The Royals with Roya and Kate - The King, the Prince and the Presidents

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

The King honours the D-Day forces calling for goodness in every land, while the Prince of Wales joins world leaders. And Kate discusses her 'siege of Royal Lodge' scoop! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, Kate. Hello, Roya. This is a big one, the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Today, as we talk to each other, the Royal Family has been doing what they do best and helping the nation and the world mark what was an extraordinarily brave moment in history, a time when King George VI said on this day in 1944, the challenge is not to fight to survive, but to fight to win the final victory. And the new king, King Charles, speaking today,

reminding his audience of the words of King George VI, who called the liberation of Europe as heralding a world in which goodness and honour may be the foundation of the life of men in every land. And it's been two days now of remarkable emotional tributes and what many, not just us, are describing as the most significant and powerful speeches of King Charles III's reign. so kate dj why do we think it has been such a pivotal point in the royal diary that we know charles was so determined to make it over there despite what's going on with his health it's the kind of first big international event, isn't it, of his reign that he's been able to take part in.

And as we know, we've both written, and I've written again this week, that he's been working towards this with his medical team to try to be there at this kind of historic moment. I think he realises that these are the things that people remember from a monarch the way that that you act the things that you say these speeches live on they're not the kind of just five minutes or ten minutes on the stage these are the things that go down in the history

books these words are the words by which he will be judged not just now but in generations to come and it's also the it's so poignant this year of course isn't it because it's the 80th anniversary which means as Charles said yesterday at Portsmouth where we were both at that event he said that the number of veterans still alive today of course are tragically dwindling was the way he put it which is true and it's the last time that as any monarch would be able to thank them in person there was a brilliant um point that one of the veterans had fibbed about his age to be able to sign up underage he was just 15 when he went out to war so but you would have to really

have fibbed about your age quite a lot to still be here for the 85th or the 90th anniversary i mean it's just not possible so this is this is so important to him, I think, and his reign and his, what he feels is his kind of family and his stately duty to be there and say the right thing. I agree with all of that. And I sort of got the sense that his determination to be there in both Portsmouth and Normandy, he has, as you're saying, an eye on legacy in terms of,

you know, what is going to be left behind for the veterans, for families, but also in terms of the royal involvement. And I was struck by his speech, where he was, one of his speeches where he was talking about the fact that he'd been able to, it was in Normandy, at Versailles, he'd been to seven D-Day commemorative events previously. And he was, you know, reminding, I think, both the public and the veterans that, you know, that is such an integral part of it. And he was there again at the big one. And I suppose it's all about continuity as well, isn't it? It is all about the big set piece moments

where you have the King with the Queen and both in Portsmouth and in Normandy, the Prince of Wales playing very important roles in both, making speeches at both events, but also, you know, almost there, not by his father's side, but, you know, very prominent at events. And it's also, you know, those set piece moments are also messaging. They're very strong about messaging and it's showing the public and the international stage, I'm the king, but this is the future too.

And I think that's what he does really well, is that he casts back and forward. We constantly see this in his speeches. So he's casting back to King George VI. Today he talked about the generations as yet unborn who will owe this, you know, will owe a debt to the men who died on D-Day and the subsequent battle for Normandy.

That's something he does really well. I mean, he's been quite poetic to kind of summon up the, you know, the horrors and the fear and the bravery of the day. And I think that's coming across more in his speeches as well, that he's becoming more himself. And of course, we see the things that he's really interested in coming across this idea of unity he referenced yesterday that 30 nations joined together as part of those allied forces to help with the d-day landings the success of which

ultimately became the beginning of the end of the war and he spoke about his you know multi-faiths faiths coming together which is you know he talks about this a lot we know that it's part of his what he wants to achieve and what he's always interested in bringing different faiths together and he mentioned that those in 1944 would be been honored to have served who were of Sikh Hindu and Muslim faiths as well he he's doing the kind of the official head of state thing. And I think this is why this D-Day is very important to him. He's got something to say. He's got a world stage on which to say it.

And he doesn't know how much time, well, none of us know how much time we've got left, but he's determined to get that message across. I was very struck on exactly that point. He's on the world stage and there are things that he wants to say. I was very struck by something in his speech in normandy today where you know we've talked a lot about how the royal family must be above politics they've got to be very careful about the public statements they make not just now during the general election period but generally all year

round but there was one line at the you know at the top of his speech i think i know what you're going to say well it was him saying we recall the lesson that comes to us again and again across the decades, free nations must stand together to oppose tyranny. Absolutely. And of course, Russia was not invited to the commemorations in Normandy. So to me, and I'm sure to a lot of people, to other heads of state who were there, that is him making a point that we are once again at a point where war has come to Europe and you know the king with with with subtle but very important messaging like that is making the point that all the you know all the allies are together again standing shoulder to shoulder but this is also going on in our backyard that's a line that

stood out for me as well I have to say it just sort of jumped right out at me because of course it was 2014 if you remember when he was having what he thought as then prince of wales was an unguarded conversation with somebody and he it was the time when russia um had started this annexation of crimea and he said to somebody, of course, Putin's doing now what Hitler did then. And that at the time was exploded. It did explode. The Kremlin said it was outrageous that he should be intervening in politics like that. But we know where he stands on a lot of this stuff in the way that the late queen kind of was very, very. We've seldom heard what she thought about, you know, different world leaders and different countries and geopolitical incursions.

Whereas with Charles, he's made that. We already know. We already know what he thinks. So for him, he now has that kind of platform. He may as well say it. And he is saying it. And I think that's really important. That's really important.

So it wasn't just a day for the King because this is a huge moment for the Prince of Wales as well. I mean, what did you make, Roya, on his involvement yesterday in Portsmouth, today in Normandy? How do you think he came across? I think for William, who enjoys doing anything that celebrates and commemorates and pays tribute to the military he's in his element so whether it was in Portsmouth yesterday as we saw meeting all the veterans you could see how much he loved being with them and you know the the the wrens as well and talking about you know Catherine's grandmother working at Bletchley but really

the way he was sort of holding the hands of the veterans. But he enjoys, I think, being on that stage and making those kind of speeches, knowing that a global stage is seeing him pay tribute to the military. I think he does now. I think he's much better at it now. He's much better at it now. I mean, it also harks back to his military service, where it was, of course, members of the royal family,

it's almost sort of part of their DNA that they serve in the military. But it was always said to me that, you know, he was determined, both he and Harry wanted to do their military service because whenever they did events to do with the military, they wanted to be able to look at soldiers and say, I know, I played my part. I sort of served my time. So I think all of that, he really, he's very, that brings out the best in him.

I also think the sight of him in Normandy, not just doing the Canadian commemoration at Juno Beach, but also sort of stepping in for his father at the later event in Normandy with all the world leaders there, the heads of state, that was massive. Again, I think that plays to something that William is quite keen on, which is building his role on the global stage. But without losing the personal touch, because this afternoon, we had a surprise visit in Aramarch, where he went and just chatted to some British veterans that were there, which I think he has that informality, I think about it as well. And very significant, you know, he paid tribute to the 14,000 plus Canadian troops who served on D-Day and the battles in the subsequent days. But again, that's messaging, isn't it? Because Canada, the British government and the royal family, no offence to all the other realms, but Canada is seen as, I think, the most important realm to the UK in terms of the Commonwealth and it's the country that the late Queen visited more than more than any other country during her reign was the realm

she visited most and Canada has a sort of very special role within I think the UK government but certainly the royal family and I think that's probably why of all the events being held there that's the one that he went to. And it is important as a future head of state for Canada that he was there to do it. I think what interested me yesterday as well about his speech was that he was playing in the way that the King played to his strengths and his interests. William played to his personal experience and his interests because he said that in one of his powerful reading, he also said that mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters who watched their loved ones go into battle, unsure if they would ever return. He sort of paid homage to the people left behind as well, because obviously that devastating effect that war has on everyone.

And coming from the point of view of a father himself with three young children, I think that was really interesting that he read that letter, didn't he? Yeah, he read this letter from, we were there and I think we were both quite emotional when he read it. He read this letter from Captain Alistair Bannerman of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, which was addressed to his wife and written in Captain Bannerman's diary on the morning of D-Day. What did it say, Kate? It is now three in the morning and I've just been up to the bridge. One can see the row of small ships and of darker balloons silhouetted in front and behind us against the grey sea. You, my angel, sleep gently in the nursery, I hope. Your thoughts have helped me so much. They've given me real strength. I can imagine how you listen to the news at nine o'clock And then he went on to say, didn't he, that the person who had written that on the eve of D-Day, just as he was about to go to war, did fortunately come back.

But of course we heard kind of powerful testimony and letters written to people who hadn't hadn't returned but but william's point of view building on that point i said about he's playing to his experience his interest in his strength today at the canadian event in normandy he spoke about those who still had this lived with the scars, both physical and mental. Now, that was interesting, I think, because it's about his mental health approach. Now, we think that today, of course, that obviously people came back seemingly without a scratch on them,

some people, but those scars, those mental scars, must have been debilitating for a whole generation. And that isn't something that traditionally we hear about is it when we talk about the war heroes coming back but now I think that's more part of the story and that's something that he seems to be keen to bring in and obviously something that he's done a lot of work on so I thought that was interesting as well that he's bringing that up. We heard him talk about that a lot, didn't we? After he finished working at the East Angolan Air Ambulance, he did quite a lot of work where he started talking about the trauma of some of the awful things he saw,

bringing them back, the mental health impact of that, and also when he was in the RAF in Anglesey doing search and rescue. So yes, you're absolutely right. It is interesting to hear from him on mental health, even on something like D-Day. But I thought that it went down well, it seemed to. Yeah, I think there's something about, I think Charles is very alive to the fact that

it is only a good thing for him to have William there on those big set piece moments. He's the boss, but always with one eye on the future and showing everyone on the global stage that that's what's coming. And I think both Charles and William know that when they speak, it's only going to work if they're, to use an oft-repeated phrase of the young generation,

you know, their authentic selves. You know, people are only going to believe what they're saying if it's genuinely what they think. And that's what Charles is doing. That's what William's doing. And I think it's interesting to see that happening. It's not just taking a kind of cookie cutter speech. It's making it personal to them.

It's what they believe in. It's what they're passionate about. And it makes the speech better. I have to just say that, you know, I thought the set pieces looked great. And, you know, I think the Royal Family pulled it off very well with Charles and Camilla and William doing their thing in Portsmouth and in Normandy.

I cannot help but reflect on the fact that there is a bit of a hole there. And would it have been nice to have seen Prince Harry that under completely different circumstances? Of course, he's no longer a working royal, so he can't be doing the official engagements. But I can't help but think, you know, Prince Harry, who served two tours of Afghanistan, did a decade in the military, served his then queen and country. Of course, circumstances are very different now.

But do we think it's a bit of a shame that he is now no longer on those, you know, with his brother and his father talking to the veterans? He was so good at that. Over two days of commemorative events, there was definitely a role for Harry, wasn't there? On this 80th D-Day anniversary, there was definitely a space for Harry, Duke of Sussex. Do you think he is slightly wistful in Montecito this week? I would love to know what he makes of

all this because it must be so hard to watch from the outside. I mean, it's his own doing. It's his choice to walk away. But I'd love to know. Harry, come on the show. Well, what he really wanted was half in, half out, didn't he? He wanted to be able to still serve. Just rock up to the big things like this. Go away,

do his own thing. But the Queen wasn't having it no she said life of service is life of service not half in half out so anyway i couldn't help but think over those two days there was an obvious space for him there was so much going on and he would have done it well yeah anyway anyway we move on time for on. Time for a fanfare. As does the royal family. Time for a fanfare. So like many weeks, Kate, there are two stories. From the sublime to...

The Prince Andrew. The Prince Andrew. The one and only Prince Andrew. The one and only. Yes, Kate. And you started it. Well, that's Prince Andrew. The one and only. Yes Kate and you started it. Well that's unfair. I just dug a little. Dug a little. There's not a patch left on that lawn undug. All 40 hectares of it. So Kate we want all the details of Prince Andrew, the king and the

siege of Royal Lodge. Well I had a piece in the Times magazine in which um i revealed a lot of the work that i've been doing over several weeks but essentially in a nutshell to save you reading the 3400 words if you haven't already oh i read every word the king wants him out of royal lodge good luck with that charles andrew doesn't want to go nothing new there the king says I'm paying your way if you don't go I'm going to possibly cut your money off dig more around your patch and turf you out Andrew says yes Andrew says I've got a lease so legally I'm allowed to stay yep and other people say that lease is only good if you're prepared to carry out the repair work you know which is stipulated in there he's got to do the internal decoration every seven

years i've seen the lease it says he's got to do the internal decoration every seven years the external decoration every five years and that's coming up this year and last year there's been there's been pictures published of buildings seemingly in disrepair, paint peeling off walls and all that sort of thing. Now, what's so interesting is just how fraught the relations have got between the brothers that have got to this stage. Oh, sounds familiar. A source said, well, exactly, we'll talk about that,

because I think we think about Harry and William falling out. But this is very, very bitter now between Andrew and the king. And the more I looked into this, you know, like I said about people saying it was the siege of royal. The language is so inflammatory that I was shocked, to be honest, because somebody said to me, you know, a friend close to the king said it can be done tidily or it can be done untidily getting rid of andrew from royal lodge it can be done with grace and dignity or it can be forced upon him so this is sort of fighting talk because charles is paying a lot of money to have him stay there his security his allowance do you think he'll do it though do you actually think the king will boot him out of Royal Lodge?

I think he's hoping that it won't get to that stage because Andrew will leave. But it's at that stage, isn't it? The fact that the kings, people close to the king, are talking to you with that kind of language and that the king clearly wants that out there in the public domain. Well, I don't know if he wants it out there in the public domain. Don't you think?

I think people close to the king speak like that when they're happy for it to be out there and that's not done against the bosses well that's what i think highlighted the kind of difficulties of our job um to me this week and i know you you find it the same is that it's so hard getting people who know what they're talking about to talk to us that so often we can't say who those people are because we're protecting our sources. And that has layers of complexity. So it means that the editor has to trust me that what I'm telling him is right. It also means that the readers have to trust when they read a source said quote that I'm telling them the truth as well.

You know, it's not rubbish. And more importantly for me, I suppose, is that the source has to trust me themselves. I mean, we're a long way away from the days when, you know, treachery days when they would be sent to the tower. But there is a real risk of people talking to you and revealing things that perhaps you know others wouldn't want revealed let's put it that way yeah so i think that's the story and for me revealed a lot of that but it's it's sort of digging behind it and how it's all going to work because of course this was all supposed to be solved before the queen died i mean yeah it's one of the loose ends she didn't manage to tie up yeah so maybe she didn't maybe i, I'm going to click here, Andrew didn't want her to tie it up.

Well, she was quite fond of him, wasn't she? I mean, there's been a bit of a blind spot, I think, he was for her, wasn't he? But to go back to the question, sorry, that was an interesting direction. Do you genuinely think Charles will boot him out? Because I just wonder, all the fighting talk, I think, definitely reflects what he wants to happen. wander. All the fighting talk I think definitely reflects what he wants to happen. I think Charles is probably also quite alive to the fact

that if he was seen to boot out Andrew, admittedly there's a very good place for him. He can go and live at Frogmore Cottage. Which is the plan, yes. He lives with Fergie. She's been going through her own cancer battle. She's doing well as part of her recovery.

But do you think he's concerned about the look of older brother and the king booting out the spare who has really fallen on I say fallen on hard times he hasn't fallen on hard times but has not had the best few years I think is a fair thing to say his own doing absolutely his own doing but no the answer I think to your question is yes I do think the king will get him out and the reason for that is because there's a bigger issue at stake. It's how money is spent. So Andrew pays a nominal rent to the Crown Estate, which is independently run property portfolio

whose profits go back to the Treasury. Now, from that pot of money, that's where the money comes to fund the royal family. Charles has said he's going to reduce the money he takes from 25% of that to 12%. He's very, very conscious of money, how it's spent. He's very conscious that the royal family needs to be seen to be good value for money. Royal Lodge is all now privately funded because the king is paying from his own private pockets, not public money, it's not your money, my money, to fund Andrew there, £3 million plus a year in security to keep him there because it's outside the Windsor Security Court and for Windsor Castle.

But also he's giving him an allowance, which is well in excess of £1 million a year, just his living so he can carry it. It's quite good pocket money, isn't it? It's pretty good pocket money, but it's not just about the fact, you know, Meany King. It's about his whole reign and what he wants to be seen and known for. He doesn't want there to be waste.

We know that. He doesn't want food waste. He doesn't want any kind of waste. Well, Fergie, I mean, Fergie could be the kind of the bridge between them because she does get on really well with Charles. It's hoped that she might speak some sense into him. And she said in a previous interview, you know, I don't presume to call Royal Lodge my home. I'm lucky enough to live there. So she's had very kind of a soft approach to the whole subject of staying in Royal Lodge. very kind of a soft approach to the whole subject of staying in Royal Lodge.

But interestingly, someone close to the King said that he's really happy to keep paying, you know, for her, to help keep her life comfortable. It's not about kind of cutting her off either. So, but Frogmore Cottage, very nice place. Harry and Meghan did it up beautifully. We saw inside it with the Netflix drama. There are pendant lights, beautiful kitchen that was put in by Meghan. All very tasteful, I'm sure. Do you think that's Andrew and Fergie's taste?

But it'll be nicely done up, won't it? But they could live there very happily. It's always a sign of a good story when the tabloids follow it up. It was a great scoop, Kate. Thank you. Well done. Is that hard to say?

No. Absolutely not, my fellow, my comrade. Thank you. And of course, this weekend, over two days on Friday and Saturday, it is, drumroll, the Duke of Westminster's wedding. Hugh Grosvenor to Olivia Henson. And of course, we've written a fair amount about this, Kate, haven't we? And we've talked a lot about it in previous episodes.

Let's keep doing it because it's wonderful. Everyone loves a wedding, Ria. A big, my big fat, very English wedding at Chester Cathedral. £10 billion. What does £10 billion buy you? It's going to be a jolly big wedding at Chester Cathedral. £10 billion. What does £10 billion buy you? It's going to be a jolly big wedding at Chester Cathedral and then a private reception

later on on Friday and then another smaller private reception on Saturday. But we predict a lot of the coverage is going to focus on who's not there. Who's not there, Kate? It's Harry. It's Harry again. Another hole.

But William's going to be an usher. As exclusively revealed by... You, Roya. The Sunday Times. Good scoop. I've got half of you to say, Kate. Not at all. It was a very good scoop.

Speaking of scoops, actually, the Duke of Westminster is paying to give away free ice cream for people who rock up in Chester not his guests is it sustainably sourced it will be very into sustainable food anyway we wish them well don't we we do wish them well I think it would be I they seem like really nice couple and I'm sure Harry will be sending a gift from Montecito yeah but at least William won't have to show him where to go when he gets into the cathedral nice couple. And I'm sure Harry will be sending a gift from Montecito. Yeah, but at least William won't have to show him where to go when he gets into the

cathedral because he ain't gonna be there. Do you think if he arrived he'd have been shown to the pew right at the back? I've got a lovely space for you brother. It's just down the road. It's just in the tub next door. Well, we shouldn't really joke

should we? No, not really. But it's sad, isn't next door or we shouldn't really joke should we no not really but it's sad isn't it because he's not you know there's so many

kind of mutants it's like a strange divorce isn't it Harry and William that you know who you have the friends have to pick

the friends and then they have to decide which kind of social engagements to go to and William's here and he's the future king so he's always

going to kind of rise to the top I would thought you'd have thunk oh dear anyway good luck to and he's the future king, so he's always going to kind of rise to the top, I would thought. You'd have thunk. Oh dear. Anyway, good luck to and best wishes to Hugh and Olivia on their special day. Indeed.

So Kate, we often talk about why it's important for the public to see members of the royal family out and about around the UK, on away days, in all four corners unveiling plaques opening hospitals but this week we saw them on the international stage often we would see the presence of the late queen on so many of those important kind of set piece events but now we have the king and queen at these commemorations and prince of wales of course standing shoulder to shoulder with the elected world leaders. I think there's a point here to be made about our place on the world stage and I remember when I came to write a bittery piece for the Sunday Times magazine of the late Queen someone very close to her said to me, she was very proud that for a small nation and an island, the UK throughout her reign had kept its place on the world stage and had sort of punched above its weight for being a small nation.

And we're almost sort of seeing that, you know, we see that continued with what the King and Queen and the Prince of Wales and other members of the royal family, Princess Royal was in Normandy too, are doing on the international stage and seeing and hearing from people like President Macron what it means to other countries that they're there and making the effort. Yes, continued in a new way, isn't it? Because there's so much kind of sensitivity around any reference to any kind of form of colonization of old or any kind of undue force exerted on other countries but that kind of convening power that we talk about often that the king wishes to to develop this idea of unity showing William with the Canadians that building up the commonwealth building up this idea of a kind of a family of nations that the Queen loved. You know, she was so proud of the Commonwealth as a kind of community of countries that all had common goals

and using that as a kind of vehicle for world peace, really. And in an increasingly fractious and divided Europe, I think that the King is very cautious of that and very conscious of that to do that but it has been it's always interesting because it's only when they go abroad and do these big set pieces that you actually see the reaction from other countries and we always thought when the late queen was still with us you know what happens when she passes away will kings still have this kind of reverence from world leaders. And you can see from Emmanuel Macron today in Normandy that he does.

There is still this, oh my goodness, it's the king and queen. So they still have that kind of set appeal. There was a Madame Macron tried to grab her hand at one point, sort of hold Camilla's hand, which was slightly odd. A new entendre, Claudia. A new entendre, Claudia. Well, let's end with the words of the king. The stories of courage, resilience and solidarity

cannot fail to move us, to inspire us and remind us of what we owe. Goodbye, Maria. Bye, Kate.