Sept. 2, 2026

William and Kate Want ‘No Part’ of Sussex Drama as Harry’s Return Reignites the Royal Feud

Show Notes
Transcript

Reports say Prince William and Princess Catherine are determined to focus on their family, public roles and the future rather than Harry and Meghan’s return to Britain. Plus, Catherine could join William for the Earthshot Prize in India, commentators debate whether Kate could ever trust Meghan again, fresh anonymous-source claims suggest tensions between William and King Charles over Harry and Andrew, Jennie Bond says any reconciliation ultimately depends on William, Camilla is suddenly said to be softening toward the Sussexes, and speculation resurfaces that Harry may want royal access for another book. Meanwhile, an Australian chef dismisses Meghan’s MasterChef appearance and a former Royal Ballet dancer recalls his painfully awkward first meeting with Charles and Camilla.

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,

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Mark Francis. According to the Mirror, Catherine, the Princess of Wales,

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is expected to accompany William when the Earthshot Prize travels

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to India in November. Kensington Palace has not confirmed that

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she will attend, so for now this remains a reported

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plan rather than an official engagement. If she does make

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the trip, it would be notable because Catherine has not

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attended an Earthshot Prize ceremony since Boston in 2022. She

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missed Singapore in 23, Cape Town in 24, and Rio

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in 25, with her later appearances falling during the period

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when she had stepped back from many public duties following

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her cancer diagnosis and treatment. The India trip would therefore

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carry significance beyond Earthshot itself. It would be another indication

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that Catherine is increasingly comfortable taking on the sort of

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overseas engagements that were once routine for the couple. There

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would also be a nice bit of royal symmetry and

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William and Catherine returning together. Their first official visit to

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India came 10 years ago, in 2016, when they travelled

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through India and Bhutan. Their itinerary included Mumbai, New Delhi,

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Kazarenga National Park, and one of the most photographed moments

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of the tour, the couple sitting together in front of

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the Taj Mahal. Royal editor Russell Myers describes the couple

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as working very much as a team, saying everything they

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do is tandem and this includes Catherine being the catalyst

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for William launching the Earthshot Prize when he doubted it

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could become the global success it has. Friends of the

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Prince and Princess of Wales say they want no part

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in the drama surrounding the Sussexes and are concentrating instead

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on their children, their public work and the future. One

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source tells the Express, Obviously the Sussex return will make

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inevitable headlines for a few days but it has no

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bearing on the Prince and Princess life moving forward. If anything,

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events that have affected them over the past couple of

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years have made them even more determined to concentrate on

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what is important to them, their family, their public roles,

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and the ability to provide generational change for good with

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their public roles, and look forward to the future. Another

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source put it more bluntly, what Harry and Meghan choose

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to do is up to them. As far as William

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and Catherine are concerned, they have left that period of

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their lives behind many years ago. While they simply cannot

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forgive everything that has been said against them and the family,

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they do not have the time or the energy or

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any negativity for the drama that the Sussexes surround themselves with.

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Royal commentator Duncan Larcombe adds, They didn't post anything on

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his birthday, which the royals normally would do, so Kate's

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message was loud and clear. The ball's not in our court, Harry.

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It's in yours. Neither Kate nor William can speak out

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publicly about Harry and Meghan. They have kept silent throughout

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all of this and rolled with all the punches. so

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they're forced into subtle secret messaging, which is what this

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seems to be. They're not prepared to call Harry's bluff

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by sending him joyful birthday wishes, so they remain silent

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and avoid him at all costs. Speaking on the Daily

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Express's Daily Express O, host J.J. Enciobi asked former talk

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TV presenter Daisy McCandrey whether Kate could ever trust Meghan

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again after the public breakdown in relations between the Sussexes

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and the royal family. Enciobi said, Catherine doesn't trust Meghan

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for good reason. Meghan Markle slated the royal family. Can

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you ever see a point when Catherine can actually trust Meghan?

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McAndrew said the answer depends on Catherine personally. I mean,

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trust is something so personal, isn't it? I can see

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a point where they come to some sort of arrangement

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for the good of the group, for the good of

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the firm, and I don't know Catherine's personality enough. If

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it happened to certain friends of mine, I could tell

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you who would be able to bury the hatchet and

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who wouldn't. I have some friends that would never be

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able to move on, and I have some friends that

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be like, yeah, life's too short, I forgive you, because,

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you know, it's damaging me to keep this grudge going.

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And those are two very different personalities, and I'm not

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sure which one Catherine is. Meanwhile, it sounds like William

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may be furious yet again. This time he is reportedly

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becoming increasingly frustrated with King Charles over the direction of

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the monarchy, particularly when it comes to Harry and Andrew.

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Reality Tea has an unnamed source who says, He's still

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hoping somebody else can talk sense into his father, but

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he's not counting on it. He's through wasting his breath.

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If Charles wants to have this relationship with Harry so badly,

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then he should have it, and let William get on

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with the business of ruling the crown. William believes Andrew

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has no place anywhere near the family, and is not

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deserving of any mercy whatsoever. An insider tells Heatwell, it's

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making life uncomfortable for everyone at the palace. Their advisors

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are still communicating politely, but William and the King are

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barely acknowledging each other even when they're in the same meeting.

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The situation has become absolutely ludicrous, it's causing chaos, and

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fact is, it reflects badly on everybody. A lot of

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people are saying William is playing straight into Harry and

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Meghan's hands by alienating his father this way. Former BBC

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royal correspondent Jenny Bond writes in the iPaper, What a

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tribute it would be to Diana if her sons could

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finally be reconciled on the anniversary of her untimely death.

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But if Harry's fire has been quelled, the anger smouldering

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inside William, who is known to be a stubborn character,

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could be much harder to extinguish. William feels betrayed by

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the brother who sold the family secrets, or at least

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Harry's version of them, and now wants to be allowed

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back into the fold. If any truce is to be called,

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it will be William who does the calling. More palace

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in just a moment. Following a few weeks of stories

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in which Camilla was being portrayed as being wary of Harry,

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Heat World would have us believe she is softening. One

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unnamed source says, If William is perceived as such a

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hothead who holds onto grudges and can't find a way

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to move past all this with his brother, it's perhaps

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going to be hard for him to make measured decisions

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when the time comes. At the same time, she's being

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more welcoming than ever to Harry and Meghan. She claims

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she's changed her tune because she respects her husband's wishes.

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but some are wondering if it's a lot more layered

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than that. The website Celebrating the Soaps floated a theory

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that Harry wants greater access to the royal family because

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he needs material for another book. When Spare was published

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in 2023, Harry told the Telegraph that his original manuscript

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was considerably longer than the book that eventually appeared. He

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said some material involving his father and brother was deliberately

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left out because he did not believe they would ever

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forgive him if it were published. Harry said at the time,

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It could have been two books, put it that way.

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We here at Palace Intrigue encourage Harry to write a book,

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to go on Oprah and to start a podcast. It

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makes our show prep a lot easier. Megan's recent appearance

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on MasterChef Australia is still generating reaction in Australia, and

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one rival television chef has made it pretty clear he

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isn't looking to book the Duchess of Sussex for his

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own show. Colin Fasnage, a judge on My Kitchen Rules,

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was attending the Logie Awards in Sydney when Daily Mail

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asked him about Meghan's MasterChef appearance. Fastenage joked, We are MKR,

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we don't allow people of non-royalty onto our show. And

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when asked more generally about Meghan, he was equally dismissive,

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Whatever floats your boat, she is not in my boat. Meanwhile,

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former Royal Ballet dancer Eric Underwood says his first meeting

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with King Charles and Queen Camilla did not exactly go

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according to plan. Underwood, who was appearing on the latest

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series of Celebrity MasterChef, moved to Britain from the United

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States and met the couple in 2006 when they were

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still the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. Underwood

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and his dance company were visiting Highgrove, and he admits that,

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as a relatively new arrival in Britain, he had no

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idea what he was supposed to say when suddenly confronted

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with royalty. Underwood recalled that he panicked and told them,

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It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you, which,

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to be fair, was certainly true. Underwood says he then

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ran to a corner of the room 20 years later.

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He still hasn't had another encounter with Charles and Camilla

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and joked, I'd love to redeem myself. And there you

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have it. If you'd like to email us or address

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We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to

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John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue. Good times.

William and Kate Want ‘No Part’ of Sussex Drama as Harry’s Return Reignites the Royal Feud

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