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Ah Calorogus, Shark media headlo and welcome to Palace Intrigue.
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I am your host, Mark Francis. Public relations expert Renee
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Smith tells the Daily Express. Let me start with the
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golden rule of my industry. People do things for their
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own benefit always, So whatever the official framing ends up being,
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the simple truth is that for some reason, Harry and
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Meghan have decided the UK now holds more opportunity for
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them than the US does. Nobody swaps Montecito's sunshine for
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British drizzle out of sentiment. Something in their calculation has changed,
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and that is the real story here. We simply do
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not know what is driving this. Perhaps Meghan is ready
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to try again properly. Perhaps Harry wants to be closer
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to the royal life, or even wants a way back
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into it. Perhaps there is family news we're not privy
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to you that makes being on the right side of
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the Atlantic suddenly matter. Anyone of those would fully explain
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this decision, And the honest answer is that none of
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us on the outside no which it is. What I
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will say is that a move this drastic is never
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done on a whim. This will have been discussed negotiated
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and planned for a long time before we ever heard
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about it. In the Express, Alicia Liberty observes the Sussexes
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do not need a palace, apartment, balcony spot, or even
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a royal job to cause an almighty headache for the Fern.
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Simply putting Prince Harry and Meghan back on British soil
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makes them harder to ignore. Suddenly, every outing becomes a
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potential royal reunion, every appearance a comparison, and every carefully
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curated Meghan outfit will compete for column inches with Princess Catherine. Convenient,
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isn't it. Meghan surrendered the job, but she never surrendered
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the title, intrigue or extraordinary pull that comes from being
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a duchess. And if Britain really is about to become
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the Sussex's playground once again, I suspect Meghan knows exactly
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how valuable being closer to the crown could prove. Let's
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not beat around the bush Commercially, Britain could be a
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gold mine for Megan. Britain hands are a shiny new
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esthetic on a silver platter. Country Houses, roaring fires, afternoon
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tea kitchen gardens and the quint essentially British look that
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her followers on social media will lap up in California.
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The Sussex's trade on having been royal back in Britain,
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they are suddenly rubbing shoulders with royalty again, and proximity
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to the Crown remains a currency money simply cannot buy.
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Then there is British high society, and Meghan has never
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exactly looked uncomfortable in a room full of famous faces
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before mexit. The Sussex's rubbed shoulders, with everyone from George
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and a Mile Clooney to David and Victoria Beckham and
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Elton John occupying that lucrative sweet spot where royalty, celebrity
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and serious influence collide. Meghan cannot compete with Catherine's constitutional position,
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and she certainly cannot stroll back into Britain and reclaim
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the royal job she surrendered. But the headlines, those are
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up for grabs. This is where Meghan's British comeback could
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become a thumping headache for the Palace. King Charles has
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spent years trying to reposition the monarchy beyond the Sussex
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soap opera, while Catherine has become the firm's secret weapon,
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enormously popular, globally recognized, and capable of commanding attention simply
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by showing up royal inside a deep crown disagrees, telling
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Pallace intrigue with respect. This framing fundamentally misunderstands where William
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and Catherine are right now. They are not watching the
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news feeds to see whose face is on the cover.
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Catherine has been through something profoundly serious, and what that
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experience does is clarify what actually matters. They are in
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family mode full stop. The notion that Catherine needs to
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compete with Meghan for column Inch's as frankly an insult
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to Catherine's position. Her constitutional standing is not a matter
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of public relations. She will be queen that it is
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not something Megan can walk back into Britain and threaten,
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however many headlines she generates between now and Christmas. The
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two women occupy entirely different categories of existence within this institution,
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and conflating them as rivals for the same prize rather
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misses the point. Now, will the press spend the autumn
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breathlessly covering every Sussex sighting. Of course they will, that
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is what the press does. But I would gently suggest
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that William and Catherine will spend autumn being entirely unbothered
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by it. They have learned, at considerable personal cost, what
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is worth their attention. Megan Mickle's media profile does not
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make that list. For The Daily Beast, Tom Sykes writes,
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the Sussex Return is a ghastly rerun of the film
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we have seen before for three years. Charles doggedly tried
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to rehabilitate his brother Andrew, excluded by his mother, was
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waved into the Christmas church walk at Sandringham. He was
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at Easter services at Windsor. He was granted a special
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dispensation to wear a military uniform of the vigil for
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his mother when he was no longer entitled to it.
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Sarah Ferguson was back at Sandringham and at the Coronation concert.
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In the end, Charles, weakened by cancer, had to bend
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to his heir's will, and Andrew was defenestrated. I saw
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who knew the late Queen's thinking on these matters, made
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a point to me recently that Elizabeth the Second was
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head of the family, but she was also a head
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of an institution. When the interests of the two collided,
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the institution won every time. Don't underestimate how much that
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cost her. With Andrew, the source said, he was her
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favorite child. She would light up, the source said, when
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he walked into a room, and yet she stripped him
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of his patronages and his military titles, removed his hih
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from public use, and banished him from public life. She
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saw the Harry problem in the same light when the
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Sussexes sought the freedom to make money in America while
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retaining the trappings and access of royalty. She said, not
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bloody likely Elizabeth forbade the half in half out arrangement
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to protect the reign of King William the fifth from
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exactly what King Charles the third is now enabling the
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rival court of Prince how more palis in just a moment.
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The news has raised many questions. The first is simply
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why now. The school calendar may explain the timing. If
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Archie and Littlebit are beginning of the new academic year
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in Britain, the Sussexes would need to make the move
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before classes start in early September. Then there is security.
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This may be the biggest unanswered question of all. Harry
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spent years arguing that he did not believe it was
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safe to bring Meghan and the children back to Britain
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without the level of police protection he wanted. After losing
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his legal challenge over those arrangements, Harry told the BBC
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last year that he couldn't see a world in which
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I could bring my wife and children back to the
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UK at this point. Now he is doing exactly that.
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There is also the question of King Charles. The King
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was reportedly informed of the move only last weekend, even
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though Harry, Meghan and the children had been with him
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at Highgrove just weeks earlier. That means the move was
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apparently not discussed during that family reunion. Many royal watchers
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believed the notion that Charles on he just now found
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out to be implausible. Then there is William. There has
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been no public reaction from William or Catherine at the
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time of this recording. Harry and William remain estranged, and
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once Harry is living in Britain again, avoiding one another
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becomes a little more complicated. Next year also brings the
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thirtieth anniversary of Princess Diana's death. The brothers have managed
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to appear together before for major moments involving their mother,
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including the unveiling of Diana's statue at the Kensington Palace
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in twenty twenty one. Whether that anniversary creates an opportunity
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for some kind of reconciliation is still an open question.
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Another mystery is where Harry and Meghan will live. We
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know the house is expected to be outside London and
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is not believed to be a royal residence. Northampton here
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has been suggested because of Harry's connection to the Spencer
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family and all Forpe The Cotswolds have also been mentioned.
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Harry knows the area well the couple of friends there
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in High Groves nearby, but the actual location remains private,
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as does the school Archie and Lilibet will attend. Then
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we get to perhaps the most interesting long term question,
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what exactly will Harry and Meghan do once they are
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living in Britain. Harry can continue his work with Invictus
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Well Child and other causes he supports without being part
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of the official royal operation. Meghan can continue running as
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Ever and other projects from Britain. There creates the possibility
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of two very visible royal households operating in the same
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country without technically being part of the same organization, and
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That raises another practical problem. How much coordination will there
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be between Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and the Sussexes If
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Harry schedules are major in Victor's appearance on the same
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day William has an important engagement to the two households.
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Try to avoid competing for attention or do they simply
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operate independently. There is also the private family calendar. Harry
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and Meghan may not be working royals, but they are
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still members of the King's family. What happens at Christmas,
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what happens at Easter? What happens when there is a
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major family wedding, funeral, or milestone birthday? Will Harry, Megan,
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Archie and Lulibert begin appearing more regularly at private royal
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gatherings while remaining completely outside official royal duties. That would
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create a very different arrangement from the one we have
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seen over the past six years. And finally, there is
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the question of permanence. The Sussexes are keeping their home
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in Montecito and their property in Portugal. The move to
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Britain is being described as an extended stay, but no
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one has said whether Britain will eventually become their permanent
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primary home. They have it. If you'd like to email
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us of addresses The Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com.
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