Aug. 23, 2025

Windsor or Bust: Royals, Rumors & a Racket at Sandringham

Show Notes
Transcript

Are William and Kate really going to skip the castle life forever? Tom Sykes isn’t buying it. We break down their “modest” mansion move, plus royal butler Grant Harrold spills tea on Prince Harry, Camilla gets heat for yachting while Charles is ill, and even the Sandringham choir is in scandal mode. Also: Prince Philip’s legendary one-liners and Harry’s quiet tribute to him on VJ Day.

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Calorouga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Intrigue. I

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am your host Mark Francis, and the Royalist Tom Sykes asks,

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are people really so gullible they believe the pr spin

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the future King William and Queen Kate won't end up

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in a castle. Sikes writes, I strongly suspect that when

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Charles dies or abdicates, that's a whole other post for

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another day, they will indeed move to Windsor Castle. William

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and Kate have portrayed their decision to live in the

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relatively modest eight bedroom manor houses opposed to a palace

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in terms of their own mental health needs, as well

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as being portrayed as a logistical decision about schools and commutes.

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It may well be that for them, but for the

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Crown the decision is a hugely symbolic rupture with the past.

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I completely respect that nobody in their right mind would

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wish to live in the goldfish bowl of Buckingham Palace.

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The late Queen Elizabeth the iond loath the place, but

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was basically pressured by Churchill to move in. She spent

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her last few years at Windsor Castle. To many of

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the palace is being preserved as an empty stage set,

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a ceremonial museum, shorn of life. That the state is

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spending hundreds of millions on its upkeep, while Britain's enduring

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a cost of living crisis only sharpens the charge of waste.

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Biographer Robert Lacey tells The Telegraph, I don't think Buckingham

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Palace was ever loved. If you read what kings have

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said in their diaries, it was always seen as an office.

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I think actually as an office, it has been very

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successful as a ceremonial figure head for the royal family,

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as the place that visitors identify with, it's been a

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great success. People forget that at the beginning of late

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Queen's reign no one went into Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth also

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compared it to camping in a museum. Former Royal butler

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Grant Harold, who spent seven years working at Highgrove between

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two thousand and four and two thy eleven, is lifting

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the curtain on royal life in his new memoir The

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Royal Butler, My Remarkable Life of Royal Service, out August

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twenty eighth. Harold, who began as a young under butler

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and rose to serve the future King and Queen. Offers

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a raar behind the scenes look a day to day

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life inside the royal households, with anecdotes bringing from heartfelt

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to downright cheeky. One of Harold's earliest moments involves a

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surprise water balloon ambush from a then nineteen year old

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Prince Harry, who was home on his gap year. As

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Harold tried to escape through a window, Harry burst through

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the door laughing and said, sorry, I'm just being a

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bit silly. That spontaneous prank led to an unexpected friendship.

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Harry later invited Harold to join him for a takeaway

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to keep him company. Harold also disputes Prince Hary's claim

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and spare that he and Prince William begged their father

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not to marry Camilla. Harold recalls seeing a very different dynamic.

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He says the brothers not only attended the wedding, but enthusiastic.

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They joined in decorating their father's car with a just

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married sion and chased after it like giddy well wishes.

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The four of them got on so well. I saw

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them have dinners, drinks, coming to parties together. Harold says,

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casting doubt on Harry's later portrayal of discord. As for

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King Charles himself, Harold remembers him a very gentle character,

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calm and hard working. He didn't once raise his voice,

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Harold notes, even under pressure, though Charles once mused about

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potentially ruling under a different name. I could be Charles,

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but I could also be George the seventh. Harold, like

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many were surprised when Charles chose to reign as Charles

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the Third and then as Prince Philip. Always known for

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his unfiltered remarks, Harold recalls a memorable moment just after

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Harry Megan's twenty eighteen wedding, following Bishop Michael Curry's famously

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exuberant sermon, As the family exited Saint George Chapel, Prince

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Philip turned to the Queen and quipped, thank yeah, for

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that's over. Harold also offered a glimpse into the once

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close friendship between Prince Harry and Kate Middleton. While William

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was away, Harry and Kate often spent time together, going shopping,

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visiting pubs, and sharing a sibling like camaraderie. I think

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when people say, oh, he was left out, he really wasn't.

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In a deeply personal gesture, Prince Harry quietly paid tribute

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to his grandfather Philip on the eightieth anniversary of VJ Day.

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His hand written letter, accompanied by a wreath, was placed

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at the Burmer Star Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum,

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just hours after his father, King Charles and Queen Camilla

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led the official commemorations at the same site. The letter,

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bearing Prince Harry's Royal crest, was addressed to the Forgotten

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Army and recognized the courage and sacrifice of the British

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troops who fought in the Far East during the Second

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World War. Harry, who himself served in the military for

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a decade, acknowledged both their bravery and the legacy left

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by veterans like his grandfather Prince Philip, who served aboard

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HMS WELP in the Pacific. For me, this anniversary carried

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an added layer of meaning, Harry wrote, My late grandfather,

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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, served in the Pacific Campaign.

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He spoke with quiet humility about those years, but I

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know how deeply he respected all who stood beside him

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in that theater of war. Your story is part of

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our shared heritage, and it must never be forgotten. In

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what some interpret as a thoughtful, olive branch, Harry reportedly

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instructed a close friend to place the tribute only after

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King Charles and Queen Camilla had departed, deliberately stepping back

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to ensure his tribute did not draw attention away from

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the official ceremony. As with all things Harry, this did

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not go without controversy. A friend of the royal family

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told the mayors of Richard Eden, what hypocrisy Harry hurt

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his grandfather deeply during the final year of his life.

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More palace in just a moment. Sometimes stories bubble up

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from less mainstream sources before the British tabloids decide to

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run with them. Radar Online shares that Charles is said

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to have become increasingly frail and leaning on whiskey to

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manage pain when inside it claimed his health has deteriorated

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significantly in recent months. The walking stick is more than

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a traditional accessory for a royal portrait. It's become a necessity.

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The King is facing a tough, losing battle with his illness,

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and he turns to whis to manage the discomfort. Other

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accounts paint a more measured picture. Recent portraits taken at Sandringham,

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shared on the estate's official Instagram account, show him walking

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through the terpiary garden with a cane, something not uncommon

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for someone of his years and often a simple precaution

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against falls. Another rumor has the family upset at Camilla.

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According to Radar Online, Camilla recently spent time on a

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luxury yacht with her daughter Laura Lopes and her grandchildren

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rather than remaining with the King at Balmoral. The ought

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is said to belong to a prominent Conservative Party donor,

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raising further questions given the monarch's duties remain politically neutral,

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and Inside acclaimed Camilla's trip has upset the whole royal family,

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especially the Princess Royal and the Prince of Wales. Princess

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Anne and Prince William are unhappy about Camilla's solo jaunt

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that William is also worried about the emotional toll on

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his father. The source added that the King's one wish

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was for Camilla to be at his side while he

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copes with the day to day pressures of treatment. Will

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point out that the idea of William being upset about

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someone vacationing on his superiotis kind of funny. Former Minister

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Norman Baker also weighed in, telling The Mirror members of

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the Royal Family really ought to consider the public perception

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of such episodes, whether they are on holiday or official business.

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They are representing the country at all times, and let's

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be honest, it's not as if they are short of cash.

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This is not a good look for Camilla. Wait until

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Minister Baker finds out what William and Kate were up to. Meanwhile,

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a new crisis for King Charles as an official inquiry

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has branded the Sandringham Church Choir an unholy din elked

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sixteen page report commissioned by the Reverend Canon Paul Williams,

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chaplain at Saint Mary Magdalene Church, where the Royal Family

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attends Christmas services, concluded the singers had no knowledge of

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music or singing technique and were producing little more than

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a racket. The report, written by cathedral musician Tansy Kettlstein,

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urged the group to aspire to highest standards and embrace

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dynamic risk taking. Parishioners, however, dismissed the jargon heavy critique

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and have rallied behind the church's long serving director of music,

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not to Class Stewart, who is currently on sick leave

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after lodging her own twenty eight page grievance. This is

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in Norfolk Village Church, not Westminster Abbey, when parishioner told

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the Sun, Canon Williams, who took up his post in

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twenty twenty three, is said to be pushing for wholesale

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modernization of the choir, including plans as improbable as launching

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a social media account. His reforms have divided the community,

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with numbers at services falling and the Bishop of Norwich

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inundated with letters. The King himself has now in drawn

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into the affair, reportedly staying behind after recent services to

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speak with parishioners in an effort to broke a peace.

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Unlike his late mother, who was said to approach music

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with polite bafflement, Charles has long held a deep affection

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for it, describing it as a necessity, not a luxury.

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To have his own parish accused of such discord will

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be particularly painful. There you have it, doctor email us

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addresses the Palace Intrigue at a gmail on dot com.

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Windsor or Bust: Royals, Rumors & a Racket at Sandringham

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