King William - 13. Distraction

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Let me tell you about the podcast Palace Intrigue presents King William. So, one day William gets a phone call. And the voice on the other end

says something he's never heard before in his life. Your Majesty. Just like that, he's King William V. His dad is gone, the crown is his, and the whole world is watching.

What happens next? Harry comes back to London. Catherine launches a podcast that gets nominated for a Golden Globe. And William has to figure out how to be a king while still being a husband, a father, and a brother.

It's a speculative fiction series, and honestly, it's addictive. Follow Palace Intrigue Presents King William, wherever you get your podcasts. and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode. Hi, I'm Hope.

While you're keeping up with the Royals, here's another show worth adding to your queue. Five good news stories. Every episode, five things that went right in the world.

About five minutes, it's short, it's uplifting, and honestly, after all the palace drama, you might need it. Follow five good news stories wherever you get your podcasts and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.

Disclaimer. King William is a work of speculative fiction. It dramatises public figures and public events using imagined dialogue and scenes. It is not reporting and does not assert factual claims about private conduct, motives or future events. References to real titles, places and procedures are for context. Where needed, details have been altered for dramatic purposes.

Nothing here is intended to harm anyone's reputation. Listeners should treat all non-historical scenes as fictionalised. came at 7.30 on a January morning that would reshape everything William thought he knew about crisis management. His private secretary's voice carried the kind of controlled panic that palace

officials reserved for genuine emergencies. Your Majesty, we've had a development overnight, the Hollywood Reporter piece from December. We now know what it was announcing. William set down his coffee, already feeling the familiar tightness in his chest that accompanied news from California. The cliffhanger from his Christmas recording session had lingered through

the holidays like an unexploded bomb, palace communications monitoring coverage while trying to maintain some semblance of normal royal business. Tell me, William said, though he suspected he didn't want to know. It's a memoir, sir. The Duchess of Sussex has announced a memoir scheduled for publication in six months.

The words hit William like cold water. A memoir. Not another interview. Not another documentary.

But a full book. 300 pages of whatever version of events his sister-in-law wanted to present to the world. The kind of publication that would dominate news cycles for months,

generate endless serialization in newspapers, spawn television specials, and podcast discussions. Six months, William repeated slowly.

She's given herself six months to build anticipation. The publicity machine is already starting, Your Majesty. Her American publisher is describing it as the most candid royal memoir ever written and promising revelations that will reshape how the world understands the modern monarchy.

William closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the crown pressing down with almost physical force. His first Christmas broadcast as king, his careful message about service and unity, had been completely overshadowed by speculation about what his sister-in-law might reveal. Now he knew she was planning to control the entire narrative for the next six months,

building to a summer publication that would coincide with the anniversary of his coronation. Brief the senior staff, William said. Emergency meeting in 30 minutes, and get Catherine. She needs to know before this hits the morning shows.

Welcome to King William, Season 2, Episode 1, Distraction. The emergency meeting convened in the private conference room at Buckingham Palace, the same space where William had navigated the constitutional crisis months earlier. But this felt different, more personal, more directly threatening to everything he was trying

to build. Around the table sat his private secretary, communication secretary, the master of the household, and Princess Anne, whose decades of crisis management experience had made her William's most trusted advisor, even as she began stepping back from her heaviest duties. The timeline is the challenge, explained the communications secretary,

spreading preliminary reports across the mahogany table. She's not just dropping a book, she's launching a six-month campaign. Interviews, podcast appearances, magazine covers. By the time it publishes, she'll have been the dominant royal story for half a year. Catherine entered quietly, having been briefed during her drive to the palace.

Her expression showed the controlled frustration William recognized from their private moments, the exhaustion of constantly managing crises created by people who claimed to want distance from royal life while monetizing their connection to it. How do we counter six months of sustained publicity?

William asked. What do we actually have to work with? The question hung in the air, highlighting the mathematics problem that had plagued William's reign from the beginning. Princess Anne, though still sharp and formidable, was naturally reducing

her schedule after decades of intensive royal duty. Edward was reliable, but hardly the sort of charismatic figure who generated headlines. Sophie had blossomed into an elegant and effective working royal, but she couldn't carry the entire publicity battle alone. The York sisters remained impossible due to their father's scandals. We're operating with a skeleton crew,

the master of the household admitted carefully. Your Majesty and the Queen have been managing an