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Ah Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Weekly.
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I'm your host, Mark Francis. This is the show where
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we take a look at what happened last week in
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royal news. It's been a week in which the monarchy
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paused to honor its past, prepared to navigate its most
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delicate diplomatic moment in decades, and watched from a careful
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distance as the people who left it continued with considerable
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energy to remind everyone they had left. Let's get into it.
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We begin where the week demanded. We begin with Queen
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Elizabeth y Iwid, who would have turned one hundred on Tuesday.
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King Charles delivered a national address filmed in the library
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at Balmorral, standing before bookcases in a childhood drawing of
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his mother. He called her constant, steadfast and wholly devoted,
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and said that millions will remember her for moments of
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national significance, many others for a fleeting personal and want
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a smile, a kind word that lifted spirits. He also
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said that much about the times we now live in
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I suspect may have troubled her deeply, but added that
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he takes comfort in her belief that goodness will always prevail,
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and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon.
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He concluded by renewing his own pledge of service, addressing
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her directly, God bless you, darling Mamma. You remain forever
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in our hearts and prayers. It was, by any measure,
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a composed and moving piece of writing. The day's events
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were held at Buckingham Palace and the British Museum, where
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the King and Queen, joined by William, Catherine, Anne and
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the Edinburgh's shown final designs for the National Memorial in
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Saint James Park by architect Lord Foster. The plans include
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a glass and steel bridge inspired by the queen's wedding tiara,
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a Commonwealth wind sculpture, and statues of both Elizabeth and
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Philip as young figures in ceremonial dress. The King called
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the design fantastic and said he particularly loved that the
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bridge was based on the Russian fringe tiara, the one
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that my mama wore at her wedding. Not everyone on
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lad agreed with the vision. One commenter said a horse
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would have been more fitting. Another described the statues as
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not looking like either of them. We note these reactions
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and move on. At the palace reception, the King presented
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centenary cards to three centenarians who share the late Queen's
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birth they Prince William, meeting one of them, said I
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can't believe you are one hundred. Do I need to
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call security? Have you snuck in? He learned a secret
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was liquish all sorts and clotted cream fudge and replied
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simply wow. Princess and meanwhile opened the Queen Elizabeth the
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second Garden in Regent's Park, where a hidden corgy is
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said to be concealed inside the water tower. She noted
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that her mother liked gardens because the dogs needed to
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go out. That is, in many ways the most perfectly
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and tribute imaginable. The family photograph released from the day
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showed the slimmed down monarchy as it now stands Charles
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and Camilla at the center, flanked by William and Catherine
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and Edward and Sophie, and a small number of senior
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but rarely photographed members, including the Gloucesters and Princess Alexandra
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absent without need of elaboration, with Beatrice, Eugenie, Andrew and
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Harry and Meghan deep Crown writing on his substack observed
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this is what a slimmed down monarchy looks like in practice,
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and one is being somewhat generous with the description. The
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mathematics will catch up eventually, and how King William solves
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that particular puzzle remains an open question. It's not a
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small one. Royal biographer Robert Hartman, reflecting on the occasion
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for People magazine, said the Queen's handling of the Andrew
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fallout will go down as a mistake and one that
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has outlasted her, but was firm that this was not
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the defining chapter. Her greatness remains. He said, when you
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stand back and take in a seventy year reign in
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a ninety six year life, those are important chapters, not
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the defining elements. And a Key was also announced this
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week as the author of the official biography of Queen Elizabeth,
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with unprecedented access to the Royal archives in person and
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little papers. There is already speculation the work may run
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to multiple volumes, with more sensitive recent chapters the King's
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first marriage Andrew, the Sussex's requiring their own careful handling.
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More palis in just a moment. Now to Australia, where
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the week began with the final chapter of the Sussex tour,
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and ended with the kind of headlines that suggest the
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lessons of it are still being processed. The retreat itself,
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Meghan's Her Best Life appearance in Sydney, drew warm reviews
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from those who attended. One guest who traveled from Melbourne
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described the on stage conversation as ef fantastic, said the
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room was completely mesmerized, and reported that Meghan had avoided
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royal life entirely, focusing instead on her current projects and
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what she called the billion dollar industry anchored in the
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cruelty that is online abuse. When Meghan said that every
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day as a woman, she received an article written about
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her in some form, the room, by multiple accounts, went quiet.
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We all had tears when attendees there were also a
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There was also a separate report from someone who watched
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Harry at the same event, who described him as having
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almost run out before Meghan left the stage, leaving quickly
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without waiting for her. Harry's team did not address this,
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we noted and move on. The couple flew home to California,
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where Archie and Lillibert had prepared a welcome home banner
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above the front door. That dog Poola was enthusiastic. Meghan
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posted footage and wrote, Australia, you have our hearts. It was,
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by the standards of the tour's broad a reception, an
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uncontroversial conclusion the coverage. However, that was not Brontie Coy,
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who spent four days with the front row access to
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visit for a News dot com dot Au, offered what
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was perhaps the most considered assessment of the week. She wrote,
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the most common question she received dozens of times was
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simply whether Harry and Meghan were still in love. She
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could not answer that directly, but reported that they were
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often holding hands when circumstances, aloud and through each other
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quick smiles from across rooms. She also made an obvious
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about the contrast between them that stayed with several readers. Harry,
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she wrote, was effortlessly at ease, shifting between sick children,
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war veterans and chicky lifeguards without visible strain. Like his
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father and brother, Harry spent his life in training for
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a royal career, and despite quitting the job he was
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born into it's very evidently still firmly ingrain. Megan, by contrast,
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nailed the brief and hit all the marks, but after
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four days in close proximity, Coy said, when people have
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reportedly asked me what she's really like, there's only one answer.
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I still have absolutely no idea. The fashion commentary was
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extensive and largely uncharitable. The Daily Mail's Shane Watson devoted
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considerable space to analyzing each outfit, concluding that the overall
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effect was polished but ordinary, and described the final look,
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a short khaki shift dress with very high heels, as
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the absolute low fashion point of the tour. The shoes,
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she noted, had sold out. The master Chef timing meanwhile,
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continued to draw fire. Natalie Olivery said the optics of
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filming a television segment while Harry was laying a wreath
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in camber were bad, adding, just as we were all
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starting to warm to Megan again, she goes and does this.
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The broader points she made that the late Queen was
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probably right that there is no room for mixing duty
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with money landed with some force. The more appointed commercial
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controversy centered on Megan's involvement with the fashion platform One Off,
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through which she earns a share of proceeds when viewers
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purchase outfits she has worn on tour where or commentator
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A Kinsey Schofield described it as the most vile thing
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I have ever seen, alleging the images of Megan at
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engagements with six children and attack survivors were being used
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to drive affiliate retail sales. One listing was subsequently taken down.
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Richard Palmer of The Daily Mail said it would have
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alarm bells ringing at the palace. Megan also launched two
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new candles through as Ever this week, named after the
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birth dates of Archie and Lilibert. Released on Tuesday, the
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day of Queen Elizabeth's centenary commemorations. The timing did not
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go unnoticed. One commenter wrote, merching the kiddos on the
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late Queen's one hundredth birthday utterly disgusting. The team made
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no comment or Palacy just a moment, and then Harry
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went to Ukraine. The Duke arrived in Kiev by overnight
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train from Poland unannounced for the Kiev Security Forum. He
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described the war as being about values, not just territory,
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warned the international community not to become numb to the conflict,
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and addressed the United States directly, saying America has a
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singular role in honoring its treaty obligations to Ukraine. He
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spoke as a soldier who understands service in a humanitarian
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and was careful to say he was not there as
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a politician. He is expected to meet the invictor's community
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and observe the work of the Halo Trust, the d
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mining organization associated with his mother. Donald Trump was by saying,
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Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that's for sure.
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I think I am speaking for the UK more than
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Prince Harry. He then added that he appreciates the Duke's
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advice very much, and asked how his wife was and
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sent his regards. This was described in several outlets as
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a diplomatic complication for a king who is arriving in
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Washington in approximately forty eight hours. Deep Crown addressed this
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at length, with some care on his sub stack. The
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core observation was not that Harry was wrong to go
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to the Ukraine, but that there is now no institutional
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mechanism to coordinate timing between Harry's movements and the palaces.
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The Duke no longer has anyone whose job it is
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to pick up a telephone and note that perhaps the
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week of the centenary and immediately before a delicate state
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visit might not be the optimal moment for a surprise
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appearance in a war zone. He exists in a category
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that the institution has never had to manage before. Deep
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Crown wrote a senior royal by birth and background who
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has formerly removed himself from the structure, but who continues
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to generate royal scale coverage and royal scale diplomatic consequences.
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The story that ran alongside the King's moving tribute to
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his mother and several outlets was Trump says he speaks
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for the UK more than Harry. Deep Crown concluded that
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it's not ideal sequencing Elsewhere in the Harry shaped portion
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of the news, Facebook messages showing warmth toward a mail
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on Sunday journalist continue to generate coverage. Reports suggest Megan
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is more certain than ever that she needs to keep
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watch over Harry's social interactions. One source said she is
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comfortable with him socializing as long as it's limited to
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a civilized dinner and a glass or two of wine,
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and suggested anything more as a recipe for disaster. His
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visa records also remained unreleased, with the State Department having
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mister March deadline and pushing the next update to at
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least mid June. After the state visit. Critics called it suspicious,
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officials called it administrative. The debate continues on William. Rob's
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shooter reported that the Prince of Wales is using the
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King King's time abroad to hold a series of what
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a source described as strategic future facing conversations with real weight,
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with some reports characterizing this as seizing power. William's allies
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would likely describe it as preparedness. Meanwhile, the wedding of
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Peter Phillips to Harriet Spurling on June sixth is drawing
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quiet attention as a potential occasion at which William and
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Harry could find themselves in the same room for the
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first time and some time. Whether they would speak remains,
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as one report delicately put it, unclear. And finally, as
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the King prepares to board a plane to Washington, his
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most consequential overseas engagement as monarch, the framing could not
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be more precise. Tina Brown, writing on her substack, noted
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that while Charles privately has no great enthusiasm for his host,
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the Palace understands the visit as an opportunity to demonstrate
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the Britain's head of state is one of the few
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people in public life who still know how to behave.
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One Telegraph columnist described the visit as navigating room full
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of lasers with a constitutional requirement not to touch anything,
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and concluded that Charles will keep to small talk, deliver
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an elegant Congress speech about hands across the ocean, and
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be pleased. He will never have to be nice to
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the tangerine monster. Ever. Again, that may be the most
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honest preview of the week ahead that we are likely
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to receive. Deep Crown, for his part, said simply, the
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crown itself is the message. You simply need to be
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in the room. There you have it. If you'd like
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to email us our addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail
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and dot com. Please followus on Spotify, Apple or the
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app of your choice. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to
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John McDermott. This is Palace Weekly. Good terms,