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Speaker 1: A calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallas Intrigue.

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I am your host, Mark Francis, Queen Camilla's friends say

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she has embraced the demands of royal life despite never

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expecting to take on such a prominent public role. Camilla,

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who recently celebrated her seventy ninth birthday, spent much of

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her adult life away from the spotlight before marrying the

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future King Charles in two thousand and five. She became

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queen when Charles ascended the throne. Friends, speaking to Hell magazine,

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said the transition has been dramatic, but one she has

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accepted with remarkable ease. Author Catherine Mayer, who knows the queen,

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said this is a woman who really was very happy

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not having a career, and who liked to potter and

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do things that interested her. Now suddenly she has this

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huge role. She added she lived a lot of a

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life in different directions to most of us. Broadcaster author

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and former MP Charles Brandreth also said Camilla has adjusted

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to a workload that would surprise many people her age.

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You might think she could slow down, but they are

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having to quicken the pace, he told the magazine. But

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I never get the impression that she is doing it reluctantly.

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Brandreth also described Camilla as someone who remains grounded despite

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her position. I don't think she sees birthdays as a

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big deal, but family is very important to her, so

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that is a kind of celebration, he said. He added

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that when people remind her she is approaching another milestone birthday,

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she pulls her face and says, thank you for reminding me.

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I think the truth is she's in a good place. Though.

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When you say to her, well done, it's going so well,

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she strugs and says, well on we go. The article

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also highlights an unusual piece of royal trivia. Genealogical research

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has linked Queen Camilla to singers Madonna and Celine Dion,

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with all three reportedly descending from the same seventeenth century

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French Canadian couple. Actress Angelina Jolie has also been connected

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through the same extended family tree. Camilla is reportedly willing

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to support efforts to repair the royal family's relationship with

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Prince Harry, but one report claims she remains deeply cautious

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about trusting him again. According to Rob Shooter's Naughty but

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Nice newsletter Camilla backed Harry's recent reunion with King Charles,

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but is approaching any reconciliation with caution. One unnamed Pallace

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source claimed Camilla wants peace because she loves Charles. She

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watched this family fracture in public, and if there's a

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chance to heal it, she'll stand beside her husband. But

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forgiveness doesn't erase memory, and she hasn't forgotten what Harry

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has said and done. Another source claimed she's convinced Harry

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could turn on the family again the moment things don't

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go his way. Her priority is protecting the King from

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another round of heartbreak. She won't let Charles be blindsided twice.

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The newsletter also claims Camilla has continued to strengthen her

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relationship with Prince William as the future of the monarchy.

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A source said Camilla understands how this story ends. One day,

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William will be king. She wants his respect now because

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he'll ultimately shape her place in the institution after Charles.

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Nothing has strengthened their bond more than their caution about Harry,

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and Inside acclaimed neither believes one meeting wipes the sleet clean.

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Trust has to be rebuilt, and trust has to be rebuilt,

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and they don't think Harry is there yet. Prince Edward's

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former girlfriend, West End actress Ruthie Henshall has opened up

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about what it was like to face the royal family's

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famous bow Moral Test. Henshall, who dated Edward for five

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years during the nineteen nineties, has written about their relationship

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in a new memoir, The Show Girl The Prince. The

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book covers these secretive early days of their romance, visits

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to Buckingham Palace and tea with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor.

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It also includes Henshall's experience of being invited to bow Moral,

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the Royal family's private Scottish residence. The so called bow

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Moral Test has long been seen as an unofficial initiation

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for serious royal partners. Princess Diana visited in nineteen eighty.

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Catherine spent time there before marrying Prince William. Megan Markle

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was invited in twenty eighteen. Speaking on Hello Magazine, a

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Right Royal podcast, Henschell said she arrived without knowing what

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to expect and was surprised to be given her own

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personal maid. Despite the grandeur of the estate. She remembered

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the family behaving in a relaxed and surprisingly ordinary way

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that they were away from the public duties. There were

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outdoor cookouts and according to Henschell, no protection officers hovering

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around the gathering. King Charles, who was then the Prince

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of Wales, even took charge of drinks. They were all

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quite jolly. I think everyone was jolly by the time

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we'd had a few martinis. Charles was manning the bar.

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He made a very strong martini. He probably did that

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on purpose, Henchel said. A stay at bou Moral can

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still be demanding for newcomers. Guests are expected to understand

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royal protocol, keep conversations flowing, and be prepared for sudden

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changes to the day's schedule. That can mean quickly changing

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from muddy outdoor clothes into formal evening whear while appearing

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completely comfortable with the family's love of hunting, walking and

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outdoor life. The bow Moral test has become part of

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royal folkore, particularly because Princess Diana was said to have

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impressed Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during her first visit.

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Royal commentator Omut Scurby previously described the experience as more

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of a royal initiation than a simple country house invitation.

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Out of those privileged enough to have been invited to

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Bowmoral Castle during the summer, not everyone has passed. Diana

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famously flew through it thanks to her aristocratic background and upbringing,

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but the likes of Scheri Blair and Boris Johnson have not.

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If you've scored an invite, prepared to brush up on

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your royal protocol, have a wealth of talking points at

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the ready, and an outfit for every occasion from hunting

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to black tie, and most importantly, be on your best

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behavior at all times. Social etiquette is a must. If

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you don't like the food, eat it. If you don't

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like trampling through the highlands in the wind and rain,

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tough more pallaceing just a moment. The British royal family

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is home to one of the world's most famous jewelry collections,

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but not every glittering piece comes with a glamorous reputation.

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HOWI magazine took a look at some pieces with a

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colorful backstory. Over the years, several royal tiaras and crowns

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have become surrounded by stories of bad luck, tragedy, and

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even alleged curses. Perhaps the best known example is the

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Hesse Strawberry Leaf Tiara, a diamond headpiece designed by Prince

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Albert in eighteen sixty one as a wedding gift for

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his daughter, Princess Alice. The tiara's dark reputation began almost

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immediately Prince Albert died of typhoid before he could attend

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Alice's wedding. Years later, Alice endured heartbreaking personal losses when

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her young son, Prince Frederick, died after falling from a window,

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followed by the deaths of her daughter, Princess Marie, and

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then Alice herself during a diphtheria outbreak. The tiara later

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passed to Alice's son Ernest, Grand Duke of Hesse. His

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first wife, Victoria Melita, wore it to the coronation of

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Sir Nicholas the second. Their only son later died of

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typhoid and the marriage ended in divorce. Ernest's second wife

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also inherited the tiara, and eventually it was worn by

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Princess Cecil of Greece and Denmark after worrying it to

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King George the Six Coronations. Silk bordered a flight while

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traveling to a family wedding during the journey, she went

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into premature labor and the aircraft crashed into a factory

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chimney and heavy fog over Belgium, killing everyone aboard. According

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to the legend, the Tiara itself survived the crash and

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is now held by the foundation of the House of Hesse.

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Another royal jewel often mentioned in stories of superstition as

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the Oriental Circlet Tiara, created in eighteen fifty three. It

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originally featured more than two tentsand and six hundred diamonds

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along with Ople's. While Queen Alexandra inherited the peace, she

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reportedly believed oples brought misfortune. In nineteen oh two, she

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had every opal removed and replaced with Burmese rubies from

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Queen Victoria's collection under Queen Victoria's wishes that Tiara is

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traditionally reserved for queens and future queens. The Grand Duchess

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Vladimir Tiara has a different kind of dramatic history commission

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for Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia, the Tiara was

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left behind when she fled the Russian Revolution after the

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assassination of Sir Nicholas the Second. The jewel was later

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secretly recovered from the palace and brought to Britain. Maria

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never saw it again. Eventually, it was sold to Queen

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Mary and later inherited by Queen Elizabeth Second, who famously

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wore it for decades after having it modified with interchangeable emeralds.

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It was also the final tiara Queen Elizabeth War before

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her death in twenty twenty two. Perhaps no royal jewel

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has inspired more debate than the Koe Nua diamond. The

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famous gem, whose name means mountain of light, has changed

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hands through multiple empires over hundreds of years before becoming

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part of the British Crown Jewels after the Second Anglo

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Sikh War. Legend holds that the diamond brings terrible misfortune

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to any man who wears it, while women are said

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to be spared the curse. Queen Victoria first wore the

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diamond as approached before it was eventually set into a crown,

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worn by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the nineteen

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thirty seven coronation and again during Queen Elizabeth's the Second's

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coronation in nineteen fifty three. Today, the Koenor remains on

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display with the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London,

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although its ownership continues to be disputed, with India, Iran

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and Afghanistan all having laid claim to the historic diamond.

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And there you have it. If you would like to

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email us addresses the Palace Intrigue at gmail dot com.

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month by my Francis My thanks to John mcdermoy. This

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