Harry suffered ‘reckoning’ in America & ‘realised he’s wrong’ – Royal experts on Sussex UK return

Coming up on this week's Royal Exclusive, is Harry plotting a full Megxit reversal ahead of the Sussexes' UK return?More controversy for Andrew as a billionaire friend pays for his luxury trip to France.And with support for the monarchy at a record low, could William be the last king of England?Welcome to this week's show, where Prince Harry is preparing to bring Archie and Lilibet back to the UK for the first time in years, with reports King Charles could even host them at Buckingham Palace.But will this long -awaited family reunion heal royal divisions or deepen them?Meanwhile, Andrew secretly slipped away on a luxury French break paid for by a billionaire friend, raising fresh who's funding his lifestyle questions and whether he's still a ticking time bomb for the monarchy.

Plus, support for the royal family has slumped to its lowest level in decades.Is this the Andrew effect, the Harry and Meghan fallout, or a warning sign that the monarchy is out of touch?I'm Sarah Hewson, and joining me to unpack it all this week are Newsweek Royal Correspondent Jack Royston and Talk TV host Samara Gill.Hello to both of you.Let's kick off then this morning, shall we, with the return of Harry and Meghan, just a matter of weeks away, Jack.What do we know so far about this visit and the kind of welcome they're going to get?

This is going to be a big moment for them.Obviously, it's the first time they've actually brought Archie and Lily with them to Britain since 2022.So Lily was one year years old at the time and Archie, you know, only, I think, about three.So it will be really, it's probably going to be their first proper memory that they'll be able to take with them into the rest of their lives of meeting the King.You know, you have these two little kids,who basically don't really have an experience or a memory that they can hold onto of meeting their kind of incredibly famous, significant, powerful grandfather.

So it's going to be a massive moment for them.But also for Harry and Meghan, they're going to be staying potentially in a royal residence.We haven't had confirmation that they've accepted the offer, but they have been offered an apartment.Possibly at Buckingham Palace, we don't know.And that is a very interesting way for them to present themselves, because if they are literally staying on the inside, then they're not outsiders.And, you know, they are viewed still as being an exile.

So it's very interesting to think how this is going to feel for William and Kate.You know, they've had a real rough ride with Harry and Meghan over the years.William very clearly doesn't want Harry to come back.Harry's now making all of these overtures to Britain.You know, he wrote his love letter to Britain back in November around remembrance, at which he said, you know, he loves the banter of the mess hall and the stands and all of this kind of thing.He's very clearly trying to rebuild his relationship with Britain, and now he's staying in a royal residence.

And you've got to imagine that William and Kate are going to find that very, very difficult.

Yeah.I mean, Samara, it's not the first time he's been offered accommodation in a royal residence, is it?He's returned previously and was offered accommodation at Buckingham Palace, but rejected it on security grounds because apparently it was too visible.

Yeah, which is really interesting.He stayed at the hotel down the road, as I remember, and that was also very much him separating himself from the family and saying, no, I'm on my own now and I can do this without you and your help.But the timings of this are very interesting.I mean, it's not exactly like Harry and Meghan's sort of brand is on the up and up.I think that I really didn't expect this reunion to happen so soon.I am still in shock that Meghan's going to step foot in this country.

It's something I didn't foresee happening.

The reason they're coming back is because it's the one year to the Invictus Games, Jack, which is taking place in Birmingham next year.So they're going to be attending this event in Birmingham.They do this for each Invictus Games, don't they?And we do usually see Megan on board for these events to support Harry in what is his greatest project.And so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that she's taking part in this event.It's just the significance of it being in the UK.

Yes, and they are staying a little bit longer, I think, than they usually spend often because it's usually it will be one day of events.So in Dusseldorf in Germany, that's that was how it played out.It was one day of events and then off.And this time they're spending a substantially longer time than that.Obviously, a lot of Harry's time is going to be spent in Birmingham.It's unlikely he's going to have a meeting with the King there.

So we presume that any meeting with the Royals will take place in London.And if they're staying at Buckingham Palace, then we won't even get kind of, you know, car shots of them arriving.

We won't be literally looking at the watch as he drives in and as he drives out and calculating just how long or short that meeting was.

Well, that's what we would usually do.But if Harry's staying at Buckingham Palace, then Charles could simply be at Buckingham Palace over the course of the day.We won't necessarily already know unless we are told that there's been a meeting.

So it makes sense, doesn't it, in terms, Samara, of being able to further that sort of reconciliation, which has already begun behind closed doors.And one of the big stumbling blocks towards this has been it getting out in public and the fear of the details being reported and leaked everywhere.If it takes place within palace walls, there's a degree of safety, greater safety in that, isn't there?

Absolutely.But I think it doesn't take into account that some of the leaks can come from within, from within Harry and Meghan's camp and also, of course, from within the palace camp as well.So I think it is very interesting.that they might stay at Buckingham Palace.I think that's all optical for them.I think they want to be seen, at least from the American side, that they're going there, they're being welcomed back into the royal family, they're able to then cache off that brand and bring it back to the States and continue what they're doing with this one foot in, one foot out royal life that may remind you, you know, the Queen did not want to happen.

It was, you know, one of her last things that she said, she didn't want them to be.coming to Britain for a couple days, then scooting back off to Montecito.So it's very interesting that the King, and I think it is because of the grandchildren, has said, okay, this is fine.And I think he does really want to meet them.And we know that there are rumors that that's a condition of the visit and the stay.So yeah, we don't know that Harry and Meghan might not be getting more content or more fodder for their next special.

There are even rumors that the Diana documentary might play some part in this, they might option off to Netflix.

Of course, Charles has only met Lilibet on one occasion.

Yeah.

Around her first birthday, the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Yeah, they've barely stepped foot in Britain.I mean, Archie was born here, but obviously he was a baby, so he's not going to remember that.But what they get with the royal residence is they get a level of umbrella security baked in.So let's say, for example, that it is Buckingham Palace.It might not be, but if it is, Buckingham Palace has very, very solid, not just police protection, but also soldiers, you know, actual army soldiers.protecting it.

So nothing's going to happen to them when they're staying at Buckingham Palace.It's an incredibly safe place for them to be.Now, if you look back to the Platinum Jubilee, which was the last time they brought the kids over to Britain, and they were staying atFrogmore Cottage, they had an offer of police protection to cover their attendance at royal events for which they had an invitation and nothing else.And so what Harry and Meghan then did is they just didn't do anything else, aside from going to a couple of Platinum Jubilee events.

They had Lilibet's first birthday party, didn't they, in the grounds?

In Frogmore, yes.They had Lily's birthday in Frogmore, and they just didn't leave the house apart from that.So that might be the blueprint, that basically they don't take the kids What do you make of the suggestion by some that this is part of the emotional blackmail by Harry around his security battle?court cases and came out saying that all he needed was for the king to get out of the way and stop blocking the experts from doing their job, which I thought was very unfair of him.But yeah, no, he has at points really like turned the screws on the king and tried to effectively emotionally blackmail the king in an effort to force the monarchy to give him back his police protection in a context where the monarchy says it's actually not our choice.It's not our decision.

We must leave it to the Home Office and the police to decide.And actually, if you go through without the findings, the documents from those court cases that Harry filed, it's very easy to see where the police are coming from.You know, Harry chose to stay.He had that police protection because of a particular role he had as a working royal.He stepped down from that role and he then left Britain to go and live in another country.So obviously they had to stop, take a breath and think about what that would mean.

So the civil servants and police went off and looked at the whole thing and said, well, Harry is at risk.They never said that he wasn't at risk.

He's the king's son.He can't change that.He has no choice.

was no dispute over whether Harry was at risk.He was.But they said, well, he's not doing the job of being a working royal family member anymore.So he doesn't get police protection because of his role.And police protection is offered to people who live in Britain.And he's now moved out physically of the cohort of people who receive it.

And so that prompted them to look at what they might do instead.And they created a bespoke system where he does sometimes get police protection depending on what he's Case by case.Case by case.It's not unreasonable.It's not an unreasonable position for the government to have taken.And for Harry to try and blame it all on his father, it is deeply personally emotional.

And it is emotional blackmail.

And that's been one of the problems in terms of reconciliation, hasn't it?The other one is with his brother.We can talk about the kind of wider public reaction they might get when they come back, but what about with William and Catherine?What does Harry and Meghan's return say for them?How do they feel about it, do we think?And what does it mean in terms of those family relations?

I think that William and Catherine are furious about this and I think that it's almost like that Harry and Meghan are coming back after all the terrible things have happened in the last five years or so and they're just coming back for the good part you know where William has had to hold so much on his back, the cancer diagnosis of his father, then his wife, you know, the death of the Queen, that all these things have happened.And, you know, the royal family was skeletal at one point.They really didn't even have enough working members to send around to different events and different things like that.And the brand was...

It was a gaping hole where Harry and Meghan should be.Exactly.Yes.

Totally.And the brand was suffering massively.And then, of course, on top of that, you had all the Andrew stuff.which completelyagain, was like another massive bullet to the royal family and their reputation.And it seems like Harry and Meghan are just coming back after all that's washed away.

And I think that's gonna be a major problem, not to mention all the different crosstalk and cross -advising that's been happening.I just think that Harry and Meghan are being very opportunistic.They're using the final years of the king being alive in order to get their foot back in the door.And because they know that after that, it's not going to happen.If William is king, they're not coming back.

Can we not see that, though, as, you know, the king is ill and this is a son who thinks actually... you know, I do want to spend time with my father and I desperately want my children to know him.

I think Harry's had a reckoning.It's not, it is all of those things.But there's another dimension to it, which, you know, you mentioned the disintegration of the Sussexes in America.And I think Harry has actually, there are some signs that he has realised that he was wrong about some stuff, including him talking about the way he sees the media.He went on at the Deal book, New York Times summit and said that actually, you know, he tries not to read the media anymore, which is which is the advice that his father gave him.Charles told him, just don't read it, darling boy.

And I think he realised...

And certainly don't read all the comments.

And certainly don't read all the comments, exactly.

Which we know is what they were doing.

And so they've been humbled in America.Charles has now become ill.The Queen's passed away.Harry has been forced to consider the mortality of members of his family.He'd already lost Philip.And now he's staring down the barrel of having very little in America.

He's completely lost interest in his American life.He's not said anything positive about America since about February 2024, ever since Trump got re -elected.He has zero interest in the country he's moved to.More interested in Canada and Australia than he is in America, but particularly more interested in Britain.

Which could, of course, have been places that they could have carved out a life for themselves.

They could easily have moved to either country.Obviously, Australia loves Harry and Meghan.don't they?Yes.

No, but I do think the success of that trip was, in some ways, you know, it was successful in some ways.So I think that did pave the way for them saying, OK, Britain might be OK to come back to.

Absolutely.And I do think that, you know, I don't think this is Harry and Meghan wanting to kind of come back and just do this one little thing and get a PR boost.I think Harry might want to move back here in a more permanent way.Do you really?

I mean, I can't see...It's a nice life they've got though in California, isn't it?We've seen them surfing.

Why wind down your charity?They've wound down Archwell, so it was running its own programs and they're not doing that anymore.

Did Archwell not wind down itself?I do think when you look at Archwell, the crumbling of the Spotify deal, the Netflix deal coming to a close, as you say, the jam company not doing very well at all and of course the other podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, you know, Megan's businesses are...This is why I find this timing all very suspicious, but I think...

Well, no, I mean, suspicious is one way to kind of put a spiel on it.

But you're right about the reckoning.

Yeah, like, it's one person suspicious is another person then accepting, finally accepting reality.Like, yeah, I don't think there's necessarily subterfuge there.I just think that they've been forced to confront the fact that what they thought was going to happen when they moved to America has not happened.And in Megan's case, she's still got Doria.You know, she grew up in America.America, it's her country.

But I think Harry's now thinking, wait a minute, this is not what I was sold to.And it has substantially fallen apart.But also, Harry has had cachet with the public his entire life.He's been one of the most famous people in Britain his entire life.And now America doesn't care about him.And I think this is his first experience of that.

I don't think he's ever known what it felt like to be just ignored, not even hated.

And I think there's still a large degree of affection for him in this country, particularlyaround the Evictors' Games.

Even hatred is a form of affection.

Someone for whom there isn't very much affection, Andrew Mountbatten -Windsor.Now, we've been talking about his almighty fall from grace and this new life in exile on the Sandringham Estate, but Samara, he hasn't just been holed up at Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate, has he?We've learnt that he's jetted off for a nice little break?

Yes, he was using the Middle Eastern money that he kind of calls upon in order to go and stay in one of his friends' places in France.I think it looked very lavish.They were dining, you know, eating Michelin star meals and enjoying their life.And I think that's exactly what the public doesn't want to hear right now coming from Andrew's side.You know, we want him to be holed up where he should just sort of go away and get out of the media press.is going to be an ongoing issue for the royal family, that he continues to have this affection for the finer things in life.

It's going to chase him around.

But also, what is this Middle Eastern money man buying?People don't spend their money for no reason.Is this really Andy's bestie?I don't think that this is a really close personal friendship that has motivated this.So what does this Middle Eastern businessman think he's getting?

Andy doesn't have any capital anymore, though, does he?I mean, what can they expect to get from him?

Well, this is the interesting thing.It could be introductions to people.We don't know.But this is a man who... the friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, but then we have the other efforts that Andrew was making to offer, you know, government documents around to different business contacts of his, which he kind of openly talks about doing in the Epstein Files emails.And then he has his friendship with Yang Tengbo, who denies beinga spy, but the British think he is a spy and expelled him.

China seemed to think he was kind of the useful idiot, the way in.

Yang was, or Andrew was.Andrew.Andrew, yeah.Andrew was seen as the useful idiot.And it did very much look like he was being groomed by an intelligence agent or asset.And so now all of a sudden, he's now besties with a new, very, very rich, international businessmen.

Do we know if this is a new friendship or is this an existing?It may be an existing friendship.We've had very close relationships and friendships with senior figures in the Middle East and we know that you know, there have been offers of palaces, for example.

Yeah, it may be an old contact that he already had.But my point, I suppose, is who would suddenly pop up wanting to give money to such a toxic person out of nowhere?And if Andrew didn't have this history of making these very ill -advised friendships and relationships, I'd be much more willing to just think, oh, well, you know, rich people do entertain royals because it bathes them in some, you know, some golden light.But I think that Andrew has presented a national security threat to Britain.He has been.And so I think that if I was in MI5, I would want to be taking a look at this friendship and trying to work out what exactly is going on there.

What's interesting is when he was arrested and questioned, he was then released and released under investigation.So that means he is still free to travel.He didn't have to surrender his passport, did he Samara?So, you know, he can go.There's nothing wrong with it.It's the optics of this, isn't it, that are problematic.

What it looks like if he's lording it up in Brittany with a private chef and lavish chateau that he was being put up in.And also, every time Andrew ends up back on the front pages of the newspapers, it undoes the good work that the Royal Family are trying to do because it just doesn't work.us of that bad egg.

Yeah, I think the palace is in a really tricky situation here though because they've got obviously pressure from the public not to give Andrew anything.Obviously he got evicted from his really nice royal lodge and and the public wants basically the palace to have him cut off.But then that poses the question, where's he going to get any money from to form any lifestyle?And then you're right, he's kind of open game for anyone who wants to sort of get a friendship with him in exchange for some money or anything like that.So I think they're almost creating their own problem here, but they've got a very tricky thing to balance because they're not going to support him.

But if they don't, he's going to run off to his friends in the middle at least, and try and get support from there.Now the timing of this visit is intriguing as well, because we had this photograph, didn't we, of Andrew with this very bruised face, this big black eye.And it appears that that was just 72 hours after he returned from his trip to France.Could something have happened?It's a hypothetical possibility.

I mean, our information is that, oh, nothing to see here.It's all just a kind of non -serious medical issue, basically, which...

It wasn't an altercation.

No altercation, no kind of violent incident, but also, you know, no accident, which does rather narrow down the possible explanations.

Yes, because he was riding in France, we understand, not allowed to ride.in public anymore on the King's decision, unless he goes out the country.

Yeah, and I could well have, were it not for the information that is coming to us, I could well have believed that he might have fallen off a horse or something like that.But, you know, we are basically being steered away from that conclusion as being the predominant reason for that bruise.But I think what has got everybody talking about it is the position of it, you know, the fact that it's on his face, on his kind of cheek and side of his face.in the place where you might get a knock.It doesn't look like the product of any kind of, you know, him being attacked by somebody.But it does, it is a very, very big bruise.

You know, I'm somebody who does martial arts as a hobby and you don't get that kind of thing from getting a clap around the cheekbone.But yeah, I mean, the guidance we have is that it was a medical issue.

We talked about Harry's security and his fears, but Uncle Andrew feels that he is the one member of the royal family that's most at risk.I mean, I think he's probably got a point, hasn't he?There are an awful lot of people who may not wish him well.

Yeah, of course.And you know, some of the deaths around different characters associated with Epstein are quite dubious, you know, make of that what you will, I won't put my full tinfoil hat on here.But, you know, Virginia Dufresne, and, and even Jeffrey Epstein's death in general, people have questions the internet, you know, wants to think and lots of other figures associated with him.The issue is, and I wouldn't be so cynical, If Andrew had not totally used and abused his power and neglected the security that was around him when he was special trade envoy, or when he was doing many things like bringing, allegedly bringing many women into Windsor Palace and other palaces across the country, people from Eastern Europe, people who could be compromised using special code names, Mrs. Windsor, et cetera, I think it's very, funny of him to come back and now say, oh, I'm worried about my security, when he didn't give a damn all those years ago, and really treated security like they were his handlers and his and his servants and personal assistants.So I just I don't I don't have any sympathy for him and his security at this point.

I think that if he was an ordinary person, because the wholepoint he's supposed to be being treated like an ordinary person now and not given privileged special treatment for being a royal.If anything, the only reason the police would be helping him out would be to fill his room full of electronic listening devices.He's under investigation by the police.They can't be protecting him.

But at Wood Farm, you know, he is quite exposed, isn't he?He did have the offer at one stage of moving into Harry and Meghan's old residence, Frogmore Cottage, which was within the Ring of Steel on the Windsor Estate.All he had to do was say yes.Wood Farm, rather, is quite exposed.

So I'm sure that he could still go to Frogmore Cottage.

I doubt that.I don't think that offer will be open to him now.And of course, we have to say, Andrew has denied all of the allegations around him.you know, nonetheless, because of that friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

But also because he's under police investigation, like he's being investigated by the police for a really serious offence.And you cannot just say, well, Okay, we're just going to give you back what is clearly a benefit.You know, many people are hated.You know, did Rolf Harris get police protection?Did all of those guys who were arrested under Utrecht get police protection?None of them did.

You know, they were despised.There were lots of people who probably would have wanted to do harm to them.

They weren't members of the royal family, though, would be his argument.Yeah, but it doesn't matter.

He's created the situation for himself.And the whole point of stripping of his titles is supposed to be to establish the principle that you don't get special treatment purely for being royal if you are suspected of wrongdoing.You get police protection that comes with the role of being a working royal.And the reason Andrew is not a working royal is because he was forced out for behaving in a way that was completely morally indefensible.And you don't have to necessarily have proven Virginia's allegations to think that.We have him going on Emily Maitlis in 2016

on the BBC, said nothing to express sympathy during that recording for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, and told us a pack of lies about why he went to see Epstein in 2010 after Epstein had already been convicted.And we now know much more about the truth even than we knew in 2019.But the seriousness of that crisis was big enough then that he was forced to give up his job as a working royal.and that loses you your kind of rights to police protection.

And interestingly, we've just had Father's Day and Princess Eugenie put out a big post about her husband, Jack, and what a fantastic father he was.Very notably absent was her own father from that post.So, you know, not only has he lost status, but the whole family, that very, very tight -knit York family, has crumbled.

Yeah, absolutely.It has.But also, if I was Beatrice and Eugenie, I mean, why did Sarah Ferguson take them out to have lunch with Jeffrey Epstein in 2009, when he'd just been released from prison and was still under house arrest?It's not simply the reputational crisis.If I was Beatrice and Eugenie, I would have some real questions for both my parents.

Why did you put us in this position?

Why did you bring us a teenager, I think 18 and 20, I think they were at the time.

19 and 20, yeah.

19 and 20, to meet a paedophile?It defies belief.It's actually It's so galling.

And actually, from the Epstein files, we've learnt that the princesses were being used to get tours of Buckingham Palace because of their titles.

And Sarah Ferguson talking in grotesque terms about Eugenie's weekends, yeah.

But I also think they were untouchable in some way because they were privileged.And to quote Ghislaine Maxwell about the other girls that were allegedly abused, oh, these girls, they're nothing, referring to poor, working -class womenwere, you know, trafficked through that system.So I also think in some ways, yes, they've been dragged down by it.And I do feel very bad for them.But also, I think that they were able to live some, they also, they, they, they kind of, it wasn't up to them, but they were able to live the lifestyle that they were able to live because of Epstein and his contributions.

And we are still feeling the effects of Andrew, those ripple effects, actually far more than a ripple, more like a tsunami, really, across the whole of the royal family, aren't we?We've had polling about the royal family's popularity.The number of Britons who still want a monarchy has fallen by 11 percentage points to just over half of the population in the last three years.It's its lowest level in more than three decades.

Yeah.

What has caused that?Is this the Andrew effect?

I think that's part of it.So this is Ipsos polling.What's really interesting about this is we've had this kind of war of the pollsters where the National Social Attitude Survey has been charting this trend for some time now.And there's been signs in YouGov polling previously of young people turning against the royals.But actually YouGov polling, even as recently as April, paints a slightly happier picture for the monarchy.So we can't definitively know which pollster is right.

But Ipsos is now leaning more towards the Social Attitude Survey and YouGov feels slightly more isolated, presenting this more optimistic picture.But I think it's a long -term trend.Actually, if you want to go back to the period where the royals were absolutely rock solid, you have to go back to the 1980s.What then happened was, during the Charles and Diana era, the hardcore monarchist position in Britain disintegrated.People did remain pro -royal, but in a softer way.There was a big kind of resurgence when Kate and William came along, but it didn't rebuild that hardcore position of people who were just dying died in the war royalists.

People were happy, they wereabout a new relationship, but because they were softer in their support.when, you know, Andrew came along, when Harry and Meghan disintegrated from the royal family.

The death of Queen Elizabeth.

The death of Queen Elizabeth, although actually Charles is doing quite well in his reign.

Yeah, the stability, yes.

Yeah, so look, the position now is that I could see, having looked at a variety of different polls, I could see us gravitating and over the next five to 10 years to a position where the royals are much less popular, potentially even 50 % or more of British people wanting to express some kind of negative view towards the monarchy.But I don't think we're going to be abolishing them anytime soon.

And actually, the question that you ask in that polling is particularly key, isn't it?And how you ask it, exactly.Yes.Do you want to replace a monarchy is a different question to whether or not you are in favour of and support the monarchy, whether you think the monarchy is a good thing.Young people, as Jack mentioned, Samara, are the big challenge for the royal family, and that's where we see their popularity really plummeting and struggling.How...

I mean, we're seeing more and more behind -the -scenes videos posted on social media by the Prince and Princess of Wales, for example.William talks about royal with a small R. They're much less formal in their approach.Is it enough?What do they need to do?

Yeah, it's a really good question, Sarah.I mean, I was looking at different polls as well surrounding this one.And I think it's also that Gen Z has lost a lot of faith in institutions in general.So you need to look at that point as well.They're really rejecting things like government alongside the royal family.And it all trickles down and comes into one.

So I think they don't trust.I mean, obviously, the Epstein files, that's all had a massive effect.But I think as far asthat there is a general rejection of the royal family.I think that the royal family kind of used to be entitled to a lot of loyalty.I think now they have to earn it.

And that's the difference.And you're right.I think William and Catherine are doing a fantastic job on social media.But they are still very millennial -esque in terms of how they post.And it's all very formal.And I know that they have to do it like that.

I mean, it wouldn't be particularly authentic, would it?They have to do it a certain way but I think they do and their team specifically works really hard on constantly refreshing because if they don't they'll get old very quickly and be quite quite archaic in that way.So I think it is all down to William and Catherine and then the children to kind of make sure that they maintain that loyalty.And that's Williams.

big job isn't it you know to preserve the monarchy for the next generation to make it relevant and sustainable and lasting in order that you know Prince George has can inherit something that has a life still in it and that people respect and value.

Absolutely.And, you know, William and Kate do a very good job of coming across as very authentic and, you know, down to earth, particularly on those outside of their social media content, which is quite stylized on those classic royal engagements when they're just kind of on the ground with ordinary people, they come across as very authentic and very much themselves.It's an interesting choice in that respect to send George to Eton.

I was just going to say.

Because it pushes in the other direction, you know, Even the pictures are going to be him in his kind of bow tie and his waistcoat.He's not going to look like any other school kid.Now, some would say, obviously, it would take quite a lot for them to send their kids to a comprehensive school, to a state school.It's probably never going to happen realistically.But other private schools are less kind of instantaneously, visibly different.And Harry's

book has given us a very recent kind of rundown of what Eaton's like.They're called teacher's beaks and, you know, they have this different language they use and it's not trying to be.down to earth and ordinary and normal, but just with an elite level of education, it's trying to be this completely kind of time warp.In a way that's viewed, I think, as very positive in Eton, that this is a rarefied space.It's absolutely not supposed to be like any other school.It's supposed to be a completely unique transformative experience.

And obviously, it's a boarding school, so they all live on the school grounds.And that is something that your average British person won't have experienced.

Or be able to afford to experience at £63 ,000 a year.Yeah.I mean, it's a good point.In terms of that relevance, trying to change the monarchy, trying to respond to public demands.We've had the news this week at Samara that the King is to publish his tax return for the first time as monarch.How significant is this?

I think it's really significant and it's a really good step into the future of transparency with the Royal Family.I think we're coming off a period where we're like, wow, what did they hide from us for so long?Too many different things were sort of stuffed in the back room and weren't shown to the public.So I think it is interesting and I think it's a good thing.I think people might be surprised by the tax return.Maybe there will be positive and negative reactions to it.

But I think that this is, from what I can see, reports are saying a lot of it's come from William's side kind of pushing for this more transparent era for the royal family and I think it's only a good thing.Reading Norman Baker's book into the different rents and clauses that some distant membersof the royal family have had, where a lot of them do just pay peppercorn rent and live a very, very, you know, sort of a life of Riley off the back of a British taxpayer money.We want to know what's actually going on with the royal finances.So I say it's a good thing.

And I don't want to bring it back to Andrew yet again, but a loss of this has resurfaced because of the Andrew revelations about Royal Lodge, the fact he was able to sublet properties at Royal Lodge, the fact that his daughters were being paid for by the King, and all of the questions around Andrew, his finances, and his living arrangements have, you know, really put the spotlight on everyone else.in the royal family.So Buckingham Palace telling us that this was the King's personal express wish that his tax return should be out there.

And he did do, well, he didn't quite, we have to find out what they actually put out.

I was going to say, how much are we going to learn from it?How much detail are we going to get?

Exactly, because he did do some of this kind of stuff back when he was in charge of the Duchy of Cornwall.He brought that in where he kind of made it public how much tax as a percentage he was paying.And so now what it sounds like, and I'm really cautious about committing to this, because I just can't quite believe it is going to prove to be this much information.But it sounds like they want to give us a full portrait of his whole wealth, including all of his private investments.Now, if that's true, that would be really good.good transparency and very useful for us because we've never truly known just how rich the royals are.

You know, we don't have access to royal wills.You know, there's an exemption for royal family members, which doesn't apply to ordinary people.And so it would be the first proper portrait of their actual wealth.And that might be part of the point to kind of tell people, well, actually, these guys aren't as rich as you think they are.

Or it opens up an entire category.worms.I mean, we already had, you know, the stories in the Sunday Times and dispatches about the kind of rents that were being charged by the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.

charities to the NHS to prisons, for example.It's a really good point.Yeah, it's it could backfire spectacularly.Actually, I didn't actually, you're right, Jack, it can be a lot more intense than I originally thought.I was thinking, oh, it'll just be a number to be like a regular.Well, it might well be.

I mean, that's how much we're going to get.

It could really go one way or the other then.

Yeah, I kind of think that it probably my gut feeling is that it will wind up just being a number, but it doesn't say that it's not being described that way in the kind of public about it because it talks about his private investment.

A step towards greater transparency as well.I mean and we talk about his private income and private investments but that again is a debate in itself how much of this actually is really private wealth because this is money generated by the seabed for example.

If it is just essentially the duchy and like income from Balmorin and Sandringham, then that's not his whole private wealth.And it's very important that people understand that that's not his whole private wealth.Obviously, all the royals will have money invested in the stock market.They will have a much wider, and as a stock market...

The inheritance.

The inheritance, yeah.If we're getting all of that, that would be incredibly fascinating.But if all we're really getting is a number of, you know, an amount of tax he pays on the duchy income, coupled with some rental income from Balmorin and Sandringham, that is probably not actually in truth very exciting or very transparent.And one thing that's quite interesting is I think one of the triggers for this, you mentioned Andrew, is actually the desire in Westminster to kind of pop the hood and have a look at what's really going on under the surface with the monarchy.You know, there's talk of a parliamentaryselect committee inquiry.

We had the National Audit Office report into residence recently, which was supposed to feed into that potential inquiry.And there could be a real concern in the palace here about how far that might go.If you're going to have, you know, if you were going to imagine in future they might have a full parliamentary inquiry into the royal wealth, then that could turn up all kinds of additional things.

And then that feeds back into our popularity polling as well, doesn't it?I want to ask you a few quick -fire questions now and get your thoughts on this.We have had another huge week in politics here in the UK.The King is about to get his fourth Prime Minister in less than four years.What name should we give King Charles' fourth Prime Minister?Unlucky reign, it says here.

I mean, I think it's unlucky when it comes to the politics and the churn, isn't it?

Yeah, no, I was going to say it was that fateful handshake that Liz trusted with the Queen that people do blame her for kind of being the Queen's last thing that she did.But look, I would probably say good luck, Charlie.That's what I would call him, just ironically.

Well, I was thinking the kryptonite king, but that does feel a bit unfair on Charles, because he's actually probably, if anything, helped Keir Starmer.I think all of the dealings with Donald Trump, I think Charles only really helped Keir Starmer in a really difficult position.And actually, the real warning for the royals is that I think it's probably social media that has created this turn in British politics.No British prime minister has lasted more than three years since David Cameron.And that is when social media kicked in during the period of Cameron's time in office.

it reminds us of the longevity and the stability of the monarchy when you know we have the late Queen and now Charles and yet we have this revolving door.number 10 Downing Street.

Yeah, and it goes back to the point you were making about mistrust in institutions, which I think is, you know, it's a massive factor.

We've also talked about how they maintain their relevance, what they need to do.How do they appeal more to Gen Z?According to polling, which is showing that's where they're struggling.Which TikTok trend, Samara, do you think the Royals should take part in?If you were advising them?

Yes, if I was advising them, I would say something like an outfit of the day, outfit of the day check.We talk about transparency and all that.

Not transparent outfits.Yeah, exactly.

Well, no, let's hope not.That would really get Gen Z going.But it's like my crown is from my mother.You know, my bag is from my stylist and different things like that.I'm still sad that Catherine doesn't publish now where she gets her clothes from because I was just used to love having a look.So, yeah, outfit of the day.

I'd love that.I love that.

Yeah, that's a brilliant one.I was going to say, well, they sometimes do like the American tries British food thing.

Yeah.

And so I think that Megan, she's in Britain anyway, she should, or she's going to be, she should bring some jam with her.I think her and the King could sit down, they could do a jam swap, but he could bring some from Highgrove.That'd go viral.And they could just do, they could try each other's jam and maybe rate it.

What British food would you Get her to try fish and chips.

Fish and chips, yeah, roast beef.Get her to have a full English breakfast.

Yeah.Harry cooks a mean roast, though, apparently.Yeah.

Although, wasn't it her?

Oh, no, it's her who cooks the roast chicken.Yeah, yeah.He cooks the bacon?Does he cook the bacon?Something like that, yeah.Yeah.

What about, you know, What's In My Bag?Would have been great for the late Queen.

Yes, absolutely.

We know she had a marmalade sandwich in her bag.I think that was her What's In My Bag.

That was it, she did it.

And finally, Prince William rode on an earth -shocked electric bus this week.What should they name the bus?in honour of them?of him.I guess this has got boaty boat face vibes all over it hasn't it?

Yeah no, I thought of this one earlier, I was like the wills on the bus.

Oh I love that, that's brilliant, yeah.I'm gonna go big wills wild ride.

I'm sorry, I wondered where you were going.Big wills wild ride.Excellent.On that note, that is all we have time for on this week's Royal Exclusive.A big thanks to my guests, Jack and Samara, and thanks to you for watching.And as always, remember to comment as well as subscribe to us here on our Royal Exclusive YouTube channel for all the latest royal news.

We'll see you next week.