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Caloroga, Shark Media Pallo and welcome through Palace Weekly. I
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am your host, Mark Francis, and this is the show
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where we bring you a rundown of what happened during
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the week, and if you want the extended stories, you
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can just go back and listen to the daily editions
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of Palace Intrigue. By the way, today is a big
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Plus we have another bonus series for U fans, Crown
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so check it out. We really appreciate your help and
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support with the shows. Enjoy. And this is what happened
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last week. The week was all about one question, would
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he or wouldn't he? Prince Harry's highly publicized return to
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the UK had everyone playing royal roulette trying to figure
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out if King Charles would actually meet with his prodigal son.
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Monday marked the second anniversary of Queen Elizabeth the Second's death,
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a somber milestone that's set the stage for what would
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become the week's main drama. While William and Catherine dutifully
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commemorated their grandmother with a visit to the local women's institute,
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Harry made his entrance from California alone, notably without Meghan
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and the children. The Spaar's arrival came with what sources
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described as a list of demands that had courtiers reeling
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top of the list the same thing that's been there
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from the beginning. Security, but Harry reportedly wasn't stopping there.
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He wanted ironclad guarantees that Megan would be treated as hrh,
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complete with bowls and curtsies from family members. For William,
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that was apparently a hard no. Tom Sykes and the
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Royalist got to the heart of the royal standoff. William
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thinks Charles monarchy looks out of touch and hasn't modernized enough.
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While Charles believes William is shirking basic royal duty by
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prioritizing family life. But the real tension, William thinks Charles
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is weak for even considering legitimizing Harry with a meeting
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after Harry made millions by betraying the firm. What followed
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was an extraordinary game of royal chess. Harry kicked off
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his carefully choreographed goodwill tour, hitting all his greatest hits,
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well child awards, visits to youth organizations, the full charm offensive.
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And here's the thing. It worked. The old Harry was back,
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the likable prints from before everything went sideways. Body language
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expert A. Darren Stanton noticed something telling. When Harry's on
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his own, there is such a massive shift in his
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internal emotion. He's a lot more animated with his hands
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lots of open palm gestures. When he's on his own,
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he doesn't even have all these balls to juggle, and
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he can relax. Even Harry's old school friends were reaching
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out when told the standard Spike is seriously homesick. He's
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started reaching out to us more and more. It started
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with very long and earnest what's apps. Gradually he seemed
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to be sounding more normal. We think he's beginning to
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pine for home. Meanwhile, William was conspicuously busy, suddenly working
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four days in a row after months of vacation, visits
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to youth organizations, mental health hubs, carefully timed to ensure
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Harry didn't dominate every headline, the message was clear. The
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future King wasn't impressed by the prodigal son's return. Then
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came Wednesday and everything changed. After days of will they
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won't they speculation, it happened. Harry arrived at Clarence House
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at five twenty pm for tea with his father. Fifty
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four minutes later, he emerged telling well wishes that the
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King was great, thank you. It was their first face
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to face meeting in nineteen months. Charles had traveled down
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from Balmorrel specifically for the encounter. A detail that spoke
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volumes about the king's priorities. As monroyal source put it,
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this is an important first step towards rebuilding their father
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and son relationship. He has told his father he won't
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be giving any interviews about it, and his team has
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been instructed not to brief journalists about what was said.
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The timing wasn't coincidental. Tom Sykes observed something crucial. Charles
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revealed his cancer diagnosis not out of modern transparency, but
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because he understands that power drains from monarchs the moment
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people know they're dying. I honestly suspect that when Harry
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wrote that book, he thought he would have twenty years
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to make up with his father. Sykes wrote, we can
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all now see that it is not going to be
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the case. Harry concluded his visit Thursday at the Diana Award,
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making his final pitch for reconciliation through charity work. The
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Sussex's announced a five hundred thousand dollars donation to support
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children injured in Garza and Ukraine, following Harry's earlier one
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point four million dollar gift to BBC Children in Need.
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But not everyone was buying the redemption narrative. Piers Morgan
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wasn't having it. They spent five years enriching themselves in
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California for trashing their family. You can't get away from that.
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The most intrusive person in the Royal privacy ever has
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been Prince Harry, with his book and with his Netflix series.
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My thing is he can't have your cake and eat it.
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What he wants to do is Jerry pix certain things
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and make him look good. Former Royal butler Grant Harold,
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who once worked closely with all three men, was equally skeptical.
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The King doesn't trust Harry because of what Harry has said.
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He's worried that he would use it his advantage, and
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he has. He's done what household members typically do and
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spilled the beans. If they reconcile then fall out again.
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What's to say there won't be another book, Netflix series
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or interview about it. The skepticism extended to Harry's future plans.
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While some Royal watchers suggested Harry might be laying down
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his pen and microphone for good, others weren't convinced. Unlike
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most people, there is monetary value in Prince Harry's grievances.
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Noted Kinsey Chowfield millions can be made from his family drama.
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Financial necessity could push him back into the spotlight. But
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perhaps the most significant news came Saturday, Buried beneath the
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drama of Harry's homecoming, Public support for the monarchy has
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dropped to its lowest point in four decades. According to
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the latest British Social Attitudes survey, just fifty one percent
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of people now believe it's important to keep the monarchy,
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compared with eighty six percent when the question was first
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asked in nineteen eighty three. The numbers tell a stark
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story Charles and William can't ignore one in three people.
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Thirty one percent now believe the monarchy is not important,
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while fifteen percent say they favor outright abolition, up sharply
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from just three percent in nineteen eighty three. Even when
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asked to choose directly between the monarchy and an elected
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head of state, support was lukewarm at best. Fifty eight
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percent preferred the monarchy, but thirty eight percent wanted it
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replaced entirely. These polling numbers provided crucial context for everything
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else happening that week. Harry's charm offensive, the carefully staged reconciliation,
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William's competing engagements, Kate's strategic appearances. They were all playing
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out against a backdrop of declining royal relevance and growing
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republicanism More Palace Weekly in just a moment. Meanwhile, back
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in Montecito, Megan was dealing with her own crisis. Her
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Netflix cooking show was reportedly bombing, with insiders telling sources
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people who worked on the show don't think it will
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be picked up for another season. It's not doing well
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or what the network would have hoped it would do.
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The criticism was particularly brutal. Jan Moyer in The Daily
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Mail wrote, like a squid on a hot grill, like
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curl up at the edges every time this cottage core
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version of the Duchess of Sussex gift wraps a cake
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or simpers about her apple butter. For here is a
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woman who burned every bridge she has ever crossed, has
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suffered from multiple accusations of bullying, always denied, and ghosts
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anyone who has ever displeased her, including her own father.
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The business implications were serious. Brand strategist Nick E pointed
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out the fundamental problem the viewership is down. People really
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don't care about with love for Netflix. The headache here
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is that is this going to convert into sales for
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their product? Are they actually going to make money from this?
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If you think about it, they haven't really made any
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money just yet. Even the Beckhams seem to take a
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subtle swipe, posting a video about their homemade jam, with
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Victoria dubbing it David Backjam and joking about David being
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quite the entrepreneur, a cheeky reference that Royal Watch is
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interpreted as a dig at Megan's American Revere Orchard venture.
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Royal author Hugo Vickers raised concerns about Meghan's use of
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their children in promotional contexts. He ought to be extremely annoyed. Obviously.
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I don't know what he thinks, but I think he
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does what he's told. Probably. You know what worries me
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much more, to be quite honest, is what the children
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themselves are going to think when they get a little
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bit older and they realize how they've been exploited. The
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Sussex saga overshadowed other significant royal news. The monarchy lost
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another senior figure with the death of Catherine, Duchess of
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kentid Age in ninety two. Her upcoming funeral will mark
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the first Catholic funeral for a member of the Royal
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Family in modern history, a detail't speak to the changing
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nature of Royal Britain. Princess Anne meanwhile, found herself fifth
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on Channel five's Royal Rich List twenty twenty five, with
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an estimated fortune of twelve million pounds, despite being notoriously thrifty,
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and has quietly built wealth through decades of royal service.
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Her Gatcombe Park estate and jewelry collection worth five million pounds.
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As Charlotte Griffiths noted, Princess Anne is the best value
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for money the Royal family has. She works more than
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any other working member of the Royal family, and she's
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completely frugal. There was even a moment of levity when
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spinal tap appeared on Jimmy Kimmel asked about potential Knighthood's
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Derek Small summed up the moment perfectly. From your mouth
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to King Charles's ears. As the dust settles on Harry's
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well wind visit, one thing is clear. The House of
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Windsor is a family in transition, with an ailing king
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trying to heal old wounds while his heir apparent prepares
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for a very different kind of monarchy. The fifty four
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minute tea at Clarence House may represent a genu went
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in first step toward reconciliation, or it might simply be
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another chapter in a royal soap opera that's been running
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for five years now. The broader questions remain unanswered. Can
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Harry and Megan rebuild trust they've systematically destroyed, Will William
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ever accept his brother back into the fold, can Charles
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navigate between his paternal instincts and the institutional demands of
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the crown, And, perhaps more importantly, does any matter to
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a British public increasingly indifferent to royal drama. Former Royal
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butler Grunt Harold's words hang over everything. William and Harry
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were not just the best of friends. They were inseparable.
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At High Grove, they were always together. They were walking
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together in the pub, together, on motorbikes together. Very rarely
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do they do stuff separately. I was genuinely shocked when
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they fell out. There must be something deeper going on
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that we're not being told. For one week at least,
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Harry reminded everyone why he was once the most popular
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royal in Britain. Charming, spontaneous, genuinely caring. The question now
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is whether that's enough to bridge five years of burned bridges,
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broken trust, and a monarchy facing its biggest crisis in generations.
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The clock is ticking and everyone knows it. And there
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you have it. If you would like to email us,
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our email is the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com.
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And just as a reminder again, we have a bunch
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of new shows out to day along the Palace Intrigue
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and Palace Weekly and The Deep Crown. For subscribers, we
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have Crown and Controversy Season one wrapping up. Crown and
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Controversy Season two starts next week and this is the
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show that sort of takes over from the Crown TV series.
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And then if you've ever noticed, but the Norwegian Royals
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are a handful too, so we have a new series
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following some of their trials and tribulations and Crown and
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Controversy Norway The Rebel Royals starts to day two. You
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can get all of these series ahead of everybody else
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if you're a subscriber. Otherwise they're out every Sunday, and
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don't forget you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
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Come on over and say hi, and we really really
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really appreciate all your support. Hey my Francis, by thanks
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to you John McDermott. This is palace intrigue and good terms.