June 30, 2026

Should King Charles Live in Buckingham Palace? The Debate Gets Heated

Should King Charles Live in Buckingham Palace? The Debate Gets Heated

Should Britain’s monarch actually live in Buckingham Palace? The debate over King Charles’ historic decision to remain at Clarence House intensifies as commentators question everything from the £369 million palace renovation to the cost of the modern monarchy. We also explore why Charles may have quietly changed the future for King William, new speculation that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle could visit Princess Diana’s grave during their expected UK trip, and Harry’s latest message on climate-friendly travel.

Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

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Ah Calorogu Shark Media. Hello and welcome to you, Palace intrigue,

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I am your host and Francis. In The Guardian, Marina

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Hyde writes, mentioned undercover of the same info dump is

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the fact that the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace is currently

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coming in it three hundred and sixty nine million pounds,

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but the King and Queen don't want to live there

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when it's done. Personally, I'm a big fan of the

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gaiety the Windsor's add to this nation willingly or otherwise,

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but I do worry are we enabling a culture of

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dependence that isn't actually great for any of the people involved.

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Prince William has done fifty seven royal engagements so far

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this year, which doesn't feel like the shift we might

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expect from an able bodied, of mental health obsessed forty

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four year old man, while the King, who is seventy

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seven and has cancer, has done seventy six. Princess Anne

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is beating the pack yet again. With one hundred, she'd

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be fine, but by rights William would have quite a

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sticky call with his job center. Plus work coach would

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be more likely to pick up a sanction than a

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doubling of benefits. It must be calling for William to

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have to get up on a couple of mornings a

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week and trudge towards a ribbon to cut. It's perfectly

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possible that William does work more than that engagement telling

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indicates only for himself rather than the nation. Some say

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he has deprioritized public engagements in favor of boosting his

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private finances. After all, he is not how to put

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this economically inactive because the other revelation this week is

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that he paid seven point seventy six million pounds in

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tax After an entirely opaque number of deductions, the King

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paid twelve point nine million, which reports Informers places him

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in the top one hundred UK taxpayers. Anyway, back to

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the main event, the royal family are treated as sort

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of a zero some game, a brand asset so valuable

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to the nation that almost any crazy price hike ought

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to be approved because of soft power and tourism and whatnot.

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And yet it can't help feeling you could very much

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have the soft power and the tourism and the whatnot

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with it somewhat less outrageous funding model not to be vulgar,

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but how does Charles slim down monarchy now seem to

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cost twice what the bloated one did for ATV Chris

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Ship writes, it might seem like a strange question to

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ask about the head of State of the UK should

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he or she live at one of the most famous

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buildings in the world, particularly after British taxpayers to spend

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three hundred and sixty nine million pounds redeveloping the place.

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We should be clear the private apartments make up only

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a small proportion of the space inside Buckingham Palace. In truth,

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no recent monarch has ever felt at home at Buckingham Palace.

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The late Queen was known to prefer to escape to

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Windsor whenever she could, and it's believed it was her

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wish to pass away at Balmoral Castle, which was where

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she died in twenty twenty two. So will it make

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any difference? Has anyone even noticed that no monarch has

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lived at Buckingham Palace since the Late Queen was moved

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out of there in March of twenty twenty at the

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start of the COVID pandemic. And is it sensible to

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demand the two senior royals in their late seventies up

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end their life Clarence House and moved back to Buckingham

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Palace just because monarchs have done so before. Royal inside

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a Deep Crown, observes William One suspects with reasonable confidence

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did not particularly want to live at Buckingham Palace either.

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But William was always going to face a choice when

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he became king. Would he continue the tradition of royal residents.

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Would he occupy the palace and accept the ceremonial weight

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that came with it, or would he, like his father,

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prefer a small but more intimate dwelling. Had Charles continued

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to live at Buckingham Palace, William would have faced genuine

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pressure to do the same. President would have demanded it,

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the institution would have expected it. There would have been questions, resistance,

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narratives about the heir refusing to follow tradition. Charles has

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removed that problem entirely, has broken the tradition himself. He

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has provided it with cover and justification. And now, when

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William becomes king, the question simply does not arise. The

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precedent has already been broken. William will inherit not a

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tradition requiring him to occupy Buckingham Palace. But a precedent

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established by his father that allows him to live elsewhere.

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By the terme, Georgie's heir inherits, the crown residential non

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occupation of Buckingham Palace will have been president so long

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that questioning it will seem antiquated. The palace will be

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what it has been, becoming a magnificent symbol of the state,

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a working center of monarchy, a public building. One struggles

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to imagine the monarch of the twenty one twenties moving

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into a building that has not been a home in

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one hundred years. In fifty years, when London's Versaillah sits

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gleaming on the mall and school children to its state

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rooms as a national monument, no one will quite remember

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when or how the tradition ended. Or palace in just

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a moment hegnificate. All this week we are running a

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couple of Independence Day specials on this feed. In the afternoon,

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you can get the USA two fifty and it's just

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a look at the two hundred and fifty years of

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royals and what's happened since seventeen seventy six, And on

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our sister show Daily Crime and Justice, we look at

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the top five trials from the UK. Check out Daily

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Crime and Justice wherever you get your podcasts. As Prince

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Harry and Megan Michael prepare for their expected return to Bretain,

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fresh speculation has emerged of whether the visit could include

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a private stop at one of the most meaningful places

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in Harry's life, the gravesite of his mother, Diana, Princess

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of Wales. The discussion follows yous that Allthorpe House, the

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Spencer family estate where Diana is buried, will be closed

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to visitors on July ten and eleven, dates that coincide

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with Harry's expected appearance in Breton for events marking the

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one year countdown through the twenty twenty seven Invictors schemes

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in Birmingham. The timing is prompted speculation that the Sussexes

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could make a private visit to the estate. Some reports

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have gone a step further, suggesting the couple could potentially

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film during the visitors part of a future documentary project. However,

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there is no evidence that any filming has been planned,

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and no such plans have been confirmed by the Sussex

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Netflix or Allthorpe House, the estate which has belonged to

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the Spencer family for more than five centuries as home

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to Dan's final resting place on a secluded island in

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the center of the lake, and he Filming on the

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property would require permission from Harry's uncle, Charles Spencer, who

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controls access to the estate. While Allthorpe has hosted documentaries

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and television productions over the years, Charles Spencer has also

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declined filming requests in the past, including one from the

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creators of The Crown. Harry's visit to Allthorpe would hardly

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be unusual. The Duke has maintained a close personal connection

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to his mother's grave site throughout his adult life, and

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has visited privately on several occasions. In his memoir Spare,

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Harry described taking Meghan to the island for the first

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time during their relationship at Long Last. I was bringing

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the girl of my dreams home to meet Mum, he wrote.

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Recalling the visit, Harry explained, we hesitated hugging, and then

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I went first. I placed flowers on the grave. Meg

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gave me a moment, and I spoke to my mother

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in my head, told her I missed her and asked

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her for a guidance and clarity. He later described returning

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to find Meghan kneeling beside the grave. When it came back,

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Meg was kneeling, eyes shut, palms against the stone. Harry

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asked what she had prayed for clarity, she replied, and

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guidance Royal insided. Deep Crown speculates that a film crew

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would likely trigger William's reported anger issues. Deep Crown writes,

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if the narrative of a privately seething William holds any truth,

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this is what would ignite it. Not a disagreement about

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money or titles, or the shape of reconciliation, the monetization

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of Diana, the moment his mother becomes a Netflix moment.

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That is the line if Camras arrive at all, for

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the world will know what William actually thinks. Prince Harry

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released a new video message for his sustainable travel initiative Travelist,

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urging the travel industry to embrace greater transparency and environmental responsibility.

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The short film was released during London Climate Action Week.

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In the video, Harry says, today travel stands at a crossroads.

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It could be a catalyst for positive change, but also

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a source of environmental strain, driving him overwhelming destinations, depleting

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the natural world. It depends on We're working to build

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something different. From tangled, fragmented data to a single source

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of truth, from hidden impacts to trusted, transparent choices, from

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siloed efforts to a powerful collective, from small tweaks to

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accelerating systems. Change from travel stuck in the past to

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travel that unlocks action from travelers, businesses and communities. From

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where we are to where we need to be. Travel

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has the power to drive change. Together, we have the

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power to change travel for good. The video was released

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just days after Prince William delivered his own environmental address

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at the earth Shop Prize Impact Assembly in London. Speaking

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at the event, the Prince of Wales said he was

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more optimistic than ever about the future, telling the audience

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solutions are working, capital is moving, policy is shifting. William

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also confirmed that this year's Earthshop Prize Awards will be

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held in Mumbai, India in November. And there you have it. Hey,

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before we go, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, we'd

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month and see what you think. We really, really really

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appreciate our support. I'm Mike Francis. My thanks to you,

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John McDermott. This is Palace Injury. Good Dinner,