Speaker 1: Calorougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I
Speaker 1: am your host, Mark Francis. Prince Andrew faces fresh financial
Speaker 1: challenges as are a more limited an investment firm under
Speaker 1: his significant control has applied for dissolution. This development follows
Speaker 1: a year after the company received support from an anonymous donor,
Speaker 1: adding to the Prince's mounting difficulties. The Duke's financial situation
Speaker 1: has become increasingly complex, with King Charles reportedly withdrawing his
Speaker 1: annual one million pound allowance and security funding for Royal Lodge. However,
Speaker 1: royal sources suggest the King has privately intervened to support
Speaker 1: his brother. He just doesn't have that many friends anymore.
Speaker 1: He barely goes out. He's not that welcome anywhere, so
Speaker 1: it's got to be foundly and the obvious person is
Speaker 1: the King, one insider told Mail Online. Another source confirmed
Speaker 1: Charles has paid for it all. The King has cleared it.
Speaker 1: It's all done. These financial pressures come amid renewed scrutiny
Speaker 1: over Andrew's connection to alleged Chinese by Yang Tangbo, leading
Speaker 1: to his absence from recent royal gatherings. This follows earlier controversies,
Speaker 1: including his withdrawal from public duties in twenty nineteen and
Speaker 1: the removal of his military titles in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: Despite these challenges, Sarah Ferguson remains steadfastly supportive. In a
Speaker 1: recent Times interview, she expressed unwavering loyalty. I was totally
Speaker 1: and utterly in love with Andrew. I would do it
Speaker 1: all over again one hundred percent is the best. A
Speaker 1: great man with a great heart and kind Our wedding
Speaker 1: was the best day of my life. Ferguson elaborated on
Speaker 1: their enduring bond. It's still with us today. I won't
Speaker 1: let him down. He supports me as much as I
Speaker 1: support him. He supported me through thick and thin, not
Speaker 1: just marriage or divorce. We agree on the three seas, communication, compromise, compassion.
Speaker 1: Their unique post divorce arrangement at Royal Lodge has drawn
Speaker 1: praise from Ferguson's sister Jane, who noted Sarah and Andrew
Speaker 1: are the best divorced couple. I know they've done it
Speaker 1: for their children. It's incredible. Prince William was apparently left
Speaker 1: speechless by six brutal words in a terrible fight with
Speaker 1: his secret sister early tensions between the royal step siblings
Speaker 1: have evolved into a more harmonious relationship. According to royal
Speaker 1: author Katie nichols twenty ten book Harry and William, the
Speaker 1: relationship between Prince William and Laura Lopes, Queen Camilla's daughter,
Speaker 1: was particularly fraught in their youth, with heated confrontations over
Speaker 1: their parents' relationships. William and Laura used to have terrible
Speaker 1: fights over who was to blame for their broken homes,
Speaker 1: Nichol wrote. During these conflicts, William would criticize Camilla's role
Speaker 1: in his mother's pain, prompting Laura's sharp response, your father
Speaker 1: has ruined my life. The passage of time has significantly
Speaker 1: improved these relationships. Laura's daughter Eliza, served as a bridesmaid
Speaker 1: at William and Kate's twenty eleven wedding, and her sons
Speaker 1: recently acted as pages of honour at Charles and Camilla's coronation.
Speaker 1: The two thousand and five wedding of Charles and Camilla
Speaker 1: marked a visible turning point, with all four step siblings
Speaker 1: Tom Parker Bowles, Laura Lopes, William and Harry showing unified
Speaker 1: support for their parents. Tom Parker Bowles recently expressed empathy
Speaker 1: for his stepbrother's experiences in the Telegraph. I remember being
Speaker 1: chased at one hundred miles an hour by paps trying
Speaker 1: to get a shot, my mother being screened at to
Speaker 1: try to get a reaction, pushing Joscelyn. It was horrific,
Speaker 1: it was barbaric. He added, I've had a billionth of
Speaker 1: what they've had to go through, but Hell, I sympathize.
Speaker 1: Current family gatherings reflect this evolution, with William noting this
Speaker 1: year's Christmas at Sandrham included forty five guests. The relationship
Speaker 1: between Laura and Catherine has potentially aided this integration, as
Speaker 1: both share an academic background in art history, with Laura
Speaker 1: later establishing an art gallery. When it was announced that
Speaker 1: King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer, Prince Harry rushed
Speaker 1: back to the UK from California to see his father,
Speaker 1: despite ongoing tensions. Since then, Harry has returned to the
Speaker 1: UK on a couple of occasions, but neither time saw
Speaker 1: a reunion with his father or his brother William, with
Speaker 1: whom relations have broken down. While many royal experts speculated
Speaker 1: the Charles and his daughter in law, Princess Kate's cancer
Speaker 1: woes have served to reunite the fractured family, and new
Speaker 1: reporters claimed that there is one major sticking point in
Speaker 1: Harry's relationship with his father that is preventing this despite
Speaker 1: the allegations levied by Harry at his father and other
Speaker 1: members of the royal family. It is reportedly the legal
Speaker 1: action he has launched against the Home Office over the
Speaker 1: removal of his official security that has become a blockage
Speaker 1: for the King. Harry launched legal action after his official,
Speaker 1: taxpayer funded police security was removed in twenty twenty when
Speaker 1: he and Megan stepped back as full time working Royals.
Speaker 1: At the time, he and Megan, along with a young son,
Speaker 1: archywer in Canada and international boarders were closing with increasing
Speaker 1: speed because of the Curvid nineteen pandemic. With the location
Speaker 1: of where the Sussex family was staying published in the press,
Speaker 1: they felt like setting ducks, Harry wrote. In his best
Speaker 1: selling memoir Spare, Harry described the terrifying moment as the
Speaker 1: ultimate nightmare, the worst of all worst case scenarios. Any
Speaker 1: bad actor in the world would now be able to
Speaker 1: find us. He also noted that the head of his
Speaker 1: police security team told him that the rat level against
Speaker 1: the Sussex family was still higher than for that of
Speaker 1: nearly the rest of every other royal equal to that
Speaker 1: assigned to the Queen, and claimed that his head of
Speaker 1: security pleaded with superiors to not abandon Meghan, Harry and Archie.
Speaker 1: In the same passage, Harry noted that he couldn't get
Speaker 1: a hold of Charles, who he claimed wouldn't take my
Speaker 1: calls about the matter, but when he spoke to William,
Speaker 1: his big brother apparently said it was a government decision,
Speaker 1: nothing to be done. Harry's initial action against the Home
Speaker 1: Office was unsuccessful, but he was granted the right to appeal.
Speaker 1: According to royal expert Kate Mansey, the fact that the
Speaker 1: matter is still ongoing has made Charles reluctant to fully
Speaker 1: reconcile with his son. Harry's decision to sue the King's
Speaker 1: government in the King's courts is the sticking point I
Speaker 1: am told, wrote Mansey for The Times. Harry is challenging
Speaker 1: a decision by Rayveck, the Royal and VP Executive Committee,
Speaker 1: which decides what security has provided for the Royal family
Speaker 1: and other VIPs. The Royal household is represented on the
Speaker 1: Committee and would have had a seat at the table
Speaker 1: when the decision was made to remove Harry's automatic right
Speaker 1: to police protection in Britain. It places the King in
Speaker 1: a tricky position because Harry has been granted leave to
Speaker 1: appeal until the case is concluded. There is little Charles
Speaker 1: Phils he can say to his son. As for Megan,
Speaker 1: the Duchess of Sussex, there is no communication with the
Speaker 1: King and Queen. The ongoing legal dispute over Prince Harry's
Speaker 1: security arrangements has emerged as a significant obstacle and reconciliation
Speaker 1: efforts with the King despite recent family health challenges. Well
Speaker 1: expert Kate Mansey reports for The Times that Harry's lawsuit
Speaker 1: against the Home Office remains a critical point of contention.
Speaker 1: Pellaicentric were wrap back. James Middleton has shared intimate details
Speaker 1: of his family's unpretentious holidays and casual family dynamics. In
Speaker 1: a recent Sunday Times interview, the Princess of Wabs's brother
Speaker 1: revealed how their childhood vacations centered around simple alpine adventures.
Speaker 1: Holidays tended to be packing up the car and driving somewhere.
Speaker 1: James explained, my parents, Sis and I would visit different
Speaker 1: places in the Swiss Alps each summer, such as Masses,
Speaker 1: or we'd go to a Voias in France. He described
Speaker 1: rustic mountain accommodations where the family of five would share
Speaker 1: one long bunk. After enjoying basic evening meals, Dad would
Speaker 1: find a mountain refuge where we'd have a rather sloppy
Speaker 1: soup like meal for tea, but we were so hungry
Speaker 1: from a day of hiking that had tasted amazing. These
Speaker 1: memories resonated strongly when James recently visited Valmoral with his
Speaker 1: wife Elise Favnette and their son Inigo. There were the
Speaker 1: same smells, the same marmot colls. It was a pinch
Speaker 1: me moment that brought me back to childhood summers when
Speaker 1: I'd hike up the mountains with a rucksack that was
Speaker 1: bigger than me, he recalled in his twenty twenty four
Speaker 1: memoir Meet Ella. James also revealed the remarkably casual circumstances
Speaker 1: of Alisa's first encounter with Prince George and Princess Charlotte
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen. After an impromptu overnight's stay at the
Speaker 1: Middleton family home, the couple were awakened by the Royal
Speaker 1: children's giggles. I hadn't realized all three children were staying
Speaker 1: for the weekend with my sister and William James Road.
Speaker 1: The scene that followed highlighted the family's comfortable dynamic. With
Speaker 1: Alisee wearing only James shirt meeting the Prince and Princess
Speaker 1: of Wales during the morning tea, she doesn't panic or
Speaker 1: rush upstairs to get dressed. Instead, she discreets everybody warmly,
Speaker 1: as if it's not remotely unusual to be meeting a
Speaker 1: boyfriend's sister and brother in law for the first time,
Speaker 1: wearing only an oversized man's shirt. The young Royals added
Speaker 1: their own charm to the encounter, peppering the couple with
Speaker 1: questions how can we work there when they went to bed?
Speaker 1: And who is this lady? Is she your girlfriend? Cue
Speaker 1: giggles from both of them. The impromptu meeting quickly evolved
Speaker 1: into natural family interaction, with James noting they were soon
Speaker 1: all talking and laughing as she had been part of
Speaker 1: the family for years. And there you have it. Like
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Speaker 1: Mirk Francis. Thanks to John McDermott, this is Palace intriguing
Speaker 1: good terms