and mourning come hand in hand with a change

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of rain, and there's the public reaction to talking about it.

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He still makes clear that he respects tradition, but his

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source has told me he is not afraid to ask

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why certain things happen and question if it's really fit.

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For now we have seen it with his approach to

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the Duchy of Cornwall, and apparently the worst answer you

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can give him is, well, we've always done it that

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way more palers, It's just the moment. King Charles has

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expressed a deep sorrow following a deadly attack outside of

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synagogue in Manchester on Earth kippurr. Two people were killed

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and several others injured when a car was reportedly driven

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at members of the public outside the Heaton Park Hebrew

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Congregation synagogue on October second. Man was also stabbed in

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a security guard attacked before Greater Manchester Police declared a

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major incident. The suspected attacker was later shot by armed officers.

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In a statement released through Buckingham Palace, the King said,

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my wife and I have been deeply shocked and sad

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to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on

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such a significant day for the Jewish community. Our thoughts

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and prayers with all those affected by this appalling incident,

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and we greatly appreciate the swift actions of the emergency services.

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The Prince and Princess of Way was also released a

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joint message signed WNC saying our thoughts are with the

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victims and the families of the terrible attack at Heaton

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Park Synagogue. The fact that the strategy occurred on the

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Young Kimpurr, the holyest day in the Jewish calendar, makes

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it all the more shocking. We are thinking of the

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entire community, as well as the emergency responders who attended

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this terrible incident. Aunt Sophie the Secret Weapon carried out

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a four day visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo,

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traveling under tight security, to highlight the devastating use of

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sexual violence as a weapon of war. The Duchess said

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her aim was to shine a light on the issue

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and to recognize the efforts of those supporting survivors. She

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began her trip in Benny, in the conflict ridden east

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of the country, where she listened to deeply distressing accounts

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from women and girls, including a sixteen year older said

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she had been assaulted by a police officer and another

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who was attacked while fleeing rebel controlled areas. On Wednesday,

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the Duchess visited the Pansy Clinican Conchaza, where she observed

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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr Dennis mcguigee operate on a

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five year old girl. Afterwards, she told reporters you have

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to really question yourself and go how can we have

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reached a point where rape is just accepted as a

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part of daily life. She added, So it's horrible to

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hear their stories, but each one deserves to be told,

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and each one deserves recognition. I just wish we didn't

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have to hear them, but it's important that we do.

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I think you have to allow this to get under

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your skin, and there is only one way to achieve that.

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You only have to go and see it. For yourself.

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You have to understand the environment in which these people

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are living in. Sit with these people where they come from.

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Don't make them come to you. You have to go

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to them. Thomas Mikel has denied claims from his daughter

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Samantha that he was left trapped after the powerful earthquake

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that struck the Philippines this week. Samantha Michael had written

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on her private ex account that her father was stuck

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on the nineteenth floor of a building following the six

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point nine magnitude quake, which killed at least seventy two

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people and injured more than two hundred. She added a

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blistering attack on her half system Megan, the Duchess of Sussex,

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accusing her of being to blame for their father's situation.

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But speaking to TMZ, Thomas Michael said there was no

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truth to the suggestion he was in danger. The epicenter

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was one hundred miles from here, he explained, confirming that

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his hotel was not affected by the tremor. He went on,

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I'm currently sitting on the couch in my hotel room

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with my feet kicked up and watching movies. I'm quite comfortable,

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Prince William’s Shock Interview: Fit for Purpose or Fit for Battle?

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