Queen's 100th, Harry's Kyiv Grenade & Charles Braces for Trump - The Week in Royal News with Mark Francis

0:00 Ah Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Weekly. I'm your host, Mark Francis. This is the show where we take a look at what happened last week in royal news. It's been a week in which the monarchy paused to honor its past, prepared to navigate its most delicate diplomatic moment in decades, and watched from a careful distance as the people who left it continued with considerable energy to remind everyone they had left. Let's get into it. We begin where the week demanded. We begin with Queen Elizabeth y Iwid, who would have turned one hundred on Tuesday.

0:41 King Charles delivered a national address filmed in the library at Balmorral, standing before bookcases in a childhood drawing of his mother. He called her constant, steadfast and wholly devoted, and said that millions will remember her for moments of national significance, many others for a fleeting personal and want a smile, a kind word that lifted spirits. He also said that much about the times we now live in I suspect may have troubled her deeply, but added that he takes comfort in her belief that goodness will always prevail, and that a brighter dawn is never far from the horizon. He concluded by renewing his own pledge of service, addressing her directly, God bless you, darling Mamma. You remain forever in our hearts and prayers. It was, by any measure, a composed and moving piece of writing. The day's events were held at Buckingham Palace and the British Museum, where the King and Queen, joined by William, Catherine, Anne and the Edinburgh's shown final designs for the National Memorial in Saint James Park by architect Lord Foster. The plans include a glass and steel bridge inspired by the queen's wedding tiara, a Commonwealth wind sculpture, and statues of both Elizabeth and Philip as young figures in ceremonial dress. The King called the design fantastic and said he particularly loved that the bridge was based on the Russian fringe tiara, the one that my mama wore at her wedding. Not everyone on lad agreed with the vision. One commenter said a horse would have been more fitting. Another described the statues as not looking like either of them. We note these reactions

2:13 and move on. At the palace reception, the King presented centenary cards to three centenarians who share the late Queen's birth they Prince William, meeting one of them, said I can't believe you are one hundred. Do I need to call security? Have you snuck in? He learned a secret was liquish all sorts and clotted cream fudge and replied simply wow. Princess and meanwhile opened the Queen Elizabeth the second Garden in Regent's Park, where a hidden corgy is said to be concealed inside the water tower. She noted that her mother liked gardens because the dogs needed to go out. That is, in many ways the most perfectly and tribute imaginable. The family photograph released from the day showed the slimmed down monarchy as it now stands Charles and Camilla at the center, flanked by William and Catherine and Edward and Sophie, and a small number of senior but rarely photographed members, including the Gloucesters and Princess Alexandra absent without need of elaboration, with Beatrice, Eugenie, Andrew and Harry and Meghan deep Crown writing on his substack observed this is what a slimmed down monarchy looks like in practice, and one is being somewhat generous with the description. The mathematics will catch up eventually, and how King William solves that particular puzzle remains an open question. It's not a small one. Royal biographer Robert Hartman, reflecting on the occasion for People magazine, said the Queen's handling of the Andrew fallout will go down as a mistake and one that has outlasted her, but was firm that this was not the defining chapter. Her greatness remains. He said, when you

3:43 stand back and take in a seventy year reign in a ninety six year life, those are important chapters, not the defining elements. And a Key was also announced this week as the author of the official biography of Queen Elizabeth, with unprecedented access to the Royal archives in person and little papers. There is already speculation the work may run to multiple volumes, with more sensitive recent chapters the King's first marriage Andrew, the Sussex's requiring their own careful handling. More palis in just a moment. Now to Australia, where the week began with the final chapter of the Sussex tour, and ended with the kind of headlines that suggest the lessons of it are still being processed. The retreat itself, Meghan's Her Best Life appearance in Sydney, drew warm reviews from those who attended. One guest who traveled from Melbourne described the on stage conversation as ef fantastic, said the room was completely mesmerized, and reported that Meghan had avoided royal life entirely, focusing instead on her current projects and what she called the billion dollar industry anchored in the cruelty that is online abuse. When Meghan said that every day as a woman, she received an article written about her in some form, the room, by multiple accounts, went quiet.

4:58 We all had tears when attendees there were also a There was also a separate report from someone who watched Harry at the same event, who described him as having almost run out before Meghan left the stage, leaving quickly without waiting for her. Harry's team did not address this, we noted and move on. The couple flew home to California, where Archie and Lillibert had prepared a welcome home banner above the front door. That dog Poola was enthusiastic. Meghan posted footage and wrote, Australia, you have our hearts. It was, by the standards of the tour's broad a reception, an uncontroversial conclusion the coverage. However, that was not Brontie Coy, who spent four days with the front row access to visit for a News dot com dot Au, offered what was perhaps the most considered assessment of the week. She wrote, the most common question she received dozens of times was simply whether Harry and Meghan were still in love. She could not answer that directly, but reported that they were often holding hands when circumstances, aloud and through each other quick smiles from across rooms. She also made an obvious about the contrast between them that stayed with several readers. Harry, she wrote, was effortlessly at ease, shifting between sick children, war veterans and chicky lifeguards without visible strain. Like his father and brother, Harry spent his life in training for a royal career, and despite quitting the job he was born into it's very evidently still firmly ingrain. Megan, by contrast, nailed the brief and hit all the marks, but after four days in close proximity, Coy said, when people have reportedly asked me what she's really like, there's only one answer.

6:30 I still have absolutely no idea. The fashion commentary was extensive and largely uncharitable. The Daily Mail's Shane Watson devoted considerable space to analyzing each outfit, concluding that the overall effect was polished but ordinary, and described the final look, a short khaki shift dress with very high heels, as the absolute low fashion point of the tour. The shoes, she noted, had sold out. The master Chef timing meanwhile, continued to draw fire. Natalie Olivery said the optics of filming a television segment while Harry was laying a wreath in camber were bad, adding, just as we were all starting to warm to Megan again, she goes and does this. The broader points she made that the late Queen was probably right that there is no room for mixing duty with money landed with some force. The more appointed commercial controversy centered on Megan's involvement with the fashion platform One Off, through which she earns a share of proceeds when viewers purchase outfits she has worn on tour where or commentator A Kinsey Schofield described it as the most vile thing I have ever seen, alleging the images of Megan at engagements with six children and attack survivors were being used to drive affiliate retail sales. One listing was subsequently taken down.

7:47 Richard Palmer of The Daily Mail said it would have alarm bells ringing at the palace. Megan also launched two new candles through as Ever this week, named after the birth dates of Archie and Lilibert. Released on Tuesday, the day of Queen Elizabeth's centenary commemorations. The timing did not go unnoticed. One commenter wrote, merching the kiddos on the late Queen's one hundredth birthday utterly disgusting. The team made no comment or Palacy just a moment, and then Harry went to Ukraine. The Duke arrived in Kiev by overnight train from Poland unannounced for the Kiev Security Forum. He described the war as being about values, not just territory, warned the international community not to become numb to the conflict, and addressed the United States directly, saying America has a singular role in honoring its treaty obligations to Ukraine. He spoke as a soldier who understands service in a humanitarian and was careful to say he was not there as a politician. He is expected to meet the invictor's community and observe the work of the Halo Trust, the d mining organization associated with his mother. Donald Trump was by saying, Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that's for sure.

9:03 I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry. He then added that he appreciates the Duke's advice very much, and asked how his wife was and sent his regards. This was described in several outlets as a diplomatic complication for a king who is arriving in Washington in approximately forty eight hours. Deep Crown addressed this at length, with some care on his sub stack. The core observation was not that Harry was wrong to go to the Ukraine, but that there is now no institutional mechanism to coordinate timing between Harry's movements and the palaces. The Duke no longer has anyone whose job it is to pick up a telephone and note that perhaps the week of the centenary and immediately before a delicate state visit might not be the optimal moment for a surprise appearance in a war zone. He exists in a category that the institution has never had to manage before. Deep Crown wrote a senior royal by birth and background who has formerly removed himself from the structure, but who continues to generate royal scale coverage and royal scale diplomatic consequences.

10:05 The story that ran alongside the King's moving tribute to his mother and several outlets was Trump says he speaks for the UK more than Harry. Deep Crown concluded that it's not ideal sequencing Elsewhere in the Harry shaped portion of the news, Facebook messages showing warmth toward a mail on Sunday journalist continue to generate coverage. Reports suggest Megan is more certain than ever that she needs to keep watch over Harry's social interactions. One source said she is comfortable with him socializing as long as it's limited to a civilized dinner and a glass or two of wine, and suggested anything more as a recipe for disaster. His visa records also remained unreleased, with the State Department having mister March deadline and pushing the next update to at least mid June. After the state visit. Critics called it suspicious, officials called it administrative. The debate continues on William. Rob's shooter reported that the Prince of Wales is using the King King's time abroad to hold a series of what a source described as strategic future facing conversations with real weight, with some reports characterizing this as seizing power. William's allies would likely describe it as preparedness. Meanwhile, the wedding of Peter Phillips to Harriet Spurling on June sixth is drawing quiet attention as a potential occasion at which William and Harry could find themselves in the same room for the first time and some time. Whether they would speak remains, as one report delicately put it, unclear. And finally, as the King prepares to board a plane to Washington, his

11:35 most consequential overseas engagement as monarch, the framing could not be more precise. Tina Brown, writing on her substack, noted that while Charles privately has no great enthusiasm for his host, the Palace understands the visit as an opportunity to demonstrate the Britain's head of state is one of the few people in public life who still know how to behave. One Telegraph columnist described the visit as navigating room full of lasers with a constitutional requirement not to touch anything, and concluded that Charles will keep to small talk, deliver an elegant Congress speech about hands across the ocean, and be pleased. He will never have to be nice to the tangerine monster. Ever. Again, that may be the most honest preview of the week ahead that we are likely to receive. Deep Crown, for his part, said simply, the crown itself is the message. You simply need to be in the room. There you have it. If you'd like to email us our addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail and dot com. Please followus on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Weekly. Good terms,