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Calarogu Shark Media. Hi, and welcome to Pallace Weekly, where
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we do a roundup of the week's top stories. If
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you want the full versions of these stories, please check
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out our daily episodes of Pallace Intrigue. I'm your host,
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Mark Francis Let's dive in. Prince Harry stood before Canadian
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real estate professionals on Monday, delivering what organizers called a
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powerful message of service and leadership to delegates who paid
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up to four hundred and ninety nine dollars for the
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privilege of hearing him speak. The Duke of Sussex, appearing
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at the Ontario Real Estate Association Powerhouse conference, was billed
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as humanitarian, mental health advocate, environmentalists and military combat veteran,
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though notably organizers clarify that Harry won't be speaking about
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real estate. Richard Eden writes in The Daily Mail that
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Harry's experience of the Canadian housing market has it's been
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largely confined to visits to the three bedroom home in
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Toronto where Meghan lived while she was filming suits. One
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Royal source told Eden rather pointedly, Harry and Meghan gave
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up their message of service and leadership when they left
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Britain and their royal duties behind. Presumably they will now
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give speeches to whoever pays them our royal inside a
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deep crown observed. One would think that, with Meghan's holiday
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special premiering her grand Netflix moment, carefully orchestrated and no
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doubt expensively produced, the Sussex strategy might involve actually focusing
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attention on it. Instead, we have Harry addressing Canadian real
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estate professionals about service and leadership, two concepts he spectacularly
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abandoned when he departed his actual role serving crown and country.
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The timing is almost comically inept. The timing was particularly
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notable as Meghan's Netflix holiday special with Love Meghan Holiday Celebration,
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dropped on Tuesday, to reviews that can only be described
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as catastrophic. The Independent awarded it one star, calling it
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not fun, enjoyable or even aspirational, and noting that this
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most markedly of Netflix content tests the limit of my
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holiday cheer. The Telegraphs Anieta Sing awarded it one star
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out of five, writing these specialists quite mad and a
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little bit sad, noted Megan's determination to ignore elephants in
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the room, Christmas trees are able to really encapsulate your
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family story, she says, but I'm not sure how going
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non contact with your father, moving five thousand miles away
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from Britain because your husband hates his entire family, and
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then giving a bombshell interview accusing your in laws of
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being racists can be conveyed in baubles. The Daily Mail's
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Annabel Fenwick Elliott issued the bluntest verdict of what in
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zero starts out at five. It's the syrupe, hypocrisy and
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our hostess's deep lack of self awareness that continue to
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make her and this show so unlikable. If only she
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could lean into her wasp bish type a personality, pok
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a little fun at herself, even she could just about
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be endearing in a Monica from Friends sort of way.
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The Times Hilary Rose labeled the special unfathomable, describing dialogue
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that left her feeling as though the English language had
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been fed through Google Translate and found wanting. Even The
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Daily Star had a laugh, noting that Harry's first speaking
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part on Meghan's show was used to slag off a salad.
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Harry joins Meghan in the kitchener she prepares Christmas eve gumbo,
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and when he takes the accompanying salad featuring the top
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things my husband hates to eat fennel, black olives, pickled vegetables,
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and beetroot, he remarks, Oh wow, that's like the anti salad.
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There are not many things in the world that I
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don't like, and they're all in that one bowl. The
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special arrived just days after Meghan had been left devastated
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by criticism of a Thanksgiving video in which she prepared
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turkey with bare hands while wearing a gold ring and bracelet.
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Rob Shooter reports that Meghan didn't imagine that the world
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would drag her over at turkey, and that she feels
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criticized no matter what she does more Palace in Just
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a Moment. Meghan is also reportedly taking early legal advice
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amid concerns that her title could one day be removed
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under a future reign. According to Woman's Day, Meghan has
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begun exploring potential legal avenues, with one source claiming she
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may actually have a case. The source suggested her legal
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team is examining whether the title may be considered part
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of the commercial enterprise that she and Harry have developed
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in California, adding if William even tries it. She thinks
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it could prove that it's personal use the California courts
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to defend a California business. Royal author Tina Brown delivered
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a stark assessment of the Sussex's post royal life, telling
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The New York Times, I have never seen anybody in
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professional life make as many mistakes as Meghan has, and
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unfortunately Harry is not the brightest bulb either. She added
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that the couple are pariahs everywhere, noting that America was
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supposed to be the place that paid the bills. Brown
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expressed sympathy for Harry's position. What is said is that
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Harry's very good at being a prince. He's charming, is upbeat,
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he's attractive, he makes people happy when he walks into
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a room, and I think he has realized too late
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that he was born to be a prince. She suggested
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his current ventures amount to just some guy doing pr
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gigs while Meghan tries out her latest cooking idea or whatever.
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Andrew mount Batten Windsor has been formally stripped of his
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final remaining royal honors. The announcement published in the London
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Gazette confirms that the King has ordered Andrew's appointment to
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the Order of the Garta canceled and his membership of
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the Royal Victorian Order revoked. The entry reads, the King
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has directed that the appointment of Andrew Albert Christian Edward
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mount Batton Windsor to be a Night Companion of the
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Most Noble Order of the Garter, dated twenty three April
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two thousand and six, shall be canceled in the null
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and that his name shall be erased from the Register
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of the said Order. With these honors now withdrawn, the
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disgraced form of Royal rotines just one formal distinction, his
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rank of Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy. Although the
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government has pledged to remove that honor at the King's request,
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it has not yet been acted upon. Royal biographer Tina
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Brown has shared new light on the king's private worries
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about his younger brother, writing, Charles, I am told is
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not looking to punish his pampered brother to the point
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he says that he can't cope. She added, if Charles
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were not to pay his brother's bills and ensure a
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certain level of comfort, then he may only have one
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thing left to do. Andrew would have only his secrets
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to sell. Andrew and Sarah are reportedly refusing to leave
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Royal Lodge and making outrageous demands. According to schud Scoop,
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Andrew has been telling people he wants seventy five million
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pounds do we even think about moving out and has
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requested a six or seven bedroom home at Sandringham with
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continued access to a cook, a gardener, a housekeeper, a
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driver and police protection. The Prince and Princess of Wales
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have been front and center during the German state visit,
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the first way German head of state in nearly three decades.
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William and Kate represented the monarch at Heathrow Airport, officially
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receiving President Frank Walter Steinmeier and his wife before accompanying
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them to Windsor. Royal commentator Tracy Chevren noted, for the
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third time this year William and Kate have been placed
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in front and center of a state visit, demonstrating their
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growing status at the heart of the monarchy. In his
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sub stack, Deep Crown writes, the unspoken narrative is compelling.
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Every carefully staged photograph, every diplomatic interaction whispers a message.
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William is not just the future monarch in many essential respects,
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William's already functioning as the present monarch. Prince William praised
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Catherine during a visit to North Wales, remarking that behind
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every average man there is an even better wife. The
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comment came during an engagement at Youth Shared's, where he
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heard about founder Scott Jenkinson's struggles with homelessness and addiction.
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When Scott noted his wife's support in turning his life around,
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William nodded and said, this is it. Behind every average man,
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there was an even better wife. Catherine hosted her fifth
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annual together at Christmas Carol Service at Westminster Abbey. This
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year's event carried the theme of love in all its
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forms and paid tribute to Catherine, the Duchess of Kent,
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who died in September. Guests arriving at Westminster Abbey were
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welcomed by eight young brass players from the Future Talent,
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the music charity Catherine co founded. In a personal message
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to the sixteen hundred guests, Catherine highlighted the importance of
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checking in on loved ones at a time when life
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can sometimes feel fragmented or uncertain. She reflected that Christmas
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speaks of love taking form in the simplest, most human ways,
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including small acts of kindness, the contribute to the beautiful
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tapestry of life to which we all belong. The service
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featured performances from Kate Winsor, Hannah Wantingham, Cubitul, Edge of
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Four and Bestille's Dan Smith, with the Prince of Wales
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delivering one of the readings. Prince George, Charlotte and Prince
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Louis also attended. The week's most shocking development came when
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Megan Michael was a strange father, Thomas Michael, underwent emergency
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surgery to amputate his left leg below the knee after
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a blood clot cut off circulation to his foot. His son,
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Thomas Michael Junior, confirmed to The Daily Mail that the
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eighty one year old former Hollywood lighting director was rushed
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into surgery in the Philippines. My dad is being very brave.
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His foot turned blue, then black. It happened very quickly.
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There was no option. I was told the leg had
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to be removed and it was a case of life
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or death. One of his doctors said, the next two
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or three days are critical. I would ask everyone around
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the world to keep him in their thoughts. My only
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wish is that Meghan shows my father some compassion. He
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is literally fighting for his life. A spokesman for Meghan
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declined to comment to The Royalist on her father's hospitalization
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and amputation, a silence which, is to put it, mildly,
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not helping matters. In The Royalist, Tom Sykes pulled no punches. Inconveniently,
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as the Duchess of Sussex was urging viewers to craft
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sentimental ornaments and lean into the solace of friends and family,
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her father was lying in an intensive care unit in Cibou,
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the Philippines, after a three hour emergency operation to remove
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his foot and lower leg, without any contact from her
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Sich's ads. Thomas Michael himself has conceded that he has
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been foolish, vain and thoughtless over the years, but Megan's
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refusal to forgive him at a timeless severe illness presents
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a strategic problem for a daughter who has marketed herself
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as the embodiment of compassion. This is, after all, the
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man who raised her single handedly from the age of
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eleven to eighteen, driving her to auditions, bankrolling private schooling.
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Our Royal inside a deep crown wrote, the compassionate response
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is remarkably simple. Pick up the telephone, send flowers, dispatch
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a representative, something, anything that acknowledges basic human concern for
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a parent in crisis. She won't. Of course, one hopes
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I'm wrong, One hopes there has been private outreach. We're
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not privy too. But the longer the silence extends, the
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more it confirms what her critics have alleged all along,
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that the compassion is transactional, performed only when cameras are
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rolling and brand partnerships are at stake. More palas in
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just a moment. As if the week couldn't get worse
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for the Sussexes, Prince Harry prompted fresh controversy after making
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pointed jokes about Donald Trump during an unannounced appearance on
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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. When Colbert disputed Harry's
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claims that Americans are obsessed with royalty, Harry delivered one
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of the night's most talked about lines, Really, I hear
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you elected a king. Harry continued by listing what he
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would do to secure an imaginary Hallmark role. I'll record
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a self tape, I'll fly myself to an audition, settle
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a baseless lawsuit with the White House. All the things
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you people in TV too deep, Crown writes in his
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sub stack. What made the exercise particularly dispiriting wasn't the content,
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which covered well trodden ground, but rather the unmistakable air
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of diminishing returns that hung over the entire proceedings. One
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notices these things. The media coverage was notably more muted
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than his previous American television appearances. When once persona becomes
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this predictable, this thoroughly rehearsed, the very authenticity one claims
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to champion begins to ring hollow. As the Sussex's week
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of absolutely terrible optics continues, Meghan took to Instagram to
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promote her new chocolate bars. According to Vans tracking the launch,
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all three varieties, priced at twelve dollars each has sold
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out on the as ever website, where thein ours this
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is the weak. Compassion died not metaphorically, not as a
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vague concept, but as a concrete example of what happens
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when brand management overtakes basic human decency. Her father lies
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in intensive care, missing half his leg, a daughter who
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has built her entire public persona around compassion and connection,
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says nothing. A husband who claims to understand family estrangement
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encourages reconciliation, but apparently only when it's convenient for the narrative.
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Kate celebrated love in all its forms. At Westminster Abbey.
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Meghan promotes chocolate bars while her father fights for his life.
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The contrast could not be starker. The Institution and the dapts,
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the Grifters Market, and somewhere in California someone is learning
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that you can't package compassion in a twelve dollars chocolate bar,
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no matter how ornate the floral packaging. And there you
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have it. I'd like to email us our addresses the
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Palace intrig At at gmail dot com. It's been a
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busy week for everyone here at Palace Intrigue, and don't
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forget today. We have our other shows out Crown and
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Controversy and Crown and Controversy, King William, Prince Andrew. There's
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several series and specials available now. Those shows are in
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the show notes, or just search for Ground and Controversy now,
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Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermot. This is Palace
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Weekly in good terms.