May 29, 2025

Sussexes Create 'Royal Household' in Montecito - Meghan’s Viral 'Hard Work' Moment Sparks Backlash

Show Notes
Transcript

In a surprising move, Harry and Meghan restructure their personal team to mimic the royal household, raising eyebrows over their shift back to a hierarchical system they once criticized. Meanwhile, Meghan Markle faces a viral backlash after her comments about "working hard" stir social media reactions. As the Sussexes work to repair their image and grow their brand, both their strategic pivot and Meghan's viral moment are making headlines.

Get ready for our new series Crown and Controversy coming June 13th. Follow now.

Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app which seays UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus . No plug-ins needed! You also get 20+ other shows on the network ad-free!

Subscribe to Deep Crown’s free newsletter at https://deepcrown.substack.com

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:13.599
Calarogus shark Media, how Low and welcome through Palace Injury

2
00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.679
Again host Mark Francis, in which some have called an

3
00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:20.000
ironic yet necessary pivot. The Duke and Dungeess of Sussex

4
00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.879
have reportedly restructured their personal team to resemble the kind

5
00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:27.039
of royal household Prince Harry once walked away from. The

6
00:00:27.079 --> 00:00:29.719
move is widely seen as a step toward rehabilitating their

7
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:34.439
public image, particularly in the UK, where their popularity has plummeted.

8
00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.920
Last week, reports surfaced that Harry and Meghan were establishing

9
00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:41.200
their own version of a royal household in the United States.

10
00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:46.159
The overhaul includes the appointment of communications specialist Meredith Kendall

11
00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:49.719
Mainz to head an eleven person team operating separately from

12
00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.960
their nonprofit foundation, Archwell. Royal commentator Charlotte Griffiths observed the

13
00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:57.920
sharp turn in strategy, writing in The Mail, how ironic

14
00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:00.560
that Harry now favors the rigid, heericles structure of the

15
00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:04.719
kind he has consistently railed against since escaping Kensington Palace.

16
00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:08.000
Sometimes the grass isn't always greener, even if it is

17
00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:11.920
a manicured seven acre lawn an exclusive montecito. After all,

18
00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.159
a royal householders he's ever known. Speaking in the Channel

19
00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:19.959
five documentary Harry, Can He Ever Be Forgiven, Royal commentator

20
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.280
Countess Julie Montague suggested that the public may be opened

21
00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.840
forgiving the Prince under the right circumstances. The public wants

22
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.319
to forgive, but it needs to start with Harry. Number one,

23
00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.000
stop any kind of interview where you're mentioning any member

24
00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:34.480
of your family, end of story. And then number two,

25
00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:37.079
if you really want to make that reconciliation, whether that's

26
00:01:37.079 --> 00:01:40.439
private or public, start that. Once that reconciliation begins and

27
00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:44.640
the public can be made aware of that. According to Griffiths,

28
00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:47.040
apparently Harry has looked at the latest polls that put

29
00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.519
him down at twenty seven percent and he's upset by it.

30
00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.239
A source really close to him told me that he's

31
00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:56.439
realized there's nowhere to go but up. Griffiths said. The

32
00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:00.719
Duke has concluded that his previous approach rely on US

33
00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:05.359
Hollywood pr agents simply wasn't working. Just anything Hollywood and

34
00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:09.960
American basically hasn't worked for him, she explained. Harry is

35
00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.719
said to have recreated the very structure he once resisted.

36
00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:15.080
According to Griffiths, what did work for him? When was

37
00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:17.800
he popular, when was he part of the royal household.

38
00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.039
So what he's done is he set up around himself

39
00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:22.520
the exact thing that he's been railing against all these years,

40
00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:26.400
which is a really concrete, firm structure of heerical, top

41
00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:29.800
down kind of pr voices on his behalf and chiefs

42
00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:33.879
of staff. It's basically a royal house. This is like

43
00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:36.879
a faux royal household. One of the functions of this

44
00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:38.800
new system, she said, is to act as a buffer

45
00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.879
between the Sussexes and the often critical British press. With

46
00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.240
this new structure, they actually protect him from reading the

47
00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:47.719
British tabloids, so they basically read on his behalf the

48
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.919
British tabloids. Megan does not at all read them. She

49
00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:54.439
does not engage in British media whatsoever, and she's shielded

50
00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:57.439
from that by this new household. And the point of

51
00:02:57.479 --> 00:02:59.479
the new household is this kind of shield around them

52
00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.439
that protects and Griffith's concluded it is unclear if Harry

53
00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.360
listens to any daily podcasts about the royal family or

54
00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:07.319
how he feels about them, but Harry may be working

55
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.039
on some new projects for us to talk about. The

56
00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.759
Mail on Sunday quoted an insider as saying, Harry is

57
00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:17.719
unkindly described as the spare to Megan's endeavors. In reality,

58
00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:20.159
he has been giving her the space to flourish. Now

59
00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.800
it is his time to throw himself into exciting new

60
00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:26.080
work in Victors will always come first, but he also

61
00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.759
has been working on commercial ideas of his own. Elsewhere

62
00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:31.479
in the Mail on Sunday, the article they quoted a

63
00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.400
source of saying with love Megan has performed really well.

64
00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:36.360
Will have to take their word for that, and the

65
00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:39.319
Sussex has planned to continue growing their relationship with Netflix.

66
00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.240
There will be more, as ever, products, projects and appearances

67
00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:46.520
to come from the Sussex household. One insider said the

68
00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:49.479
new household structure will help address this perception of churn.

69
00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:52.080
From now on there'll be a fixed number of roles,

70
00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.879
clearly defined, just like the royal household. People will still

71
00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:58.280
come and go, that's natural. Royal expert Tom Baw called

72
00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:01.639
it one final desperate bed to save their brand. Bower

73
00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.560
told the Male Undoubtedly the Sussex would like to rule

74
00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:07.439
over a royal court from their Montecito mansion. Nothing would

75
00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:10.800
give them greater pleasure than courtiers pulling their forelocks as

76
00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.479
they bow and scrape to please the Duke and Duchess. However,

77
00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:16.439
he added, the team the Sussexes are relying upon is

78
00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.399
not a royal court. Rather, it's a hugely expensive group

79
00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:23.399
of bureaucrats, signaling the Sussex's final desperate bid to save

80
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:30.920
their brand more palacing just a moment. This is a

81
00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:35.120
special message to our palace intrigue lesseners. A new podcast

82
00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.519
we think you'll like called Crown and Controversy. This dramatic

83
00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.560
new series tells the modern royal story like never before.

84
00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:44.240
It becomes with William and Kate's fairy tale engagement, but

85
00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:47.160
as Kate steps into palace life, the pressures start to mount.

86
00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:51.160
The arrival of Prince George brings joy and our responsibilities. Meanwhile,

87
00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.000
Harry's military career in personal struggles quietly build in the background.

88
00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.720
Then Megan enters the picture well when romance with Harry

89
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.879
stirs the royal pot and before long, family tensions boil

90
00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:05.439
over a royal wedding, a baby and then makes it.

91
00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:08.720
Crown and Controversy is your front row seat to it all?

92
00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:10.439
Think of it as where the Crown left off and

93
00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.959
all that juicy stuff they didn't get to. And here's

94
00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:15.519
how you can help us out. Open your Apple podcast

95
00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:18.800
at right now and search for Crown and Controversy. Just

96
00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:21.720
follow the series by hitting that follow button and download

97
00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:23.879
the trailer episode and listen to it. That's it. If

98
00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:25.399
enough of you do it at once, we'll shoot up

99
00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:28.199
the charts, which means more listeners and more episodes and

100
00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:30.399
less chance of us languaging at number seventy five in

101
00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:32.920
the business category. Even better, if you want to hear

102
00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:35.519
the first two episodes right now, they're already available to

103
00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:39.000
Caloroga Plus subscribers. It's right for the public launch in July.

104
00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.360
You can get early access. And here's the kicker. With

105
00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:45.639
your Caloroga Plus subscription, you also get Palace Intrigue completely

106
00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:50.279
add free and uninterrupted no more. You may also like

107
00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:53.480
feed drops either, just pure royal drama the way Her

108
00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:56.480
Majesty probably intended. So go do it now. Follow and

109
00:05:56.519 --> 00:06:00.600
download Crown and Controversy on Apple Podcasts, and if you

110
00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:02.959
want the full royal treatment, tap the banner that says

111
00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.920
uninterrupted listening in the Apple Podcasts app for a thirty

112
00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:08.480
day free trial. After that's just five bucks a month

113
00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:11.319
for exclusive early access, no ads in a full library

114
00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:15.120
of more than twenty other series from Calleroga Shark Media Network,

115
00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.040
And there's a lot of shows there, and you can

116
00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:20.040
get all ad free. Join us as the Royals face

117
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.480
their most controversial chapter yet, Crown and Controversy Royal Drama

118
00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:26.240
Redefined coming in July, or you can preview those first

119
00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:29.199
two episodes right now on Caloroga Plus and get Palace

120
00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:34.000
Intrigue without ads. We briefly mentioned this during Tuesday's Bonus episode,

121
00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.519
but Harry flew to Asia to lecture people on climate change.

122
00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.079
Harry said, climate change isn't just an environmental challenge. It's

123
00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.720
a critical business emergency, costing the global economy one hundred

124
00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:47.720
and forty three billion dollars annually. Now is the moment

125
00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:50.279
for the industry to reaffirm its commitment to being a

126
00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:53.639
force for good. Challenges will undoubtedly rise. But if there's

127
00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:55.879
one thing I've learned in my life is a meaningful

128
00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.439
change never comes easily. The true measure of our commitment

129
00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:01.720
is how we rest bond when the path becomes difficult.

130
00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:04.360
We must never give up. It is unclear if Harry

131
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:07.240
manually paddled or rowboat across the Pacific, or how he

132
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.040
made his way to the climate change lecture. Good news

133
00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.519
for Megan. One of her social media clips has gone viral.

134
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.120
The clip of missus Sussex explaining how she works so

135
00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:19.319
hard is making the rounds and that Meghan says, oh

136
00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:21.279
my gosh, I work so hard, and I appreciate what

137
00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:23.600
hard work looks like. I like working hard, and I'm

138
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.040
still working hard right the moment everything sells out, it

139
00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:29.560
doesn't mean that we're done. Her hard work includes writing

140
00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.079
social media posts, deciding what to wear for shoots, and

141
00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.839
editing time coded notes for her Netflix series. Social media

142
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.480
reactions have not been kind nor understanding of just how

143
00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:42.639
hard the Duchess works. And there you have it. I'd

144
00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:44.720
like to email as addresses the Palace Intrigue at a

145
00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.000
gmail and dot com. Please follows the Spotify, Apple or

146
00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.720
the app of your choice and leave us a nice review.

147
00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.079
If from joining the show, I'm Mark Francis My thanks

148
00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:54.399
to John McDermott. This ballas indriguan. Good terms,

Sussexes Create 'Royal Household' in Montecito - Meghan’s Viral 'Hard Work' Moment Sparks Backlash

Listen On

Recent Episodes