May 28, 2026

Royal Power Rankings: Who’s In, Who’s Out, and The Next Royal Star

Royal Power Rankings: Who’s In, Who’s Out, and The Next Royal Star

The royal family’s next big wedding is exposing fresh divisions inside the monarchy, with Beatrice and Eugenie reportedly stepping back, Harry and Meghan left off the guest list, and Lady Louise emerging as a surprise royal favourite. Plus, William reveals what evenings at home with Kate are really like, “Project Susan” is uncovered at Heart Radio, a former royal butler falls for an AI photo, and William prepares to back England at the World Cup.

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Ah Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Intrigue.

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I'm your host, Mark Francis. Let's checking in on the

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royal power rankings, Who's in and who is out? In

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the News dot co dot Au, columnist Danniella Elsa writes,

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the countdown is on to the next royal wedding and

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on the happy day there will be ignoring the fact

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that Queen Elizabeth's grandchildren have splintered into two factions, the

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Inns and the Outs, thanks to some last minute cancelations

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and key names left entirely off the guest list. Come

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June sixth at All Saints Church in Campbell, Cirencester, when

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Public Health Service nurse Harriet Sperling will where King Charles,

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nephew Peter Phillips and Princess Anne will get to show

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off her nut bush moves. It won't be one big,

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happy royal family on show. It'll be a no zempick

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to one, with only some beaming younger royals on hand

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to merrily show off best modern British dentistry as to offer,

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and with a number of very awkward gaps in the lineup.

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Imagine one that's doing to Poor Harriet's seating chart. Until

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this weekend, all appeared to be locked in for Peter

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and Harriet's big day. The RSVPs M the S Club

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seven tribute band booked when Thames Valley Police made two

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major announcements concerning Andrew mount Batton Windsor, which is why

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don't expect to see Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie outside

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the church chucking Rice at the bride. The princesses are

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mortified by these latest revelations about Daddy Dearest, according to

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The Daily Beast and the Royalists, Tom Sykes and have

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decided to not go to the wedding. The princesses a

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source that told Sykes would never want to overshadow the

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bride and groom's happy day. They won't be the only

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no shows. It's probably very cold comfort for the Yorks

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to know they won't be the only royal cousins missing

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the chance to see what sort of damage Queen Camilla

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can do to an open bar. What of Prince Harry

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and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They were,

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as the Brits say, nfi not flipping invited again. We

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have another split in the royal family. While Charles might

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be pushing for his nieces to not bear the price

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of their parents moral bankruptcy, Camilla is among those leading

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the anti York faction, according to The Daily Mayl, with

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William vehemently bringing up the rear. The Queen. Per the report,

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believes that Beatrice and Eugenie should voluntarily stop using their titles,

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while William is said to be concerned about his cousin's

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links to Epstein, a subject on which both have maintained

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an uncomfortable silence. A source pointed out to The Male

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that the fact that the Prince and Princess of Wales

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did not publicly congratulate Eugenie after she recently announced her

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third pregnancy is a sign of how things have changed. Meanwhile,

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in The Express, Chris Richard tells us Lady Louise may

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be the new star as Beatrice and Eugenia being regally relegated.

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Pr expert Riley Gardner added Lady Louise is increasingly seen

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as one of the more dependable younger royals, mostly because

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she's managed to avoid the drama and public controversies that

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have affected other parts of the family, and that kind

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of consistency builds trust over time. Prince William has offered

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a rare glimpse into life at home with Kate, revealing

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that many evenings are spent surrounded by a paperwork connected

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to her early childhood work. During an interview on Heart

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Breakfast Radio, William explained that his wife has become deeply

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immersed in the subject through her Royal Foundation Center for

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Early Childhood. She wanted to go and do lots of research.

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She spends god knows how much time now looking through

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all the paperwork. He then joked about what evenings are

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like once Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis are

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finally stettled for the night. She's a proper pro on

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early years. Most evenings I'm fighting to get pasted in

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the bedroom. What paperwork she's got lined up ready to read?

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So unpleased the trip went well for her, I think

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she came back buzzing. A new report claims Sarah Ferguson

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once came remarkably close to landing her own American daytime

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television show until one chaotic incident allegedly changed his NBC's mind.

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According to sources cited by columnist Rob Shooter. Network executives

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traveled to Britain years ago to explore the possibility of

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giving Ferguson the talk show aimed at US audiences, but

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the situation reportedly took an unexpected turn during the trip.

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One source alleged Sarah suddenly announced she needed to go

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to London for a few days. According to the report,

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NBC executives were then allegedly left caring for Princess Beatrice

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and Princess Eugenie while Ferguson disappeared for nearly two days.

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The insider claimed these folks flew overseas to negotiated television deal. Instead,

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they found themselves acting like royal babysitters. Nobody could believe it.

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Another source described the episode as classic Fergie chaos, claiming

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Ferguson later returned as though nothing unusual had happened. Although

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NBC eventually filmed a pilot presentation with Ferguson, insiders alleged

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the network ultimately decided her unpredictability made her too risky

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for daytime television. One source said they loved Sarah's energy,

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but they realized very quickly they could ever trust her. Well.

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Palaceing just a moment. Former royal butler Grant Harold has

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admitted he accidentally shared an AI generated image of William

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and Kate after believing it was a genuine photograph from

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the early days of their relationship. Alongside the photograph, he wrote,

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this wonderful photo of the Prince and Princess of Wales

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was taken when I first met them back in two

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thousand and four. A true royal love story. But followers

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quickly began questioning whether the image had been artificially created

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rather than being a real archival photograph. After the speculation

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spread online, Harold returned to social media to clarify the

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situation and acknowledge the mistake. He explained, I genuinely mistook

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this to be an authentic image of the pair. On

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seeing it, it made me smile and I wanted to

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share this joy with you. William has apparently become Project

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Susan inside one British radio station, The Prince of Whale

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surprise listeners last week when he joined Heart Breakfast during

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his visit to Cornwall, sitting down with presenters Jamie Thaxton

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and Amanda Holden for a live interview covering everything from

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football to family life. Now one of the station's producers

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has revealed the rather unlikely code name they used behind

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the scenes to keep the booking secret. Writing on LinkedIn, Heart,

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producer Matt Manley explained the operation was known internally as

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Project Susan, a reference to singer Susan Boyle because, as

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he put it, Susan Boyle rhymes with Royal. Manley wrote,

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we codenamed this Project Susan. We told Kensington Palace the

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code name and they loved it. He also revealed there

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was almost a personalized Aston Villa shirt waiting for William

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during the interview. The station a plan to print Wills

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on the back, but reportedly ran out of the letter

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l leaving them to settle for Heart instead. According to many,

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the team actually crossed paths with William the evening before

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the broadcast, but nobody was brave enough to introduce themselves.

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We've learned William made it behind the scenes visit to

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Saint George's Park, the training headquarters of the England national

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football team ahead of the summer World Cup campaign. The

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Prince met staff working under England manager Thomas Tutchell during

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the visit earlier this month, spending time not only with

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coaches and analysts, but also with the medical, nutrition, sports science,

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logistics and kit teams supporting the squad. William, who serves

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as Patron of the Football Association, used the visit to

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thank what he called the team behind the team for

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their work preparing England for the tournament. Speaking the staff,

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the Prince said, you don't get as much acknowledgment or

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credit as you deserve. Not everyone gets to see all

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the hard work you put in. The success of the

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players is from the foundations you build, so thank you.

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All of the things are coming in a line now,

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the Lioness successes. They've had two Men's euro finals. It

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feels like we are closing in on that ambition. Before leaving,

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William off in his support ahead of the tournament, telling

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the staff go with my blessings and my best wishes

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to all of you. Enjoy it, look after each other

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and give your best. I'm sure we will do well,

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so good luck. William is expected to travel to the

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US during the tournament to supp England and there you

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have it. Please follow Palace Intrigue on Spotify and turn

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on notifications so you never miss an episode, and while

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you're there, leave us a comment. On Spotify and let

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us know what you think about today's show. I'm Mark

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Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace, Intrigue

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and good Times.