[0:00]the thing about Harry is, he's not very clever. and he thinks he can beat a woman who is a very, very determined fighter. They've fallen so far. It's so grubby their trip to Australia. They're struggling now. I mean, that's the truth. They're struggling financially, they're struggling reputationaly.
[0:26]Hi, I'm Kinsey Schofield here. Welcome to Crown and Conflict, a series dedicated to dissecting the most riveting royal scandals in history. This week I'm joined by fan favorite Tom Bauer, author of Betrayal, Power, Deceit, and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family. Uh if you've read it, you know it's a forensic examination of many of the contradictions and controversies surrounding Harry and Megan over the past several years. Tom, the book is out now. Congratulations on all of your success. And so much has happened since its release. I mean, an overwhelming amount has happened since its release. The Sussexes are kind of inconsistent that way, right? Where like they disappear and then they're back, and they're back with a vengeance. Well, I think they're back because they live off the oxygen of publicity. Uh, and this Australian tour is completely based on seeking a bit more money. trading on their fame and finding it pretty difficult, I think. I think you're exactly right. Uh and then just like the mimicking of real royal tours after you talk about how irrelevant and racist the royal family is, feels silly. I mean, they they really talk about how the royal family is kind of out of date and then they copy them. Well, yeah, except that she now apparently in this trip wants to be known as Megan, not as the Duchess. Yeah. Because of course, the Australians know a fraud when they see one. And uh, so they're not going to put up with um, heir and grace is a royal. But uh, I think she's got a tough, a tough tour ahead of her. It won't go smoothly for them. Uh, but of course, it's all about money. Yeah. I mean, she's she's selling herself, selling her clothes, selling her brand. Uh, it's it's a tough out there for her. Well, have did we talk about this before that basically she's reverted back to the gig economy, which she came from, you know, like audition after audition, show. I mean, and I don't think she thought that that would be her future with Harry and now she's basically chasing paycheck to paycheck, which is not what she envisioned when she said I will at the altar. Well, I I'd say that she always thought that she'd prefer some sort of career. But when she saw how little money there was in being a royal and how much you had to work for it. In any case, she wanted to head back to California even before she got married. So that was the end of that. But now, it's interesting that they've gone to Australia to make some money. Uh, it'll be interesting to see how much they actually do make. because her her health uh, symposium the the two-day event doesn't seem to be a sellout. Uh, her clothes of course will sell well because there are people who hang on to her fashion uh, advice. But uh, there's little else there other than this uh, celebrity chef stuff. We all know that Megan's cooking is something which is not really desirable. No, exactly. What a nice way to that's such a sweet way of putting that. Well, something that the Australian tour has successfully done for the Sussexes is is distract from a really terrible headline, which is Sebale, the charity co-founded by Prince Harry. Uh they filed a defamation lawsuit against him and the legal action was lodged in the London High Court in March of 2026. But we didn't find out about it until April 10th, 2026 and they alleged that since March 25th of 2025, Harry and Mark Dyer have been the architects of a coordinated adverse media campaign that caused operational disruption and reputational harm to the organization and its leadership. Prior to the lawsuit, Shaka has accused Prince Harry of harassment and bullying at scale to force her out. Um, you have such incredible sources in Betrayal and you go into that breakdown of the relationship with Dr. Sophie Shakka and Prince Harry in detail. Did you get the sense while you were um investigating that breakdown and while you were writing this book that something bigger could be on the horizon? Bigger in the sense of what do you mean? Between the this lawsuit. I mean, I was shocked by the lawsuit. So I guess I'm wondering if if when you step back and you heard some of this stuff, did you think to yourself, huh, he could get in a lot of trouble for that behavior? Well, yeah. Well, he is in a lot of trouble because of it and he's in a lot of trouble because of his uh, legal action for defamation against the male group in London, which has gone really very, very badly for him. He looks like he's going to lose that and of course he's got troubles with another charity in Africa. But going back to Santa Bay, his real problem is that he really didn't want to stay in Africa. Uh, because Megan didn't like Africa. Uh, and so he didn't go there for five years, uh, of his own charity. Uh, and uh, Chandu is a really tough cookie. Uh, she wasn't going to put up with all his nonsense. And as the book shows, uh, Harry didn't doesn't like being pushed around. He got rather bored with having to play polo to raise money for his own charity. And he didn't even go and visit the charity for all those years.
[6:04]So she tried very, very hard to relaunch it and get the finances switched to America. Uh, and he did everything he could really to sabotage her. That was really the awful thing, that that she and he did not get on. Uh, and as the book shows, it all started their huge round at a charity polo match in Florida. Mm, that's right. Um, well, what I, I think the my greatest takeaway and we briefly discussed this the last time we talked, but was that Dr. Dr. Sophie, she's so analytical and strategic and just, I think the way that she functions in general. And she wanted to bring Prince Harry proof before she accused him of of being uh, having a negative impact on the charity, which she, I feel like intuitively knew. She thought to herself, I'm going to go, I'm going to go have a third party actually do some research so that I can present him with proof that his behavior, some of his actions, you know, the consequences of an Oprah Winfrey interview, a book where you talk about your tadger a million times and you know, being disparaging in general about the British royal family. It, it's created issues with our donors. They, they supported us because of your association with the royal family. They supported us because you were this sweet, happy, go lucky person and now you seem very bitter and vengeful and um, destructive. And she presents him with this information in a very clean, clear fashion. And he was so angry about it. He he actually returns to her at some point and says, you've, you've affected my mental health with with this, which is such an immature reaction to a grown-up problem. And and a problem that he could have easily solved by just saying, well, let's step back. I'm going to give you six months to do whatever it is you want to do. But no, he tried he, according to your book, according to Sophie, he tries to he goes behind her back, talks to donors, says, don't give her any money. And he really does ultimately, according to these reports, hurt this charity that he created. Well, his problem is that he doesn't like anyone telling him what to do. and he didn't like Chandu to say, Chandu telling him that he was damaging his own charity by his own image. Uh, and uh, the real problem starts when Megan arrives at this charity polo match in Florida and behaves outrageously. And Harry, you know, she forces Chanduka away from presenting the prize, so she can do it. Uh, and it's all just absolutely ludicrous and Harry wants Chanduka to uh, to actually protect Megan's reputation, which she refuses to do.
[9:12]And of course, that is the cause of a huge explosion between Harry and Chanduka, Soka and of course, Megan one feels is in the background saying that he should have nothing to do with her. And from then he goes downhill all the way to the there's an enormous bust up in the boardroom. Uh, and it the trouble is, of course the casualties are the poor Africans in Botswana, uh, and Loto, who are meant to be benefiting from the charity. Harry is more interested in his reputation than in the people who are meant to be the beneficiaries of his charity. If you somehow haven't heard of Beam's dream powder, where have you been? We literally love beam on Kinsey Schofield on filtered. Does this sound like you? Night after night, the same story, tossing and turning, staring at the ceiling and relying on coffee to get through the day. Yuck. That's what makes Beam a go-to for better sleep. With Beam, nights feel more restful without the tossing and turning and mornings start with real energy, not grogginess. Dream is made with a powerful blend of all natural ingredients, Reishi, Magnesium, L-Theanine, Apigenin, and Melatonin. Plus it tastes amazing. The cinnamon cocoa flavor is a must try and the perfect treat before bed. Beam has already helped 28 million nights of sleep for people across the country. So, if you've been waiting for the right time to try Dream, this is it. Go to shopbeam.com/kinsey. Use code Kinsey and get my exclusive offer for up to 40% off of Beam's dream powder. With my discount code, Kinsey, you can get their best selling dream powder for just $39. Stop pretending like you're still in your 20s and that you can survive a whole day without a good night sleep. I mean, from a common sense standpoint, should a charity be releasing a statement on Twitter gossip? I mean, everything when when you listen to to Sophie talk, she delivers a pretty common sense reaction to to some of these arguments and I I do think that it's in the charity's best interest to stay above the fray versus respond to Twitter commentary. Well, it's more than that, you see. It was a battle for control. And in the battle for control, uh, which Harry was losing, uh, they seek to force uh, Sophie Chanduka's resignation to dismiss her. And she uh, because she's a lawyer and much more clever than Harry and his good friend Dyer, uh, goes to the court to prevent her dismissal. And forces an investigation by uh, thing called the Charity Commission, which looks into the way the charities run. But it's all played out in public, which of course Harry was completely unprepared for. And the accusation by Sophie that Harry was a racist, that he she was the victim of bullying and missing Noir, which apparently means bullying black people, of course took him by surprise. And then he did something which was pretty um, incendiary. He briefs the Times newspaper in London that Sophie Chanduka's uh, contact was terminally affecting the charity and that he was heading for for bankruptcy. Well, in fact, she had raised enough money for it to continue despite Harry. And it's that that she's that she is uh, fighting against in the London court. And of course, since then, there have been another briefing of newspapers in London by Harry's people about how awful Chanduka is. So, you know, the thing about Harry is, he's not very clever. Uh, and he thinks he can beat a woman who is a very, very determined fighter.
[13:41]CG string was my favorite line. CG string, XXX, um, thirsty Thursdays is a new addition to my vocabulary. Thanks to those text messages. So I took away, I took away a couple of new lines from, from that exchange. It changed my life, Tom Bauer. I did also want to ask you about uh, the visit at the end of this month to the United States. Uh King Charles, I think could be an important uh, mediator between Kier Starmer and President Trump. As you know, uh, President Trump seems to have a crush on your king and the royal family in general. And I just think that this could be a positive trip despite all of the chaos that surrounds both of our countries, whether it's Andrew Mount Batten Windsor over there or Trump as Jesus memes over here. No, I'm a doctor. Uh, it just feels like, you know, King Charles could actually bring the peace for a moment. Do you, do you agree? Do you disagree? What are your predictions? Well, I think he'd been very clever to, his advisors have, to prevent any public office encounter. That would have been extremely damaging for King Charles. Uh, his visit will be very controlled. I think you're right. He'll be there to make sure there's immoliens and rebuilding of bridges. And uh, President Trump is right to hold Charles in high regard. I mean, he's, whatever his faults have been, he's an accomplished diplomat in many ways and knowledgeable in many things. And I think that the, those who demanding that his visit should be postponed or canceled were very wrong. I think he'll do a terrific job of rebuilding relations with this extraordinary president. And unfortunately, a lackluster Prime Minister who we're suffering from. It's quite extraordinary that an unelected monarch, a man nearly 80 years old is going to now have to rebuild the special relationship. But that's exactly why we have a monarch and not a president, because they can stand above the hurly-burly and the terrible gritness of the gutter and just bring a bit of sense to the whole thing. And Britain and America, the oldest of allies, do need a bit of repair work. Uh, unfortunately. And I think King Charles sees this as a moment to prove himself and to prove the value of the monarchy. And I think that's acknowledged by President Trump too. Absolutely. Um, I've seen the headlines coming out of the UK this week that I thought were almost ridiculous. King Charles and Queen Camilla will not meet survivors of Jeffrey Epstein during their US state visit. Where, why would anybody assume that that was a reality? I'm under the impression that because the criminal prosecution in the UK is brought in the name of the crown, that King Charles meeting with any alleged victims would disrupt the active investigation regarding his brother, sharing government secrets with Jeffrey Epstein. Uh and I just don't think the King would do anything to jeopardize an active investigation. Are those kind of silly headlines to you too? Are you looking at this that going, well, not in an offensive way to the victims, but it, you know, in my in my perception is that could jeopardize an active investigation and and the King would never do that. It, it that could tarnish his legacy. Well, I think you're absolutely right, but there's something else. The the King's uh, hold position is based on staying out of controversy. I mean, Charles has been pretty controversial as a prince. But now his job is to actually stand above the Hurly Burly of the world. That's why he quite rightly is doing any public office meeting with President Trump. And of course, he shouldn't meet the victims of Epstein. He's got nothing to do with King Charles and it's just a publicity stunt, understandable by Epstein's victims, but it's not for Charles to actually meet them. But I think that he is hugely embarrassed by Andrew's old conduct and he's hugely embarrassed by Harry's conduct and Megan's conduct. He, but he's no stranger to being embarrassed, because unfortunately, President Charles was very, very prone to embarrassing conduct himself over the previous 30 or 40 years. So he's got a bit of peace at the moment. He's a sick man, we mustn't forget. Uh, so that again is something which has always been borne in mind. that he's suffering from serious cancer, although fortunately seems to be in some sort of remission. But no, quite rightly, he's nothing to do with the Epstein thing and Andrew, uh, whether he survives this or not, he's been forced into internal exile in Britain, which is quite unusual. It like being sent to Siberia to be cast in the middle of the Sandyck estate. It's true. Um, you mentioned Harry and Megan. I I think I've had to answer the question 200 times already. Well, the King see Harry, again, I'd say he's been sent to the United States by the UK government with a very serious mission. to be dramatic, you know, his objective is to uh keep the peace, um, and to have a pleasant visit. If he sees or speaks to Harry at all, those headlines will be hijacked by the Sussexes. Um, your take on on on that question that I'm, I'm sure you will inevitably asked will, will the King have any interaction with Harry during his US trip? Oh, I'd be absolutely pulled if he would. That'd be a terrible mistake. The focus has got to be on repairing relations between America and Britain, not on Harry's um, foolish behavior. No, Harry has a real problem now, uh, because he wants to come back to Britain in July for the Invictus Games. I'd be surprised if he's given the he and Megan are given the police protection he's seeking. He is, it looks like he's going to lose his case against the Daily Mail, because he didn't tell the truth in sworn testimony in the when he gave evidence. because of course, the he claimed he had no relationship at all with the Daily Mail Mail on Sunday journalist Charlotte Griffith. And she on the last day, produces this ream of emails, which has suggest a very close relationship between them. And that just shows the unbelievable stupidity of people like Harry and also Prince Andrew. when he told Andrew told the lies which he did about not knowing Epstein after that last visit to New York, that in the end, they get found out. They get found out because they really live in a bubble. They really think that whatever they say must by definition be accepted by everyone as the truth, regardless of what the truth is. And this time, Harry is going to be found out in the male case. He's been found out, I think on Bay, which he started on, that he's up against a very tough cookie and that lawyer who now runs the charity. And he's going to have problems with Invictus, uh, his games. Uh, I think we discussed that last time. I mean, you know, Birmingham is not friendly to Israelis coming over to compete in the Invictus games. So he's going to have many problems and I don't think he's got any solutions. When you look at the images coming out of the Australian tour and you think about Invictus and how Harry's objective is to have just one member of the British royal family, for the love of God, anyone show up to support him next year to give him the credibility that he's lacked over the last few years. Do you think looking at the images of Megan kneeling down in front of these sick children that have been carted out for the PR as PR props, that the royal family is probably unhappy with them forcing the um, perception of the half in half out with these types of royal tours. And all they're doing is, at least with Prince William, digging and even deeper ditch. I, I think that the royal family looks at these things and goes, you know what, this justifies your absence in our lives. We don't need you or want you back. Well, I think you're absolutely right. It's worse than that. I mean, the reason I wrote Betrayal, the book, five years after Revenge, is because so much has happened, so much has changed. You know, five years ago, they were riding so high with their Netflix series and then with his best-selling autobiography and everything else. But they're now they've fallen so far, it's so grubby their trip to Australia.
[23:18]His, if he actually comes to London for these games, in Victor's games that goes to Birmingham, the idea of Megan coming here pulls everyone. They're they're furious with the Sussexes on the whole. The general mood is just don't want anything to do with them. And if he loses the Daily Mail case, it'll be even worse because he'll then be like Andrew branded is a liar. that his evidence wasn't honest and sincere. So he has huge reputational problems. And I think the raw family, you know, you're talking about a sick king, sick Kate, uh, Camilla isn't all that well either. The last thing they need is the controversy that the Megan and Harry can bring. They don't want that disturbing their lives. Uh, so we're in for a roller coaster. It's going to be very interesting. The fate of the royal family is as always a topic of great interest and will be playing out throughout the year. If they continue with these types of tours where Megan is merching and, you know, uh, popping up on reality shows. Do you see a world where King Charles would ever strip them of their titles? Because that's really what my audience wants. I mean, I'm not, I hate to say that out loud, but every day when we have these discussions, I see them say strip them of their titles. Why do they still have their titles? They're merching their titles. And there's a real resentment from people that Harry and Megan are monetizing this proximity to the British royal family. After they've caused so much damage to the institution and and the brand and just the heartache they caused Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip towards the end of their lives. I mean, I think that a lot of people are negatively affected by that as well. So do you see a world as they continue to intensify their PR pursuits where King Charles finally says, okay, enough is enough, we really do need to distance ourselves from these two? Well, I I actually do think that all that is true. Uh, but I don't think King Charles has got far too many guilt feelings about his relationship with Diana and the conduct and all the rest of it.
[25:39]I think that's down to William. I think that the merchandising in Australia is actually a one-off. There are no other countries in the world, I think, where they could go and sell themselves in the same way that Megan's doing with her health uh, 48 hours uh 1,700 pounds Sterling. Uh that's that's just not going to happen in any other country. And I've noticed that no other country has invited them for state tours as they had in Nigeria and Colombia. So they're struggling now. I mean, that's the truth. They're struggling financially, they're struggling reputationaly. They need the Invictus Games in Birmingham, in Britain. Uh, this year they're of the rehearsal and next year, the actual games to rebuild their credibility, to reassert their royalty. Uh, and that's exactly what I hope the king will not allow to happen. He will not give Harry the protection that he's demanding for his family and not welcome him uh, in the way that Harry wants. And um, I think that uh, that that this is their existential problem, whether they can survive financially, we always wonder too, don't we? We absolutely do. Tom Bauer, betrayal, power, deceit, and the fight for the future of the Royal Family is available now wherever you get your favorite books. And it is the perfect companion to revenge. If you haven't read revenge, what the hell are you doing with your life? It is our Bible here at Kinsey Schofield unfiltered. We pray on it. Uh, and we ask for we, we ask for forgiveness on our copy of revenge as well, Tom Bauer. Um, not that you would ever put your face over Jesus Christ and claim it was a doctor, because I know, I know you would never do that. Uh, and also, I heard you're writing a book on Fage. I'm looking forward to reading that, Mr. Bauer. I like your work, so that's giving us something to look forward to as well. Thank you so much for your time today. I look forward to seeing you again very soon. All right, guys, agree with us, disagree with us. Let us know in the comments below. Make sure you like, subscribe and share this video with a friend. Thanks so much for watching everyone.
