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Caloroga Shark Media. In today's news, Vanity Fair published what
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might be the most damning Harry and Megan article yet.
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Harry is gearing up for a legal showdown with Rupert
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Murdoch's media empire, and Prince William went out to watch
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soccer at the bar. Hello, and welcome to Palace Intrigue.
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I am your host, Mark Francis, Vanity Fairs February cover
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article is titled inside Prince Harry and Megan Minkle's Big
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business Ambitions five years after their royal exit. There's a
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lot to unpack here, so let's pick away. At the piece.
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A producer named Jane Marie is quoted. Jane is credited
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with collaborating with Harry and Meghan on audio projectsit Archwall
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and tells Vanity Fair they had this naivety and their
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hopefulness about what's possible in terms of storytelling and good
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works and all those things. I wish I had that
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kind of optimism. A second unnamed person is quoted. I
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thought that I had the role of a lifetime. I
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thought I was going to be besties with Megan and
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Harry and we were going to like run around the
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world saving people. An Appeal. Author of the Vanity Fair piece,
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then tells us interest in the couple was unslackable, but
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it remained to be seen whether they were actually interesting
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beyond Harry's uniquely difficult upbringing and Meghan's years of defending
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herself from shoddy treatment and racism, whether in the British
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press or from members of her husband's family. As one
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former Spotify employee put it, the thing you're escaping is
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the reason you're compelling. The Spotify employee tells us Harry
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and Megan didn't do what celebrities do on podcasts, which
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is turn on the mic and talk. They wanted a
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big theme that would explain the world, but they had
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no ideas. Anna also tells us people involved with production
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say the couple did trial runs on some big ideas,
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like a This Is American Life style show, where Harry
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and Meghan took turns hosting and talking to interesting civilian guests.
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As Bloomberg reported, Harry wanted to host a series where
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he interviewed powerful men with complicated stories like Mark Zuckerberg,
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Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump. The concept wasn't just that
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the men shared challenging early lives. It was their experiences
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made them into sociopaths, or so Harry envisioned. One person
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familiar with the ideation process says the person who worked
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in media confirms there was a Sociopath podcast. The person
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who worked closely with the couple on audio projects recalls
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Harry saying, I have very bad childhood trauma. Obviously, my
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mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that
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didn't make me one of these bad guys? To implore
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a season's worth of world famous sociopaths to talk about
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how they developed sociopathy would be what is referred to
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in access journalism as a booking challenge. Interestingly, a Netflix
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sources quoted, we don't disclose our financial deals with talent,
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but I can confirm to you on the record that
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the one hundred million dollar figure is not correct. With
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so much to unpack here, will take a few days
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to break it all down, but there's plenty else to
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cover today. In other news, Megan ignored her critics and
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was spotted again last week lending a hand to relief
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efforts for the victims of the devastating Los Angeles fires.
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This time, the Duchess of Sussex was seen bringing large
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bags of donations to the Altadena Teen Girls Fire Recovery Fund,
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an initiative set up to help young girls affected by
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the tragedy. In an Instagram reel shared by the Recovery Fund,
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Meghan kept a low profile, dressed in black leggings, a
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T shirt, trainers, and a baseball cap emblazoned with LA, which,
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to our eye appears to be a generic LA type
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hat a tourist might buy, not a Dodger's cap or
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something a local might wear. A quick Google search to
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find a similar cap black with L and A in
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block letters failed, but we did find a vintage nineteen
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forty one La Angels cap that had the L and
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A in red letters. Perhaps Megan is a fan of
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defunct minor league baseball teams. The video shows Megan warmly
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greeting volunteers and delivering donations, which reportedly included new clothes
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and beauty products. Meghan also spent time chatting with families
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stayed for luncheon assisted the young girls leading the charity effort.
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The fund was founded by fourteen year old Avery Colvert
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from Pasadena, who aimed to collect items for teams impacted
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by the fires. The Mirror reported the couple also made
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a secret donation to the charity through their Archibell Foundation,
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a donation so secret that it made The Mirror, this
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podcast and Instagram, where the charity posted a special thanks
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to the Archwell Foundation for your support. Royal expert Jenny
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Bond is bothered by how much criticism Harry and Meghan get,
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telling the Mirror, Harry and Meghan must have expected much
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of the criticism they received after their accusations about the
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rest of the Royal family, but I find it disturbing
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that almost everything and anything they do now is still criticized,
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in my view, quite unfairly. They could have stayed holed
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up in their Montecito haven while so much of California burned. Instead,
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they went out and offered what help and support they could.
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Megan could have let her new show go to air
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as planned, but she either instigated or fully supported the
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Netflix announcement that it would be postponed. Whatever they do
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is dismissed as cynical by someone or another, which must
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be dispiriting. They have a platform and they are using it.
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Their criticism of the removal of safeguards by Facebook strikes
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me as perfect use of the influence they have. The
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danger posed by the Internet is something they have been
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actively campaigning on for some time, and the criticism of
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Mark Zuckerberg is totally consistent with the stand they have taken.
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Good for them. Someone needs to speak out about the
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potential dangers of the Internet. So I say give Harry
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and Meghan a break. They haven't attacked the royal family
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for some time. What's done is done. Time to move on.
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Prince Harry is gearing up for a legal showdown with
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Rupert Murdoch's media empire, as the case officially titled HRH
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the Duke of Sussex versus News Group Newspapers Limited, kicks
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off today in what promises to be a highly scrutinized
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courtroom battle. The Duke of Sussex's taking on The Sun
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and the now defunct News of the World, both owned
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by Murdoch's Newsgroup Newspapers and Miss Harry stage is a
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last minute retreat, the move that seems highly unlikely the
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High Court will begin hearing his allegations against the tabloid giants.
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This case marks another chapter in Harry's ongoing campaign against
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the British press, as he continues to hold media outlets
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accountable for what he claims are unethical and invasive practices.
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The spotlight is now firmly on the court room where
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Harry's grievances will be aired against one of the most
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powerful media moguls in the world. Some wondered if Kelly
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Osborne took a shot at Megan and Harry. Kelly uploaded
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a video on Instagram in which she disapproved using other
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people's pain and suffering as a photowhop. She said, is
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it just me being my normal, overthinking, cynical self, or
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is it really disturbing to see all of these celebrities
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using other people's pain and suffering as a photo wop
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to say, Look, I'm helping, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.
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I don't believe you help so you can get attention
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for helping. I believe you just help because you want to.
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No one asked you to come out and give hugs
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go home. A reporter had observed the sussexes, saying it
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looked as if the two of them might really want
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to be helpful. I actually saw Meghan Markele stoop down
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and take off the lid of a plastic bin. Do
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they really want to get down and dirty. Candae Owen's
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commented on TikTok. That's how I knew my girl was
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real And I just want to thank Meghan for doing that.
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It's very helpful for her to stoop down and do that.
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If there's any plastic bins that you guys see around
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that need picking up, you can hit up your girl.
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Megan Michael, Well, it's intrigue a radback. Meanwhile, let's put
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a typical Megan style media spin on this next story.
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Instead of flying to Los Angeles to help with the fires,
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Prince William was hanging out at a bar watching soccer.
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Prince William found time last week to mingle with fellow
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Aston Villa supporters at Weatherspoon's in Birmingham. The Royal was
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in town for the College of Paramedics Emergency and Critical
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Care conference, but he made a pit stop to talk
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football over a pint before Villa's match against Everton that evening.
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William treated the table to beer while sipping on side
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to himself, engaging in an animated discussion about all things
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asked in Villa. Steve Jones, one of the fans who
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met the Prince, told reporters he was fantastic. I was
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amazed at how engaged he was with the club. He's
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not a fair weather fan. He really loves the club
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with a passion. According to Jones, the royal meetup was
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arranged by the club, which reached out to a few
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lucky supporters ahead of William's visit. We talked about transfers,
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the Champions League, trip to Monaco and everything Villa, Jones said,
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adding that the Prince's knowledge and enthusiasm for the team
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were evident. William also shared a bit about his family's
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football loyalties. Like his father, Prince George is a devoted
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Villa fan, but William is hoping for a bit of
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variety among his younger children. Jones revealed. Williams said, like
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Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to support other teams, so
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it's not a household full of Villa fans. He was
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massively interested and came across as a really genuine guy
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who just wanted to talk about Villa. And there you
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have it. I'd like to email us of addresses The
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Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify,
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Apple or the apple of your choice and you can
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find us on YouTube. Now head on over there and
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be a subscriber, and don't forget. You can get the
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show commercial free, along with hundreds of others from Callaoga
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Shark Media. All the details, I'm in the show notes.
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I'm Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is palace
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intrigue in good terms.