"The Week Compassion Died: Father Loses Leg as Daughter Sells Chocolate" - The week in royal news with Mark Francis

0:03 Calarogu Shark Media. Hi, and welcome to Pallace Weekly, where we do a roundup of the week's top stories. If you want the full versions of these stories, please check out our daily episodes of Pallace Intrigue. I'm your host, Mark Francis Let's dive in. Prince Harry stood before Canadian real estate professionals on Monday, delivering what organizers called a powerful message of service and leadership to delegates who paid up to four hundred and ninety nine dollars for the privilege of hearing him speak. The Duke of Sussex, appearing at the Ontario Real Estate Association Powerhouse conference, was billed as humanitarian, mental health advocate, environmentalists and military combat veteran, though notably organizers clarify that Harry won't be speaking about real estate. Richard Eden writes in The Daily Mail that Harry's experience of the Canadian housing market has it's been largely confined to visits to the three bedroom home in Toronto where Meghan lived while she was filming suits. One Royal source told Eden rather pointedly, Harry and Meghan gave up their message of service and leadership when they left Britain and their royal duties behind. Presumably they will now give speeches to whoever pays them our royal inside a deep crown observed. One would think that, with Meghan's holiday special premiering her grand Netflix moment, carefully orchestrated and no doubt expensively produced, the Sussex strategy might involve actually focusing attention on it. Instead, we have Harry addressing Canadian real

1:35 estate professionals about service and leadership, two concepts he spectacularly abandoned when he departed his actual role serving crown and country. The timing is almost comically inept. The timing was particularly notable as Meghan's Netflix holiday special with Love Meghan Holiday Celebration, dropped on Tuesday, to reviews that can only be described as catastrophic. The Independent awarded it one star, calling it not fun, enjoyable or even aspirational, and noting that this most markedly of Netflix content tests the limit of my holiday cheer. The Telegraphs Anieta Sing awarded it one star out of five, writing these specialists quite mad and a little bit sad, noted Megan's determination to ignore elephants in the room, Christmas trees are able to really encapsulate your family story, she says, but I'm not sure how going non contact with your father, moving five thousand miles away from Britain because your husband hates his entire family, and then giving a bombshell interview accusing your in laws of being racists can be conveyed in baubles. The Daily Mail's Annabel Fenwick Elliott issued the bluntest verdict of what in zero starts out at five. It's the syrupe, hypocrisy and our hostess's deep lack of self awareness that continue to make her and this show so unlikable. If only she could lean into her wasp bish type a personality, pok a little fun at herself, even she could just about be endearing in a Monica from Friends sort of way.

3:05 The Times Hilary Rose labeled the special unfathomable, describing dialogue that left her feeling as though the English language had been fed through Google Translate and found wanting. Even The Daily Star had a laugh, noting that Harry's first speaking part on Meghan's show was used to slag off a salad. Harry joins Meghan in the kitchener she prepares Christmas eve gumbo, and when he takes the accompanying salad featuring the top things my husband hates to eat fennel, black olives, pickled vegetables, and beetroot, he remarks, Oh wow, that's like the anti salad. There are not many things in the world that I don't like, and they're all in that one bowl. The special arrived just days after Meghan had been left devastated by criticism of a Thanksgiving video in which she prepared turkey with bare hands while wearing a gold ring and bracelet.

3:51 Rob Shooter reports that Meghan didn't imagine that the world would drag her over at turkey, and that she feels criticized no matter what she does more Palace in Just a Moment. Meghan is also reportedly taking early legal advice amid concerns that her title could one day be removed under a future reign. According to Woman's Day, Meghan has begun exploring potential legal avenues, with one source claiming she may actually have a case. The source suggested her legal team is examining whether the title may be considered part of the commercial enterprise that she and Harry have developed in California, adding if William even tries it. She thinks it could prove that it's personal use the California courts to defend a California business. Royal author Tina Brown delivered a stark assessment of the Sussex's post royal life, telling The New York Times, I have never seen anybody in professional life make as many mistakes as Meghan has, and unfortunately Harry is not the brightest bulb either. She added that the couple are pariahs everywhere, noting that America was supposed to be the place that paid the bills. Brown expressed sympathy for Harry's position. What is said is that Harry's very good at being a prince. He's charming, is upbeat, he's attractive, he makes people happy when he walks into a room, and I think he has realized too late that he was born to be a prince. She suggested his current ventures amount to just some guy doing pr gigs while Meghan tries out her latest cooking idea or whatever.

5:20 Andrew mount Batten Windsor has been formally stripped of his final remaining royal honors. The announcement published in the London Gazette confirms that the King has ordered Andrew's appointment to the Order of the Garta canceled and his membership of the Royal Victorian Order revoked. The entry reads, the King has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward mount Batton Windsor to be a Night Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, dated twenty three April two thousand and six, shall be canceled in the null and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order. With these honors now withdrawn, the disgraced form of Royal rotines just one formal distinction, his rank of Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy. Although the government has pledged to remove that honor at the King's request, it has not yet been acted upon. Royal biographer Tina Brown has shared new light on the king's private worries about his younger brother, writing, Charles, I am told is not looking to punish his pampered brother to the point he says that he can't cope. She added, if Charles were not to pay his brother's bills and ensure a certain level of comfort, then he may only have one thing left to do. Andrew would have only his secrets to sell. Andrew and Sarah are reportedly refusing to leave Royal Lodge and making outrageous demands. According to schud Scoop, Andrew has been telling people he wants seventy five million pounds do we even think about moving out and has requested a six or seven bedroom home at Sandringham with continued access to a cook, a gardener, a housekeeper, a driver and police protection. The Prince and Princess of Wales

6:53 have been front and center during the German state visit, the first way German head of state in nearly three decades. William and Kate represented the monarch at Heathrow Airport, officially receiving President Frank Walter Steinmeier and his wife before accompanying them to Windsor. Royal commentator Tracy Chevren noted, for the third time this year William and Kate have been placed in front and center of a state visit, demonstrating their growing status at the heart of the monarchy. In his sub stack, Deep Crown writes, the unspoken narrative is compelling. Every carefully staged photograph, every diplomatic interaction whispers a message. William is not just the future monarch in many essential respects, William's already functioning as the present monarch. Prince William praised Catherine during a visit to North Wales, remarking that behind every average man there is an even better wife. The comment came during an engagement at Youth Shared's, where he heard about founder Scott Jenkinson's struggles with homelessness and addiction.

7:53 When Scott noted his wife's support in turning his life around, William nodded and said, this is it. Behind every average man, there was an even better wife. Catherine hosted her fifth annual together at Christmas Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. This year's event carried the theme of love in all its forms and paid tribute to Catherine, the Duchess of Kent, who died in September. Guests arriving at Westminster Abbey were welcomed by eight young brass players from the Future Talent, the music charity Catherine co founded. In a personal message to the sixteen hundred guests, Catherine highlighted the importance of checking in on loved ones at a time when life can sometimes feel fragmented or uncertain. She reflected that Christmas speaks of love taking form in the simplest, most human ways, including small acts of kindness, the contribute to the beautiful tapestry of life to which we all belong. The service featured performances from Kate Winsor, Hannah Wantingham, Cubitul, Edge of Four and Bestille's Dan Smith, with the Prince of Wales delivering one of the readings. Prince George, Charlotte and Prince Louis also attended. The week's most shocking development came when Megan Michael was a strange father, Thomas Michael, underwent emergency surgery to amputate his left leg below the knee after a blood clot cut off circulation to his foot. His son, Thomas Michael Junior, confirmed to The Daily Mail that the eighty one year old former Hollywood lighting director was rushed into surgery in the Philippines. My dad is being very brave.

9:19 His foot turned blue, then black. It happened very quickly. There was no option. I was told the leg had to be removed and it was a case of life or death. One of his doctors said, the next two or three days are critical. I would ask everyone around the world to keep him in their thoughts. My only wish is that Meghan shows my father some compassion. He is literally fighting for his life. A spokesman for Meghan declined to comment to The Royalist on her father's hospitalization and amputation, a silence which, is to put it, mildly, not helping matters. In The Royalist, Tom Sykes pulled no punches. Inconveniently, as the Duchess of Sussex was urging viewers to craft sentimental ornaments and lean into the solace of friends and family, her father was lying in an intensive care unit in Cibou, the Philippines, after a three hour emergency operation to remove his foot and lower leg, without any contact from her Sich's ads. Thomas Michael himself has conceded that he has been foolish, vain and thoughtless over the years, but Megan's refusal to forgive him at a timeless severe illness presents a strategic problem for a daughter who has marketed herself as the embodiment of compassion. This is, after all, the man who raised her single handedly from the age of eleven to eighteen, driving her to auditions, bankrolling private schooling.

10:31 Our Royal inside a deep crown wrote, the compassionate response is remarkably simple. Pick up the telephone, send flowers, dispatch a representative, something, anything that acknowledges basic human concern for a parent in crisis. She won't. Of course, one hopes I'm wrong, One hopes there has been private outreach. We're not privy too. But the longer the silence extends, the more it confirms what her critics have alleged all along, that the compassion is transactional, performed only when cameras are rolling and brand partnerships are at stake. More palas in just a moment. As if the week couldn't get worse for the Sussexes, Prince Harry prompted fresh controversy after making pointed jokes about Donald Trump during an unannounced appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. When Colbert disputed Harry's claims that Americans are obsessed with royalty, Harry delivered one of the night's most talked about lines, Really, I hear you elected a king. Harry continued by listing what he would do to secure an imaginary Hallmark role. I'll record a self tape, I'll fly myself to an audition, settle a baseless lawsuit with the White House. All the things you people in TV too deep, Crown writes in his sub stack. What made the exercise particularly dispiriting wasn't the content, which covered well trodden ground, but rather the unmistakable air of diminishing returns that hung over the entire proceedings. One notices these things. The media coverage was notably more muted than his previous American television appearances. When once persona becomes this predictable, this thoroughly rehearsed, the very authenticity one claims

12:05 to champion begins to ring hollow. As the Sussex's week of absolutely terrible optics continues, Meghan took to Instagram to promote her new chocolate bars. According to Vans tracking the launch, all three varieties, priced at twelve dollars each has sold out on the as ever website, where thein ours this is the weak. Compassion died not metaphorically, not as a vague concept, but as a concrete example of what happens when brand management overtakes basic human decency. Her father lies in intensive care, missing half his leg, a daughter who has built her entire public persona around compassion and connection, says nothing. A husband who claims to understand family estrangement encourages reconciliation, but apparently only when it's convenient for the narrative.

12:50 Kate celebrated love in all its forms. At Westminster Abbey. Meghan promotes chocolate bars while her father fights for his life. The contrast could not be starker. The Institution and the dapts, the Grifters Market, and somewhere in California someone is learning that you can't package compassion in a twelve dollars chocolate bar, no matter how ornate the floral packaging. And there you have it. I'd like to email us our addresses the Palace intrig At at gmail dot com. It's been a busy week for everyone here at Palace Intrigue, and don't forget today. We have our other shows out Crown and Controversy and Crown and Controversy, King William, Prince Andrew. There's several series and specials available now. Those shows are in the show notes, or just search for Ground and Controversy now, Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermot. This is Palace Weekly in good terms.