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Ah Calorougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.
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I'm your host Mark Francis. The journalist Marina Hyde has
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delivered a withering assessment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markel,
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arguing that the couple have little left to offer beyond
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their royal backstory. Speaking on the rest Is Entertainment podcast
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with co host Richard osmond, I dismissed the Sussexes as
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just rich people and suggested public interest in them has
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sharply faded. She was particularly scathing about the couple's media
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output following the collapse of their Spotify deal, accusing them
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of repeatedly returning to the same grievance driven narrative about
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leaving royal life. I had said nobody cares about watching
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her make lavender biscuits for her ex headdresser. As she
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mocked what she sees as the increasingly thin premise behind
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some of Meghan's lifestyle and media ventures. She went even further,
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describing the output as bull and boring and argue that
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the deeper problem is not simply overexposure, but a lack
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of compelling talent or reinvention. I mean they are out
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of fashion. They are not very talented, and they have
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a hugely overstated idea of their cultural relevance, I had said.
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She added that one major industry figure had reached a
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similarly blunt conclusion, saying, a guy who used to run
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one of the biggest talent agencies I think UTA said
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they're just not very good. In her substact, Tina Brown
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asks just how desperate does the House of Windsor want
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Harry and Meghan to get? The royals and their advisors
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don't seem to see the iceberg looming from sunny Montecito.
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Distracted by the Andrew mount Batman Windsor catastrophe, the Palace
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remains in a perplexed haze about one of the Andrew
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scandal's less discussed lessons, the perils of the monarchy when
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peripheral royals hang out with their uber rich and start
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to consider themselves by comparison. Broke Brown adds, look in
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the Crystal Bowl. People bad enough at Spotify bail on
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the Sussexes, and then Netflix deal was downgraded to a
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first look arrangement, though the Sussexes and the streamer announced
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this week that they are partnering on a drama series
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about Polo. Netflix has put a fork in Meghan's basted
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Turkey with Love Megan and cut loose her Domestic Goddess
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Home Products spin off after only eleven months, leaving a
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ten million dollar pile up of tea baking mixed and
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strawberry jam. The Sussex's revenue streams are starting to dry up.
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They will soon be heading for that hinterland of free
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bee hell that draws them further and further into cheesy
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commercial gigs, or worse, towards dubious transactional acquaintances willing to
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underwrite their faux royal lifestyle and their astronomical security costs.
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Megan's upcoming a Stream and wellness retreats facing fresh questions
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after reports suggested would be attendees were not simply buying tickets,
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they were being chosen. According to the reports, several women
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who say they are attending the Sydney event claim they
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had been selected after submitting expressions of interest explaining why
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they wanted to go. One attendee reportedly wrote on x
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that she was so very excited to be selected for
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Meghan's retreat weekend, while also claiming she and others had
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to write about why they wanted to attend before being
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offered places. The article says organizers describe the retreat as
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intentionally intimate and told applicants they had received thousands of submissions,
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meaning they had to be very thoughtful about who would
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be invited. That has led to speculation that this is
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not simply a first come, first served, ticketed event, but
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something closer to a curated fan experience, with organizers seemingly
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deciding who gets access to Meghan's appearance. The retreat itself
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is already drawing attention because of its price tag. Tickets
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are reportedly selling between nineteen hundred and twenty three hundred,
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with higher tier attendees said to receive extras including a
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group photo with Meghan and access to a speech she
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is expected to deliver. Jemma O'Neill, a talent manager linked
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to Meghan's retreat, has removed her primary Instagram account. Miss O'Neil,
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who represents radio personality Jackie o Henderson, saw her personal
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profile disappear amid scrutiny over her financial situation. Her talent agency,
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Jemmy Agency, entered voluntary liquidation last November. Harian Meghan have
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pushed back after a growing petition in Australia called for
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taxpayers not to foot any part of the bill for
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their upcoming trip, insisting the visit will be paid for privately.
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The online petition. The online petition, launched by advocacy group
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Beyond Australia, has now attracted more than thirty five thousand signatures.
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It argues that the Sussex's appearance next month should be
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treated strictly as a private and commercial visit and says
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no public money or official support should be used. Daily
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Mail reports spokesman for Haryan Meghan dismissed the campaign, saying
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it's a moot point. The trip is being funded privately,
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so I'm not sure what this petition hopes to achieve.
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Of course, if you wanted to dive to the ridiculousness
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of this petition as an agenda for spreading misinformation, than
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one could equally hypothesize that there are approximately twenty six
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point five million Australians ninety nine point nine to eight
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percent of the population who haven't signed it, who must
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therefore agree with the taxpayer picking up the tab for
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their visit. Of course, that is another equally stupid assertion
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to make Meghan's lifestyle brand has ever faced a fresh
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round of online mockery after social media clip featuring one
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of its floral products sparked a wave of jokes. The
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reaction centered on Megan's edible flower petals, which a user
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on x placed inside ice cues before pouring a drink
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over them. The punchline came when the reviewer appeared on
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camera with petals stuck between their teeth, and Royal watches
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on social media had a field day. One commenter wrote,
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this is exactly what I can imagine happening, or stuck
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in the back of the throat more palas in just
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a moment. Harry and Meghan welcomed the outcome of a
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US court case that found two major technology companies liable
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over the harmful effects of social media on a young
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woman's mental health. The couple's reaction was reported during BBC
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Breakfast coverage of the case, with presenter Ben Bulos saying
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the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had issued a statement
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calling the verdict a reckoning. According to the program, Harry
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and Meghan said, for two long families have paid the
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price for platforms built with total disregard for the children
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that they reach. The case focused on a now twenty
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year old woman named Keayley, who told the court her
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childhood had been dominated by compulsive social media use. BBC
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Breakfast reported that she had spent as much as sixteen
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hours a day on the platform, and argued that the
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companies behind them had knowingly designed addictive systems that contributed
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to serious harm. A jury found Matter, which owns Instagram, Facebook,
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and WhatsApp, and Google, which owns YouTube, liable, concluding they
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had acted with malice, oppression or fraud. Keiley was awarded
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six million dollars in damages, with Meta ordered to pay
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seventy percent and Google the remaining thirty Both companies have
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said they disagree with a verdict and then ten to appeal.
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If you'd like to hear more about this case, check
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out our sister podcast, Daily Crime and Justice. It's a weekday,
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five days a week show that dives in on all
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the trials and cases and justice and verdicts happening around
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the country. And if you check out yesterday's show Monday,
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you'll see a whole breakdown of this case. Search for
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it wherever you get your podcasts. Daily Crime and Justice,
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Former Prime Minister Liz Trust took aim at Harry and
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Meghan during a television appearance in the United States. Speaking
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at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the former Prime Minister
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was asked about reports suggesting the Duke and Duchess of
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Sussex maybe under financial pressure in Los Angeles, and whether
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a return to Britain could ever be on the cards.
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Truss brushed off the idea, saying it's really a matter
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for the King and the other members of the royal family,
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but as far as I'm concerned, you're very welcome to
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keep them in California for our news. Sarah Carson, commenting
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on the new Tom Bower book, adds Megan is suffering
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an identity crisis, unable to decide if she is a
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female founder, a princess, a regular American mom, a duchess,
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an eli latchkey kid, an outspoken free speech advocate, a
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reclusive private homemaker, switching between them whenever it suits her. Harry,
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as we have long known, is suffering a purpose crisis.
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Without the clear destiny of his brother, he has clutched
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at military, charity and family and hopes that one of
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them would give him direction, and perhaps all of them
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could have had he committed to them with some conviction
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and good advice. It's a shame because people really did
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care before, when they had the power to change brand
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windsor to transform the institution from within and say something
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new to the rest of the world about modern Britain.
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When they decided to become plain old celebrities to trade
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on their name without a talent to talk to the
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rest of the world about nothing except themselves and everyone
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who has wronged them, it became clear that there was
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very little remarkable about them at all, and they have it.
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Should like to email us our addresses the Palace Intrigue
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at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify, Apple
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or the app of your choice, and don't forget to
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check out Daily Crime and Justice for that story yesterday
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about the meta trial. I'm mind Francis my thanks to
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John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and contains