December 5, 2025 • 8 mins
A wild Friday in Royal World: Meghan Markle’s estranged father is in intensive care after a life-saving leg amputation, with doctors calling the next few days “critical.” Family members are begging the Duchess for compassion — but the silence from Montecito is deafening. Royal insiders say the optics are disastrous, especially as Meghan promotes new floral-wrapped chocolate bars and Harry cracks jokes about President Trump on Colbert. We break down the Markle family emergency, the PR blowback, and the latest chaos as the Sussexes close out a brutally rough week.
Hear our new show "Crown and Controversy: Prince Andrew" here.
Check out "Palace Intrigue Presents: King WIlliam" here.
👑 Follow our hit series Crown and Controversy! Season 1 and 2 are fully available now for everyone. Season 3 has new episodes every Sunday on the regular feed. GET THE FULL SEASON 3 BEFORE REGULAR LISTENERS as a subscriber! Hit that "UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING" Banner on the top of the Apple player. AND listen to Crown and Controversy "NORWAY'S ROYAL REBELS" here and get the full season as a premium subscriber now.
👑 The Palace Intrigue Social Hub is Live! Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram or click the links to start your royal journey!
Hear our new show "Crown and Controversy: Prince Andrew" here.
Check out "Palace Intrigue Presents: King WIlliam" here.
👑 Follow our hit series Crown and Controversy! Season 1 and 2 are fully available now for everyone. Season 3 has new episodes every Sunday on the regular feed. GET THE FULL SEASON 3 BEFORE REGULAR LISTENERS as a subscriber! Hit that "UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING" Banner on the top of the Apple player. AND listen to Crown and Controversy "NORWAY'S ROYAL REBELS" here and get the full season as a premium subscriber now.
👑 The Palace Intrigue Social Hub is Live! Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram or click the links to start your royal journey!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Intrigue Game.
Your host Mark Francis is a very busy Friday with
a lot of attention on Harry's appearance on Cold Beer,
which will break down in detail on Monday. Kate's concert
is today and later this afternoon will begin breaking down
(00:26):
the top twenty five royal stories of twenty twenty five.
But we do have breaking news. Megan Michael's estranged father,
Thomas Mirkle, is recovering in intensive care after undergoing a
life saving amputation of his left leg below the knee.
His son, Thomas Michael Junior, confirmed to The Daily Mail
(00:46):
that the eighty one year old former Hollywood lighting director
was rushed into surgery on Wednesday in the Philippines after
a blood clot cut off circulation to his foot. My
dad is being very brave. His foot turned blue and
then black and very quickly. I took him to a
local hospital and they did some scans and an ultrasound
and said the leg had to be amputated. There was
(01:08):
no option. I was told the leg had to be
removed and it was a case of life or death.
There was no option given. It was either we have
to operate now and remove the leg or he may die.
It was a life threatening situation. One of his doctors
said the next two or three days are critical. His
left leg has been removed below the knee. They were
worried about infection setting in sepsis or gangreen. The flesh
(01:30):
was black and dying. Thomas Junior, who was the primary
caretaker for his father, said doctors were extremely concerned as
they monitored his condition. I took Dad to a hospital
close to our home and they did various scans and
the doctors said his life was in imminent danger. They
raced us by ambulance with the sirens, going to a
much bigger hospital in the center of the city. My
(01:50):
dad has undergone emergency surgery. I would ask everyone around
the world to keep him in their thoughts. He is
a strong man, but he has been through so much
and praying that he has strong enough to survive this.
My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke,
and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this.
Rob Shooter's Shooter Scoop is claiming Harry is encouraging Meghan
to reach out, saying Harry knows estrangement. He's made peace
(02:12):
with his dad. Now he wants Meghan to have the
same chance. He's been saying, don't wait, do it. Now
he's showing Meghan what reconciliation looks like, and he hopes
she takes it. Our Royal Inside at Deep Crown wrote us,
the compassionate response is remarkably simple. Pick up the telephone,
send flowers, dispatch a representative, something, anything that acknowledges basic
(02:32):
human concern for apparent in crisis. She won't. Of course,
one hopes I'm wrong, One hopes there's been private outreach.
We're not privy too. But the longer the silence extends,
the more it confirms what her critics have alleged all along,
that the compassion is transactional, performed only when cameras are
rolling and brand partnerships are at stake. A simple gesture
(02:53):
of human decency would cost her nothing and might actually
demonstrate the values she claims to embody. But I suspect
will hear nothing, and that silence will speak volumes. In
The Royalist, Tom Sykes pulled no punches, writing inconveniently as
the Duchess of Sussex was urging viewers to craft sentimental
ornaments and lean into the solace of friends and family.
Her father was lying in an intensive care unit in Cebu,
(03:15):
the Philippines, after a three hour emergency operation to remove
his foot and lower leg, without any contact from her.
A spokesman for Meghan declined to comment to The Royalist
on her father's hospitalization and amputation, a silence, which, is
to put it, mildly, not helping matters. Such silence may
suit the internal emotional logic of a long running family feud,
(03:37):
it makes little sense when your business model revolves around
being compassionate, Sikes, adds Thomas Michael himself has conceded that
he has been foolish, vain and thoughtless over the years,
but Megan's refusal to forgive him at a time of
severe illness presents a strategic problem for a daughter who
has marketed herself as the embodiment of compassion. This is,
(03:57):
after all, the man who raised her single handed from
the age of eleven to eighteen, driving her to auditions,
bankrolling private schooling. Yes, it is also the man who
staged toward repaparazzi pictures in the run up to her
twenty eighteen Royal wedding, lied to her about it, then
collapse with heart trouble and missed the big day. Meghan
walked into Saint George's Chapel alone and was then handed
(04:18):
symbolically to King Charles, whom Thomas later described as incredibly
kind and generous. Since then, the line from California has
been essentially no contact. Compassion is the word that won't
go away. It is Meghan's favorite term when describing her mission.
It's the theme of speeches, podcasts, and now her Christmas special.
It is also precisely what she is accused of withholding
(04:39):
from the man who changed her diapers, paid her school fees,
and is now minus half a leg in a foreign ICU.
According to The Express, Thomas Junior said, I would ask
everyone around the world to keep the thoughts and only
wishes that Meghan chose my father some compassion. He is
literally fighting for his life more palaceing just a moment.
(05:02):
As mentioned at the top, Prince Harry has prompted fresh
controversy in the United States after making pointed jokes about
Donald Trump and American politics. During an unannounced appearance on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The Duke walked onto
the stage. As Colbert joked about the growing number of
royal themed Christmas films. Harry played along, pretending he was
(05:22):
searching for an audition for a fictional holiday movie called
The Gingerbread Christmas Prince Saves Christmas in Nebraska. When asked
why actual prince would want the role, he replied, you
Americans are obsessed with Christmas movies, and you're clearly obsessed
with royalty, so why not. Colbert disputed the idea, giving
Harry the opportunity for one of The Knight's most talked
about lines, Really, I hear you elected a king. Harry
(05:47):
continued the skip by listing what he would do to
secure his imaginary Hallmark role. I'll record a self tape,
I'll fly myself to an audition, settle a baseless lawsuit
with the White House, all the things you people in
TV do. When Colbert replied, hey, I didn't do any
of those things, Harry shot back, maybe that's why you're canceled.
The appearance was widely panned. In a free substanc newsletter Today,
(06:10):
Deep Crown writes what made the exercise particularly dispiriting wasn't
the content, which covered well trodden ground, but rather the
unmistakable air of diminishing returns that hung over the entire proceedings.
One notices these things. The media coverage was notably more
muted than his previous American television appearances. The social media engagement,
(06:31):
while present, lacked the fevered quality of earlier interventions. Even
the most sympathetic commentators seem to struggle with what fresh
insight might be gleaned from yet another iteration of the
same essential narrative. When one's public persona becomes this predictable,
this thoroughly rehearsed, the very authenticity one claims to champion,
begins to ring hollow. There's a lot to be said
(06:53):
about Harry and we'll unpack that on Monday Today. We'll
have one more podcast for you this afternoon as we
begin our look at the top twenty five royal stories
of the year, which will continue through the weekend and
will drop extra episodes of any of the current storylines
change as the Sussex's week of absolutely terrible optics continues.
(07:14):
Meghan took to Instagram to promote her new chocolate bars.
Meghan seemed proud of the ornate floral packaging and the
selection of indulgent flavors. The range features dark chocolate combined
with raspberry spread and sea salt, a white chocolate bar
topped with flour sprinkles and hemp hearts, and a short
bread infused bar finished with bee pollen. According to Vans
(07:37):
tracking the launch, all three varieties of twelve dollars in
the US had sold out on the as Ever website
within hours of going on sale, and they have it.
If you like to email us and addresses the Palace
Intrigg at gmail dot com, Please follow us on Spotify, Apple,
or the apple of your choice and leave us a
nice review from enjoying the show and Mark Francis my
thanks to John McDermot. This is Palace Intrigue and at
(08:00):
times MHM
Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Intrigue Game.
Your host Mark Francis is a very busy Friday with
a lot of attention on Harry's appearance on Cold Beer,
which will break down in detail on Monday. Kate's concert
is today and later this afternoon will begin breaking down
(00:26):
the top twenty five royal stories of twenty twenty five.
But we do have breaking news. Megan Michael's estranged father,
Thomas Mirkle, is recovering in intensive care after undergoing a
life saving amputation of his left leg below the knee.
His son, Thomas Michael Junior, confirmed to The Daily Mail
(00:46):
that the eighty one year old former Hollywood lighting director
was rushed into surgery on Wednesday in the Philippines after
a blood clot cut off circulation to his foot. My
dad is being very brave. His foot turned blue and
then black and very quickly. I took him to a
local hospital and they did some scans and an ultrasound
and said the leg had to be amputated. There was
(01:08):
no option. I was told the leg had to be
removed and it was a case of life or death.
There was no option given. It was either we have
to operate now and remove the leg or he may die.
It was a life threatening situation. One of his doctors
said the next two or three days are critical. His
left leg has been removed below the knee. They were
worried about infection setting in sepsis or gangreen. The flesh
(01:30):
was black and dying. Thomas Junior, who was the primary
caretaker for his father, said doctors were extremely concerned as
they monitored his condition. I took Dad to a hospital
close to our home and they did various scans and
the doctors said his life was in imminent danger. They
raced us by ambulance with the sirens, going to a
much bigger hospital in the center of the city. My
(01:50):
dad has undergone emergency surgery. I would ask everyone around
the world to keep him in their thoughts. He is
a strong man, but he has been through so much
and praying that he has strong enough to survive this.
My father has been through two heart attacks, a stroke,
and an earthquake. I hope he can pull through this.
Rob Shooter's Shooter Scoop is claiming Harry is encouraging Meghan
to reach out, saying Harry knows estrangement. He's made peace
(02:12):
with his dad. Now he wants Meghan to have the
same chance. He's been saying, don't wait, do it. Now
he's showing Meghan what reconciliation looks like, and he hopes
she takes it. Our Royal Inside at Deep Crown wrote us,
the compassionate response is remarkably simple. Pick up the telephone,
send flowers, dispatch a representative, something, anything that acknowledges basic
(02:32):
human concern for apparent in crisis. She won't. Of course,
one hopes I'm wrong, One hopes there's been private outreach.
We're not privy too. But the longer the silence extends,
the more it confirms what her critics have alleged all along,
that the compassion is transactional, performed only when cameras are
rolling and brand partnerships are at stake. A simple gesture
(02:53):
of human decency would cost her nothing and might actually
demonstrate the values she claims to embody. But I suspect
will hear nothing, and that silence will speak volumes. In
The Royalist, Tom Sykes pulled no punches, writing inconveniently as
the Duchess of Sussex was urging viewers to craft sentimental
ornaments and lean into the solace of friends and family.
Her father was lying in an intensive care unit in Cebu,
(03:15):
the Philippines, after a three hour emergency operation to remove
his foot and lower leg, without any contact from her.
A spokesman for Meghan declined to comment to The Royalist
on her father's hospitalization and amputation, a silence, which, is
to put it, mildly, not helping matters. Such silence may
suit the internal emotional logic of a long running family feud,
(03:37):
it makes little sense when your business model revolves around
being compassionate, Sikes, adds Thomas Michael himself has conceded that
he has been foolish, vain and thoughtless over the years,
but Megan's refusal to forgive him at a time of
severe illness presents a strategic problem for a daughter who
has marketed herself as the embodiment of compassion. This is,
(03:57):
after all, the man who raised her single handed from
the age of eleven to eighteen, driving her to auditions,
bankrolling private schooling. Yes, it is also the man who
staged toward repaparazzi pictures in the run up to her
twenty eighteen Royal wedding, lied to her about it, then
collapse with heart trouble and missed the big day. Meghan
walked into Saint George's Chapel alone and was then handed
(04:18):
symbolically to King Charles, whom Thomas later described as incredibly
kind and generous. Since then, the line from California has
been essentially no contact. Compassion is the word that won't
go away. It is Meghan's favorite term when describing her mission.
It's the theme of speeches, podcasts, and now her Christmas special.
It is also precisely what she is accused of withholding
(04:39):
from the man who changed her diapers, paid her school fees,
and is now minus half a leg in a foreign ICU.
According to The Express, Thomas Junior said, I would ask
everyone around the world to keep the thoughts and only
wishes that Meghan chose my father some compassion. He is
literally fighting for his life more palaceing just a moment.
(05:02):
As mentioned at the top, Prince Harry has prompted fresh
controversy in the United States after making pointed jokes about
Donald Trump and American politics. During an unannounced appearance on
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The Duke walked onto
the stage. As Colbert joked about the growing number of
royal themed Christmas films. Harry played along, pretending he was
(05:22):
searching for an audition for a fictional holiday movie called
The Gingerbread Christmas Prince Saves Christmas in Nebraska. When asked
why actual prince would want the role, he replied, you
Americans are obsessed with Christmas movies, and you're clearly obsessed
with royalty, so why not. Colbert disputed the idea, giving
Harry the opportunity for one of The Knight's most talked
about lines, Really, I hear you elected a king. Harry
(05:47):
continued the skip by listing what he would do to
secure his imaginary Hallmark role. I'll record a self tape,
I'll fly myself to an audition, settle a baseless lawsuit
with the White House, all the things you people in
TV do. When Colbert replied, hey, I didn't do any
of those things, Harry shot back, maybe that's why you're canceled.
The appearance was widely panned. In a free substanc newsletter Today,
(06:10):
Deep Crown writes what made the exercise particularly dispiriting wasn't
the content, which covered well trodden ground, but rather the
unmistakable air of diminishing returns that hung over the entire proceedings.
One notices these things. The media coverage was notably more
muted than his previous American television appearances. The social media engagement,
(06:31):
while present, lacked the fevered quality of earlier interventions. Even
the most sympathetic commentators seem to struggle with what fresh
insight might be gleaned from yet another iteration of the
same essential narrative. When one's public persona becomes this predictable,
this thoroughly rehearsed, the very authenticity one claims to champion,
begins to ring hollow. There's a lot to be said
(06:53):
about Harry and we'll unpack that on Monday Today. We'll
have one more podcast for you this afternoon as we
begin our look at the top twenty five royal stories
of the year, which will continue through the weekend and
will drop extra episodes of any of the current storylines
change as the Sussex's week of absolutely terrible optics continues.
(07:14):
Meghan took to Instagram to promote her new chocolate bars.
Meghan seemed proud of the ornate floral packaging and the
selection of indulgent flavors. The range features dark chocolate combined
with raspberry spread and sea salt, a white chocolate bar
topped with flour sprinkles and hemp hearts, and a short
bread infused bar finished with bee pollen. According to Vans
(07:37):
tracking the launch, all three varieties of twelve dollars in
the US had sold out on the as Ever website
within hours of going on sale, and they have it.
If you like to email us and addresses the Palace
Intrigg at gmail dot com, Please follow us on Spotify, Apple,
or the apple of your choice and leave us a
nice review from enjoying the show and Mark Francis my
thanks to John McDermot. This is Palace Intrigue and at
(08:00):
times MHM
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com