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Calorougus Shark Media, Hello Lower, Welcome to Palace Intrigue. I
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am your host, Mark Francis. Sarah Ferguson is once again
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emerging as a potential risk to the British royal family,
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with commentators warning that the former Duchess of York could
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eventually publish a damaging memoir. In The Royalist, Tom Sykes
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argues a combination of pressure and financial uncertainty could make
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a tell all book especially tempting. Ferguson has already demonstrated
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she is willing to write candidly about the royal family.
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Her nineteen ninety six memoir My Story caused significant attention
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within royal circles and reportedly contributed to the breakdown of
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a friendship with Diana, Princess of Wales. Publishing insiders believed
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a new memoir from Ferguson could be highly valuable. Prince
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Harry's book Spare demonstrated the global appetite for royal disclosures,
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with estimates suggesting his publishing deal was worth about twenty
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million dollars. Ferguson also has decades of firsthand knowledge of
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royal life. She was close to Diana in the early
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years of their marriages and witnessed the breakdown of Diana's
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relationship with then Prince Charles as Andrew's wife. She also
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watched William and Harry grow up after their mother's death.
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Because of that proximity, commentators say she holds extensive knowledge
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about the royal family's private history. Royal experts now warned
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that this knowledge could become dangerous if Ferguson decides to
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monetize it. Hillary Fordage told Fox News Digital that Ferguson
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has a toxic reputation and could pose a serious risk
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to the monarchy if she chose to tell her story publicly.
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Fordage said each and every revolting revelation regarding Fergie simply
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reinforces the public perception of her as a greedy, tasteless,
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selfish risk to the monarchy. There will always be someone
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willing to pay for her toward retail, which makes her
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a further risk. She is viewed as a loose cannon.
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Herself made financial crisis and resulting fall out from her
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self indulgent, lavish lifestyle, in addition to the humiliation and
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public shunning regarding Epstein, no doubt makes her consideration of
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a cash in memoir her last resort. Broadcaster Helena Chard
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said the Royal family is aware Ferguson possesses deep knowledge
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of the institution, adding the Royal family knows she knows
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where the bodies are buried. Charld suggested that if Ferguson
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decided to publish a high profile memoir, it could cause
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further damage to the monarchy, particularly as she faces continuing
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financial pressure. For Belfastmedia dot com Jude Colin writes, now
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that they've extracted the rotten apple named Andrew out of
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the royal family barrel and dumped it in the Royal wastebin,
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we can all rest easy. King Charles says, my family
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and I will continue in our duty and service to
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you all. So what exactly are the duty and service
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Charles carries out? Unlike most of us, he doesn't do
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a nine to five day. In twenty twenty two twenty
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twenty three, the first year of his kingly reign, Charles
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worked for one hundred and sixty one days. The following
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year he worked for one hundred and thirty two days.
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He had a sick note. In twenty twenty four to
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twenty five, he twelve for one hundred seventy five days.
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Even a slow learner in mass will spot that in
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the years cited he was off duty more than he
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was on. So what work did he actually do on
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the days he turned up? Something like this? He'd be
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chauffeur driven in a luxury car to a given spot
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where the local people would gather to gork as. He'd
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cut a ceremonial ribbon, or ask them if they'd traveled far,
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or he'd make a short speak after a banquet consisting
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of the finest of foods and wines. Your job's not
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a bit like that, of course not. You're not a royal,
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you're a subject commoner. Where does Charles pass his time
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when he's not working, Well, he might be in Buckingham Pallace,
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a Windsor Castle, or Hollywood House in Edinburgh, or less
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likely Hillsborough Castle in Hillsborough. In addition to those four biggies,
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King Charles can choose to kip up in any one
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of the fourteen official residences at his disposal. Uneasy may
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lay a head that wears the crown, but it's not
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short on places to rest. It's uneasy head. And there's more.
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Charles has got two major private estates the sandring Hand Estate,
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which is twenty thousand acres, and the Bowmoral Estate, which
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is fifty thousand acres. That's seventy thousand acres he owns personally.
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As king, he gets to use all but not sell
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another two hundred and eighty six thousand acres. If he
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tried to walk the length of his acreage, he'd drop
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down dead from hunger and exhaustion long long before he'd finished,
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in fact, before he'd barely begun. King Charles reportedly sweetens
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his coffee with honey rather than sugar, according to his
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former butler, Grant Harold, who worked for Charles when he
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was Prince of Wales from two thousand and four to eleven,
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shared the detail in an interview with coffee retailer Coffee Friend.
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He said the monarch prefers to add a spoonful of
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honey to both his tea and coffee. The King has
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famously said he prefers to have honey instead of sugar,
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so he would opt for that instead. It actually isn't
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too bad. The King also likes tea and honey, Harold said.
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Despite having access to a wide range of coffee options,
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Charles is said to keep his preferences relatively simple. Harold
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explained that coffee and royal residences would not typically be
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served in a standard mug. Instead, it would be presented
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in a demi tasse cup or a tea cup with
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a saucer, particularly after dinner. I wouldn't say they wouldn't
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have coffee in a mug, but they would probably have
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it in a demi cup instead of a mug after dinner.
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During the day, they would have a tea cup with
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a saucer. They were always offered milk and sugar after
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the coffee was poured. That is the correct etiquette for
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drinking coffee, more palacing just a moment. Duchess Sophie offered
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insight into what she sees is her role within the
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royal family during a podcast appearance discussing her charitable work.
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The Duchess of Edinburgh appeared on the Golden Legacy series
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podcast with Elaina McGregor, the chief executive of British blind Sport,
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where she spoke about her royal responsibilities and the causes
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she supports. Reflecting on life as a working royal, Sophie
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set her central duty is to support the monarch and
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the institution itself, explaining my role, as with all members
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of the family, is to primarily support the key and
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the monarchy. That is one side of the focus, but
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also we're lucky enough to be able to fulfill our
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passions and our interests, and these over my time as
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a member of the royal family have developed. The Duchess
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currently serves as patriot of more than seventy charities and organizations,
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and has increasingly taken on a higher public profile in
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recent years as the number of working royals has declined.
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Among her key priorities is promoting the role of women
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in peace building and addressing violence against women in conflict zones.
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She added, one of the things I'm doing now is
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on women's peace and security in the world. We have
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the most incredible women who work within communities at all
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levels of society, and they are often at the front
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line of ensuring that peace is secure, that their communities
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are looked after, and also we try to get them
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around the peace keeping tables as much as possible. She
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also pointed at the ongoing global challenge of conflict related
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sexual violence, describing it as the very sad problem the
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world is dealing with. A new animal welfare posal in
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Britain has sparked a debate after critics warned it could
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threaten the breeding of several popular dog breeds, including the
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Corgies famously loved by Queen Elizabeth. The discussion centers on
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the proposed system, known as the Innate Health Assessment, a
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ten point visual checklist designed to evaluate whether the dogs
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are healthy enough to be bred. The framework aims to
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discourage breeding practices that produce extreme physical traits associated with
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chronic pain or long term health problems. Campaigners say the
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checklist could affect dozens of breeds. Critics claim as many
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as sixty seven could be at risk of being classified
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as unhealthy under the criteria, including the Welsh Corgie Ducks
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and Scottish Terrier and Shitsu. Queen Elizabeth, who died in
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twenty twenty two at age ninety six, was closely associated
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with Corgi's throughout her life. Over the course of her
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seventy year range, she earned more than thirty Pembroke Welsh Corgies,
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as well as Corgy ducks and mixes known as Dorgies.
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Of the proposal say the aims to address concerns about
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exaggerated physical traits and pedigree dogs. The checklist flags features
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such as extremely short noses, flat faces, bulging eyes, heavy
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skin folds, and very short legs as potential indicators of
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welfare problems. One element focuses on ground clearance. Dogs whose
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chest sits less than one third of their height above
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the ground could be considered at risk, a standard, critics
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argue could capture breeds such as the Corgi that naturally
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have shorter legs. Beverly Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today magazine
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and founder of the Union of Good Dog People, warned
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that the policy could have sweeping consequences for dog breeding
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in the UK. We need proper, nuanced tests that don't
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throw the baby out with the bath water, or we're
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going to lose Britain's most beloved breeds in the blink
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of an eye. She said. It's going to be the
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most shocking thing to happen to dog lovers in this country.
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Cuddy added that the Late Queen would likely have opposed
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restrictions affecting the breed. She famously adored. People will be
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outraged at being told they can't have the dogs they want.
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Its madness. I think the Late Queen would have been
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very upset and there you have it. I'd like to
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email us addresses the Palace Intrigue at a gmail dot com.
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Please follow us on Spotify, Apple or the app of
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your choice. I remark, Francis my thanks to John McDermott.
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This is Palace Intrigue and good terms.