The Invictus Games: Prince Harry at his best? Eilish-Gate: Meghan at her worst?

0:03 Callarogu Shark Media. Hello and welcome through Pallace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. The Invictus Games begin today with an opening ceremony at BC Place, headlined by Cole Plays Chris Martin, alongside Katy Perry, Noah Cahan, Nelie Fittado and Quebec's Roxane Bruno. Dominic Reed, CEO of the Invictus Games Foundation, spoke highly of Harry's dedication, calling the event deeply personal to him. He has absolutely been the person giving guidance and direction, Reed told people, adding that the Games provide extraordinary opportunities to an extraordinary number of people.

0:48 This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Games, a milestone Harry called really exciting in a November interview with TSN. The competition, which he founded in twenty fourteen after a decade of military service, has grown into a global movement supporting wounded, injured, and sick service personnel. A notable change this year is the replacement of rifles with laser based equipment, a move the Foundation says prioritizes inclusivity for athletes with disabilities. Over five hundred competitors from twenty nations are set to compete in a variety of winter sports including alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, skeleton and wheelchair curling. Looking ahead, the closing ceremony on February sixteenth at Roger's Arena will bring a different energy, with country star Jelly Roll leading the lineup, joined by the Barenaked Ladies and the War and Treaty. The Invictor Schemes will return to the UK in twenty twenty seven, marking its first time back on British soil since the inaugural event in London in twenty fourteen. That one likely will come with some interesting soap opera storylines to keep this podcast busy for a few weeks. Hopefully Harry will be able to enjoy himself without being distracted by this next story. A US judge has signaled that he may be open to unsealing some of Harry's visa records. Judge Carl Nichols, who has reviewed the confidential records, states he wants maximum disclosure as long as it doesn't via a privacy.

2:16 The case brought by the Conservative Heritage Foundation questions how Harry was granted a visa despite admitting in his memoir spare to using cocaine, marijuana, and psychedelic mushrooms. The think tank argues that the US immigration law typically bars individuals with a history of drug use, suggesting either preferential treatment by the Biden administration or possible dishonesty on Harry's application. Royal expert Jenny Bond told The Mirror, there's no doubt that President Trump's return to the White House means that this is squeaky burn time for Harry. The President is a man who seems to have a strategy of making a series of threats and sometimes he acts on them. In the past, he has said that Harry is on his own and has criticized him for betraying the late Queen.

3:02 So the fact that the judge has now cast a certain amount of doubt over whether his visa application can remain private must be worrying for the Prince. Basically, I think Harry is now pretty much on a yellow card. Meghan's Billie Eilish video continues to be panned in The Spectator. Alexander Laman brites this disaster has attracted a small but vocal number of people who ostensibly have offered their time and resources to provide much needed assistance, but in reality seem more interested in creating hashtag content to share on their social media. Meghan Michael, predictably enough, belongs to that category. Yet there is something so nauseatingly contrived, so fake, so accuracy about the little smiles to the camera, the faux excitement, the casual name dropping of famous friends, and finally, the idea that some signed trinkets can in some way compensate for a truly major disaster. Its screams of consumerism and fakery, both things by now that the Duchess has intimately associated herself with. In the Mirror, A Russell Myers writes, I'm old enough to remember Meghan's ill fated podcast Archetypes, which top brass at Spotify had the good sense to consign to history after just one series. Now, without the medium of a podcast, Meghan has launched herself back into Instagram to update us with her various giddy adventures, whether creating a victorious sponge out of love or calling on her celeb pals to deliver a T shirt for a poor soul who just watched her house burn down, complete with

4:32 her own branded merch. In the video her children's names in this case, Megan excitedly tells us through heavily edited footage of her taking delivery of a package sent from popstar Billy Eilish. As the story goes, Meghan lets her one point six million followers into the secret of how she used her A list network to source a tour T shirt for a fifteen year old girl who lost literally everything in the recent La wildfires. Let me be clear here, I'm not disputing the consideration evident in doing something nice for someone whose house has, as Meghan says, turned to ash. However, if ever, there was evidence of the gulf between being a royal and not looked no further to this ninety odd second video. It reminded me of those awful viral videos of random acts of kindness where the act is neither random or arguably kind when it's filmed for likes and self serving adulation. As my scrambled brain continued to download what I just witnessed, it got me thinking, who on earth is signing off on this?

5:30 Michael Deacon had a different point of view for The Telegraph, writing very cruelly, A lot of people accuse Meghan Mikle of being fake, artificial and sincere. I, however, think those people are wrong. I think she means every word she says. But that's the problem. She's so madly earnest. She has no idea how ridiculous she sounds. A T shirt for a girl who's just lost her home? What she meant to do? Stick a couple of poles in it and use it as a tent? And what's she going to play the album on Palace intric We're right back. Princess Anne has expressed her gratitude towards NHS staff who saved her life after a shocking incident in which she was struck by a horse last June. The seventy four year old princess was on her way to check on her chickens at her Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire when she was struck by a horse, causing her to lose consciousness.

6:23 The incident led to an air ambulance and emergency services being dispatched to her estate. Following initial assessments, the decision was made to transport her to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for treatment. Anne, who has no memory of the event, thanks the medical teams at the hospital, saying Sadly, I don't have huge memories of being in here either. I just know I was really well looked after, so thank you. But whatever you did, it seemed to work, the recovery being relatively straightforward, thankfully. She also added humorously that she was grateful she couldn't remember the incident, saying that has huge advantages you can just carry on, and joked about which of her horse might have been responsible for her injuries, saying, I know if there was a perpetrator who managed to do that much damage, they're not letting on either. So relationships remain absolutely secure and they have it. If you like to email us some addresses The Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice and leave us a review of five stars. If you're enjoying the show, I'm Mark Francis My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue.

7:25 Good terms,