Speaker 1: Caloroga Shark Media. In today's news, Vanity Fair published what
Speaker 1: might be the most damning Harry and Megan article yet.
Speaker 1: Harry is gearing up for a legal showdown with Rupert
Speaker 1: Murdoch's media empire, and Prince William went out to watch
Speaker 1: soccer at the bar. Hello, and welcome to Palace Intrigue.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Mark Francis, Vanity Fairs February cover
Speaker 1: article is titled inside Prince Harry and Megan Minkle's Big
Speaker 1: business Ambitions five years after their royal exit. There's a
Speaker 1: lot to unpack here, so let's pick away. At the piece.
Speaker 1: A producer named Jane Marie is quoted. Jane is credited
Speaker 1: with collaborating with Harry and Meghan on audio projectsit Archwall
Speaker 1: and tells Vanity Fair they had this naivety and their
Speaker 1: hopefulness about what's possible in terms of storytelling and good
Speaker 1: works and all those things. I wish I had that
Speaker 1: kind of optimism. A second unnamed person is quoted. I
Speaker 1: thought that I had the role of a lifetime. I
Speaker 1: thought I was going to be besties with Megan and
Speaker 1: Harry and we were going to like run around the
Speaker 1: world saving people. An Appeal. Author of the Vanity Fair piece,
Speaker 1: then tells us interest in the couple was unslackable, but
Speaker 1: it remained to be seen whether they were actually interesting
Speaker 1: beyond Harry's uniquely difficult upbringing and Meghan's years of defending
Speaker 1: herself from shoddy treatment and racism, whether in the British
Speaker 1: press or from members of her husband's family. As one
Speaker 1: former Spotify employee put it, the thing you're escaping is
Speaker 1: the reason you're compelling. The Spotify employee tells us Harry
Speaker 1: and Megan didn't do what celebrities do on podcasts, which
Speaker 1: is turn on the mic and talk. They wanted a
Speaker 1: big theme that would explain the world, but they had
Speaker 1: no ideas. Anna also tells us people involved with production
Speaker 1: say the couple did trial runs on some big ideas,
Speaker 1: like a This Is American Life style show, where Harry
Speaker 1: and Meghan took turns hosting and talking to interesting civilian guests.
Speaker 1: As Bloomberg reported, Harry wanted to host a series where
Speaker 1: he interviewed powerful men with complicated stories like Mark Zuckerberg,
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump. The concept wasn't just that
Speaker 1: the men shared challenging early lives. It was their experiences
Speaker 1: made them into sociopaths, or so Harry envisioned. One person
Speaker 1: familiar with the ideation process says the person who worked
Speaker 1: in media confirms there was a Sociopath podcast. The person
Speaker 1: who worked closely with the couple on audio projects recalls
Speaker 1: Harry saying, I have very bad childhood trauma. Obviously, my
Speaker 1: mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that
Speaker 1: didn't make me one of these bad guys? To implore
Speaker 1: a season's worth of world famous sociopaths to talk about
Speaker 1: how they developed sociopathy would be what is referred to
Speaker 1: in access journalism as a booking challenge. Interestingly, a Netflix
Speaker 1: sources quoted, we don't disclose our financial deals with talent,
Speaker 1: but I can confirm to you on the record that
Speaker 1: the one hundred million dollar figure is not correct. With
Speaker 1: so much to unpack here, will take a few days
Speaker 1: to break it all down, but there's plenty else to
Speaker 1: cover today. In other news, Megan ignored her critics and
Speaker 1: was spotted again last week lending a hand to relief
Speaker 1: efforts for the victims of the devastating Los Angeles fires.
Speaker 1: This time, the Duchess of Sussex was seen bringing large
Speaker 1: bags of donations to the Altadena Teen Girls Fire Recovery Fund,
Speaker 1: an initiative set up to help young girls affected by
Speaker 1: the tragedy. In an Instagram reel shared by the Recovery Fund,
Speaker 1: Meghan kept a low profile, dressed in black leggings, a
Speaker 1: T shirt, trainers, and a baseball cap emblazoned with LA, which,
Speaker 1: to our eye appears to be a generic LA type
Speaker 1: hat a tourist might buy, not a Dodger's cap or
Speaker 1: something a local might wear. A quick Google search to
Speaker 1: find a similar cap black with L and A in
Speaker 1: block letters failed, but we did find a vintage nineteen
Speaker 1: forty one La Angels cap that had the L and
Speaker 1: A in red letters. Perhaps Megan is a fan of
Speaker 1: defunct minor league baseball teams. The video shows Megan warmly
Speaker 1: greeting volunteers and delivering donations, which reportedly included new clothes
Speaker 1: and beauty products. Meghan also spent time chatting with families
Speaker 1: stayed for luncheon assisted the young girls leading the charity effort.
Speaker 1: The fund was founded by fourteen year old Avery Colvert
Speaker 1: from Pasadena, who aimed to collect items for teams impacted
Speaker 1: by the fires. The Mirror reported the couple also made
Speaker 1: a secret donation to the charity through their Archibell Foundation,
Speaker 1: a donation so secret that it made The Mirror, this
Speaker 1: podcast and Instagram, where the charity posted a special thanks
Speaker 1: to the Archwell Foundation for your support. Royal expert Jenny
Speaker 1: Bond is bothered by how much criticism Harry and Meghan get,
Speaker 1: telling the Mirror, Harry and Meghan must have expected much
Speaker 1: of the criticism they received after their accusations about the
Speaker 1: rest of the Royal family, but I find it disturbing
Speaker 1: that almost everything and anything they do now is still criticized,
Speaker 1: in my view, quite unfairly. They could have stayed holed
Speaker 1: up in their Montecito haven while so much of California burned. Instead,
Speaker 1: they went out and offered what help and support they could.
Speaker 1: Megan could have let her new show go to air
Speaker 1: as planned, but she either instigated or fully supported the
Speaker 1: Netflix announcement that it would be postponed. Whatever they do
Speaker 1: is dismissed as cynical by someone or another, which must
Speaker 1: be dispiriting. They have a platform and they are using it.
Speaker 1: Their criticism of the removal of safeguards by Facebook strikes
Speaker 1: me as perfect use of the influence they have. The
Speaker 1: danger posed by the Internet is something they have been
Speaker 1: actively campaigning on for some time, and the criticism of
Speaker 1: Mark Zuckerberg is totally consistent with the stand they have taken.
Speaker 1: Good for them. Someone needs to speak out about the
Speaker 1: potential dangers of the Internet. So I say give Harry
Speaker 1: and Meghan a break. They haven't attacked the royal family
Speaker 1: for some time. What's done is done. Time to move on.
Speaker 1: Prince Harry is gearing up for a legal showdown with
Speaker 1: Rupert Murdoch's media empire, as the case officially titled HRH
Speaker 1: the Duke of Sussex versus News Group Newspapers Limited, kicks
Speaker 1: off today in what promises to be a highly scrutinized
Speaker 1: courtroom battle. The Duke of Sussex's taking on The Sun
Speaker 1: and the now defunct News of the World, both owned
Speaker 1: by Murdoch's Newsgroup Newspapers and Miss Harry stage is a
Speaker 1: last minute retreat, the move that seems highly unlikely the
Speaker 1: High Court will begin hearing his allegations against the tabloid giants.
Speaker 1: This case marks another chapter in Harry's ongoing campaign against
Speaker 1: the British press, as he continues to hold media outlets
Speaker 1: accountable for what he claims are unethical and invasive practices.
Speaker 1: The spotlight is now firmly on the court room where
Speaker 1: Harry's grievances will be aired against one of the most
Speaker 1: powerful media moguls in the world. Some wondered if Kelly
Speaker 1: Osborne took a shot at Megan and Harry. Kelly uploaded
Speaker 1: a video on Instagram in which she disapproved using other
Speaker 1: people's pain and suffering as a photowhop. She said, is
Speaker 1: it just me being my normal, overthinking, cynical self, or
Speaker 1: is it really disturbing to see all of these celebrities
Speaker 1: using other people's pain and suffering as a photo wop
Speaker 1: to say, Look, I'm helping, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.
Speaker 1: I don't believe you help so you can get attention
Speaker 1: for helping. I believe you just help because you want to.
Speaker 1: No one asked you to come out and give hugs
Speaker 1: go home. A reporter had observed the sussexes, saying it
Speaker 1: looked as if the two of them might really want
Speaker 1: to be helpful. I actually saw Meghan Markele stoop down
Speaker 1: and take off the lid of a plastic bin. Do
Speaker 1: they really want to get down and dirty. Candae Owen's
Speaker 1: commented on TikTok. That's how I knew my girl was
Speaker 1: real And I just want to thank Meghan for doing that.
Speaker 1: It's very helpful for her to stoop down and do that.
Speaker 1: If there's any plastic bins that you guys see around
Speaker 1: that need picking up, you can hit up your girl.
Speaker 1: Megan Michael, Well, it's intrigue a radback. Meanwhile, let's put
Speaker 1: a typical Megan style media spin on this next story.
Speaker 1: Instead of flying to Los Angeles to help with the fires,
Speaker 1: Prince William was hanging out at a bar watching soccer.
Speaker 1: Prince William found time last week to mingle with fellow
Speaker 1: Aston Villa supporters at Weatherspoon's in Birmingham. The Royal was
Speaker 1: in town for the College of Paramedics Emergency and Critical
Speaker 1: Care conference, but he made a pit stop to talk
Speaker 1: football over a pint before Villa's match against Everton that evening.
Speaker 1: William treated the table to beer while sipping on side
Speaker 1: to himself, engaging in an animated discussion about all things
Speaker 1: asked in Villa. Steve Jones, one of the fans who
Speaker 1: met the Prince, told reporters he was fantastic. I was
Speaker 1: amazed at how engaged he was with the club. He's
Speaker 1: not a fair weather fan. He really loves the club
Speaker 1: with a passion. According to Jones, the royal meetup was
Speaker 1: arranged by the club, which reached out to a few
Speaker 1: lucky supporters ahead of William's visit. We talked about transfers,
Speaker 1: the Champions League, trip to Monaco and everything Villa, Jones said,
Speaker 1: adding that the Prince's knowledge and enthusiasm for the team
Speaker 1: were evident. William also shared a bit about his family's
Speaker 1: football loyalties. Like his father, Prince George is a devoted
Speaker 1: Villa fan, but William is hoping for a bit of
Speaker 1: variety among his younger children. Jones revealed. Williams said, like
Speaker 1: Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis to support other teams, so
Speaker 1: it's not a household full of Villa fans. He was
Speaker 1: massively interested and came across as a really genuine guy
Speaker 1: who just wanted to talk about Villa. And there you
Speaker 1: have it. I'd like to email us of addresses The
Speaker 1: Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com. Please follow us on Spotify,
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Speaker 1: Shark Media. All the details, I'm in the show notes.
Speaker 1: I'm Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is palace
Speaker 1: intrigue in good terms.