Jan. 22, 2026

William and Kate Curl, Sip Cider, announce Saudi Trip and Still Can’t Knock Prince Harry Off Page One

Show Notes
Transcript

With Harry’s court drama dominating the headlines, William and Kate go on the road in Scotland, trying to look like the future while the past keeps barging in. Kate makes a low-key cultural play with an understated Royal Opera House visit and a simple message: “Thank you to The Royal Ballet for an amazing evening of creative inspiration at Woolf Works this weekend! C.” The Waleses then hit the curling rink, where Kate beats William again, before heading to a community pub where William declares, “I want to help pubs. This is the best place to come and get to know each other,” adding, “I grew up in pubs. I absolutely love pubs,” and calling them “the heart of the community.” They hear about rising costs crushing landlords, Kate receives a crochet bunny for Charlotte, and she jokes, “You need to finish that,” when William leaves his cider behind. The visit is interrupted by a shouted question about Andrew and Epstein, Kensington Palace confirms William’s Saudi Arabia trip in February, and reports swirl that William is furious over talk of a Harry-led Diana project involving Netflix.

Meanwhile Charles stays busy, sips whisky in Edinburgh, jokes, “The terrible thing about it is, the photograph is never the most fetching,” and the Telegraph warns the King’s possible US trip is now tangled up in the Trump-Greenland fallout

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Ah Calorogus Shark Media that hello and welcome through Palace Intry.

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I am your host, Mark Francis. There were some other

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stories we wanted to tell you about yesterday afternoon, but

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then Harry took the stand. The trial resumes this morning

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and we'll cover it in our afternoon episode later today. Meanwhile,

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Will and Kate have been trying their best to keep

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Harry off the front page. Princess Catherine even issued a

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statement after making a low key visit to the Royal

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Opera House Over the weekend. The Princess of Wales attended

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a performance by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera

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House in London, where she watched Wolf Works. The visit

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was not announced in advance and it is not known

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who accompanied her. Posting on Instagram on Monday evening, the

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Princess wrote thank you to the Royal Ballet for an

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amazing evening of creative inspiration at Wolfworks this weekend See

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for Catherine. Wolf Works is currently running for from January

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seventeenth through February thirteen. The production was created and choreographed

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by Wayne McGregor and is inspired by the writings of

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Virginia Wolf drawing on themes from her genre, defying literary work. Meanwhile,

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those crazy kids, they're just like you and me, showed

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off their curling skills. The couple kicked off a busy

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awad in Scotland with a visit to the National Curling

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Academy and Sterling, where they met Team GB and Paralympics

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GB curl as ahead of the twenty twenty six Winter

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Olympic and Para Olympic Games in Malano, Courtina. The Prince

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and Princess of Wales were welcomed by waiting crowds inside

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the venue before heading rinkside to meet athletes and coaches.

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They stopped for selfies, chatted with team members and created

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a relaxed atmosphere throughout the visit. Curling remains one of

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Team GB and Paralympic GB's most successful winter sports, with

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six Olympic medals and two Paralympic medals to date. William

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and Catherine also tried curling for themselves. William press during

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the practice attempt, but Catherine ultimately won the friendly contest

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between the pair. Royal inside a deep Crown observed, It's

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rather remarkable, isn't it. Catherine always seems to emerge victorious

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from these little competitions. One suspects William has learned that

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marital harmony occasionally requires strategic underperformance at curling, though to

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his credit he appears genuinely delighted when she wins. That's

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rather the secret to a successful partnership, i'd say. William

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has pledged to support Britain's struggling pubs, describing them as

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crucial spaces for human connection and the heart of local communities.

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Ordering half a pint of cider at the Gothenburg Pub

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in Fallon, near Stirling, William told locals, I want to

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help pubs. This is the best place to come and

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get to know each other. I grew up in pubs.

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I absolutely love pubs, before describing them as the heart

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of the community. The visit came as pressure mounts on

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landlords facing rising costs including higher business rates, increased employer

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national insurance contributions, alcohol duty rises, minimum wage increases, and

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a proposed reduction in the drink driving limit. An estimated

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one pub a day closed permanently in England and Wales

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during twenty twenty five, with around fifteen thousand pubs shutting

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their doors across the UK since two thousand. During the visit,

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William and Kate sat with local residents to hear how

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the Gothenburg operates as a community focused pub with profits

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funneled back into the village. The model includes subsidized rental

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flats for young people saving to buy homes, as well

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as non drinking activities such as bowls. Reflecting on what

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he had heard, William said, it's crucial. It's that human

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to human contact, isn't it, rather than just being on

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the phone or watching TV. As the conversation turned to

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village life and friendships, including the banter shared between regulars,

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the Prince laughed and said a bit of slagging off

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we all need that occasionally. It prints us back down

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to earth. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales, who did not

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order a drink, joined a table of local teachers. She

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was presented with a handmade crochet bunny by Adele seventy

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for her daughter, Princess Charlotte. Accepting the gift, Catherine said

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the ten year old would absolutely love that. She's got

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lots of teddies on her bed. As the couple prepared

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to leave, Catherine noticed her husband's unfinished cider and teased him,

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saying you need to finish that. William laughed and replied

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that he wanted to stay on best behavior. The visit

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was not without interruption. As the Prince and Princess arrived

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at the pub, a member of the public shouted, how

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long have you known about Andrew and Epstein? Have you

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been covering up for Andrew? Prince William will travel to

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Saudi Arabia next month, Kensington Palace has confirmed in an

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official statement. The Palace said, at the request of His

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Majesty's Government to the Prince of Wales will visit the

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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between Monday ninth and Wednesday eleventh February.

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The visit comes as the UK and Saudi Arabia highlight

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expanding trade, energy and investment links as the two countries

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approach one hundred years of diplomatic relations. It will be

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the future King's first official visit to Saudi Arabia. The

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Princess of Wales will not accompany him on the short trip,

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Kensington Palace said. Further details of the visit will be

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released at a later date, but for now it suffice

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to try to keep Harry off the front page. It

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didn't work. We continue to hear reports about a Harry

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led documentary about Princess Diana. According to insiders, the idea

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of Harry and Meghan making money from Diana's legacy has

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left William deeply upset. One source said Harry is determined

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to honor his mother and share her story. He doesn't

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see any reason why he needs to involve his brother

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in it. What's really sending William over the edge is

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how involved Meghan is. William doesn't want her anywhere near

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his mother's story. He is sickened that Harry and by extension,

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Meghan would dare to disrespect his mother in profit from

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the memory of her. One inside has said Harry believes

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Diana's story has been mismanaged for years and that it's

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his responsibility to make sure it's finally shared properly. In

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his eyes, the monarchy failed her, so he feels they

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ought to be the last ones in charge of honoring her.

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The same source claim the plan has further damaged relations

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between the brothers, saying William is prepared to block the

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documentary by any means necessary. They said William made it

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very clear that he's ready to put up whatever roadblocks

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he can, whether that means tying the project up in

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legal red tape or calling in favors from high places

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to get it shut down. He's on the warpath against this.

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To him, this is the ultimate grift and he's not

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about to stand by and let his mother be exploited

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in death by her own son. Sources say. Another major

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sticking point for William Netflix's involvement, giving his anger over

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the portrayal of the royal family and the Crown one inside.

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He said, Harry's got his deal at Netflix, so when

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he's ready to pitch this project, he'll go straight there.

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That's bound to set William off even more since it's

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still so angry. They aired the Crown More Palace in

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just a Moment. King Charles spent the day in Edinburgh,

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avoiding Harry by hosting a reception at the Palace of

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Hollywood House to mark the Scotland Investment Forum. During the event,

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the King sampled a dram of Lowland single malt whiskey

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from Rosebank, a distillery based in Falkirk. The whiskey recently

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won Best in Show in the twenty twenty five San

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Francisco World Spirits Competition. As he prepared to taste it.

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Rose Bank Managing Director Lennard Russell warned, be careful, sir,

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it's high strength. Charles replied, the terrible thing about it

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is the photograph is never the most fetching. Later in

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the day, the King carried out an investiture, handing out honors.

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Following the reception, Queen Camilla mean While focused on literacy

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during a visit to the National Library of Scotland, where

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she launched the National Year of Reading campaign. The initiative,

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promoted under the slogan go all In, aims to encourage

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people to build a daily reading habit, if only for

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a few minutes at a time. During the visit, Camilla

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was presented with a special Beino comic strip featuring herself

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alongside Dennis the Menace and his dog Nasher in the Country.

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The Queen tells the characters go all in for the

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National Year of Reading Dennis Comics and Audiobooks count two.

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Looking at the drawing of a self, Camilla joked, I

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wish Hannah Ferness, and the Telegraph writes the King again

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finds himself in an unenviable position. In a few months time,

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he the Queen penciled in to fly out of the

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US to join celebrations of the country's two hundred and

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fiftieth anniversary of independence. It will be designed as a spectacle,

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a glittering white house ball the King, Queen, President and

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First Lady on the dance floor, some inevitable joshing about

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the War of Independence and King George the Third. The

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trip has neither been confirmed by the Palace nor the government,

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but planning as well under weigh excitement over the past

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few days, has been overtaken by the unfolding global crisis

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of mister Trump insisting he will acquire Greenland and calls

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for the King to cancel his trip and response. The

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nuance barely needs spelling out. Greenland is a territory of

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Denmark and has its own king, The Danish royal family

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or old friends of the British and Charles the Third

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will be well aware of the implications of being seen

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to ignore the threat to its sovereignty. The King's own

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thoughts on the matter remain a matter of royal discretion

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for now. He has played his part, sources say, in

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strengthening the US UK relationship, and has so far been

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happy to do so. Palace sources lament a poor understanding

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of how state visits work. Among those calling for the

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King to refuse to go, the monarch hosts or fliers

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out to other heads of state on the advice of

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his government, they repeat, his personal opinions are neither here

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nor there. The idea of asking the King to work

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his diplomatic magic on mister Trump over Greenland trying to

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change his mind is absolutely not being considered. Another source

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told The Telegraph, Yeah, they have it. If you'd like

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to email us addresses the Palace Intrigue at email dot com.

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Please followus on Spotify, Apple or the Apple you with choice.

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I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is

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William and Kate Curl, Sip Cider, announce Saudi Trip and Still Can’t Knock Prince Harry Off Page One

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