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Ah Calorougus Shark, media Low and welcome to Palace Intrigue.
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I am your host, Mark Francis. Speculation is swirling around
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King charles expected visit to the United States, with fresh
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chatter suggesting the real intrigue may not be the monarch himself,
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but who else could end up in the room. According
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to a report on Rob Shooter's Naughty but Nice, there
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has been behind the scenes talk about the possibility of
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle being invited as part of
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the wider occasion, a move that would instantly turn a
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formal state visit into a deeply awkward family tableau on
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the world stage. One source claimed Trump doesn't just host events,
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he casts them, and this would be his dream line up.
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The visit is already being described as highly significant, with
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King Charles expected to attend a state dinner and address
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Congress as part of America's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary events,
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but the report suggests some around Donald Trump see an
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opportunity to frame the occasion as something even bigger and
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far more theatrical. As one insider put it, a king,
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a rebel, prince, and Trump in one room. That's not
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a state dinner. That's a finale. The idea, according to
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the piece, would be to present any such gathering as
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a kind of symbolic reconciliation moment, with Trump positioning himself
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as the man capable of bringing a strange figures together,
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whether or not any real peace followed. One source said
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there's real talk of framing this as a peace moment.
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Trump wants to be seen as the guy who brings
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everyone together, whether it works or not. Not everyone quoted
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in the report was convinced. One warned, this isn't reality TV.
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It's a family fracture. You can't script emotions like this.
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Another insider summed it up this way. Sometimes just putting
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the idea out there is the move, and no one
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trolls the room or the world better than Trump. In
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his substack, Royal inside a Deep Crown tells us that
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he does not believe this would ever happen, but indulged
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us in playing it out. Deep Crown writes, one imagines
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a very senior aid entering the room with the specific
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facial expression of someone who has rehearsed their opening sentence
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several times. In the corridor, Charles has spent the better
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part of three years managing this situation with a combination
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of public silence and private exhaustion. He has stripped andrew
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of his titles. He has navigated the spare fallout, he
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has maintained, at considerable personal cost, the posture of a
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man who has not read the things that have been
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written about him, or if he has, has chosen to
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respond with nothing more than the continued performance of his duties.
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He would receive the news of this proposed reunion dinner
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with the expression of a man who has been told
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that the roof which he has spent considerable effort repairing,
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is to be removed for the evening. For theatrical effect,
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his response, delivered through channels and in language that would
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be entirely on print in its original form, would amount
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to no. We moved to William, who would not need
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to be informed through cushioned channels between William would have
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read the item himself on his phone at seven in
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the morning with a particular jaw set that those around
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him have learned to recognize as the pre lead to
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a very quiet and very thorough expression of displeasure. William's
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view of the Sussex situation is not at this point mysterious.
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He has wanted it resolved, contained and moved firmly to
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the past. The prospect of his father's American State visit,
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a moment of genuine institutional significance being repackaged as a
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family reconciliation television event with Trump as the maestro and
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the global press as the audience, would strike him as
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a comprehensive description of everything he has been trying to prevent.
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His response, also delivered through channels, would amount to no,
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but with additional emphasis. Deep Crown also suspects the Duchess
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would love it. You can subscribe to Deep Crown's substack
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form free. Just search for Deep Crown in Google or
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click the link in the episode notes that's Deep Crown
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on substack. William is reportedly clashing with Queen Camilla over
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how hard King Charles should be working while continuing cancer treatment,
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according to a report from Radar Online. The article claims
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William is deeply concerned that his father is maintaining too
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demanding a public schedule and believes Charles should be scaling
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back far more than he currently is. The tension, according
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to the pieces that Camilla is seen by William, is
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encouraging the King to keep going rather than forcing him
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to rest. One alleged flashpoint was said to be the
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recent state banquet for the Nigerian President, where William reportedly
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felt Charles should not have attended. According to the report,
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Camilla was said to be adamant that the king's presence
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was necessary, particularly at a time when the monarchy is
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already under pressure from multiple directions. Source claimed William has
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been urging his father to ease off and genuinely take
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a step back to focus on his health, but said
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those conversations have repeatedly turned tense because Camilla is viewed
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as pushing Charles to continue. One palace aid quoted in
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the piece, claimed William now Phil's almost at war with
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her over the issue and sees her as the main
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barrier to getting Charles to slow down. King Charles will
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formerly open the next session of Parliament on May thirteenth
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when he delivers the King's Speech setting up the government's
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legislative program on behalf of Sir Kia Stamer's administration. The
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speech itself will see the King read out the government's
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legislative agenda from the throne in the House of Lords,
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outlining the bills ministers hope to bring forward in the
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coming parliamentary session. Although delivered by the Monarch, the speech
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is written entirely by the Government and serves as a
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formal presentation of the Prime Minister's political priorities for the
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year ahead. Queen Camella gave Royal Watches a very familiar
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married moment during a visit to Cornwall after she appeared
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to have quite a job getting King Charles to pay attention.
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Video from the recent Eden Project event shows Camilla first
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tapping Charles on one side, then the other, when the
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King seemingly oblivious. After getting nowhere, she finally grabbed his
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arm and physically turned him around to look at the display,
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revealing an elaborate celebratory cake. The Queen has announced that
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she will appear in a new BBC documentary exploring the
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life changing impact of reading, in a project closely tied
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to one of the causes she has championed most consistently
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in recent years. The Queen revealed the news during a
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reception at Clarence House, where she hosted authors, literary figures
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and supporters of the Queen's Reading Room to mark the
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first presentation of the Queen's Reading Room Medal. The documentary
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will reportedly focus on the powerful role reading can play
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in people's lives, from those who found comfort in books
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while in prison, to others who used reading groups and
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literary communities to help navigate depression, isolation, or major life changes.
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More palacing just a moment. William is facing criticism over
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plans to sell off farms on the Duchy of Cornwall
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of State, with tenant farmers warning that the move risks
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putting profit ahead of people. The duchy, which William inherited
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when King Charles became monarch, is planning to sell ten
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farms on its Bradanich estate in Devon. Officials say the
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aim is to give tenant families a rare chance to
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buy the land they have worked for generations, offering them
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first refusal and what it's described as a healthy discount
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below market value. Farmers say they simply do not have
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the money to buy the land without taking on enormous debt,
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and some fear it could and generations of family farming
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rather than secure it. When local resident John Palmer tells
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The Telegraph the Royal family are probably financially resilient enough
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to be able to make decisions in the round and
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not purely for financial gain, so one would hope that
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the current royal landlord is able to prioritize people over profit.
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This is enormously stressful for tenants and employees of the
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duchy estate. Another tenant was even blunter, saying I think
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the old Prince of Wales was better. Unfortunately the new
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one doesn't have his father's view of agriculture and everything else.
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William visited the first Battalion, the Mercian Regiment in Wilchair,
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using the engagement to hear directly from female soldiers about
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their experiences serving in the British Army in his role
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as Colonel in chief of the regiment. The Prince of
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Wales spent part of the visit speaking with a women's
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network within the battalion, listening to first hand accounts of
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what it's like to serve as a woman in today's
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armed forces. Dressed in military fatigues, William joined a discussion
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with a group of female personnel as part of the
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army's wider effort to improve representation. Women currently make up
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around twelve percent of the UK's regular forces, with an
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ambition to increase that figure to thirty percent by twenty thirty.
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At one stage, the Prince was even given the chance
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to operate one of the drones himself. And there you
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have it. Also addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com.
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Please follow us on Spotify or Apple and the app
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or subscribe, and don't forget to check out the Deep
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Crown on substack, who is a regular contributor to this
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show and puts out a newsletter several times a week.
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It's free and you can see it on substack, or
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just search for Deep Crown on Google. Hey, my francis
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my thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue and
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good terms