BONUS EP: Harry & Meghan Are Back, the Spencers Are Talking & Palace Secrets with Rebecca Armitage

Pull up a chair, we’ve got a very special Royal Side Dish at the Sunday Lunch table! This week, we’re joined by *ABC journalist, author and bona fide royal obsessive Rebecca Armitage*, whose brilliant debut novel The Heir Apparent became a Reese’s Book Club pick and a firm favourite of both Sof and Jess. Rebecca has covered everything from the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of King Charles III to Prince Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal life, and she brings all of that reporting experience to one very juicy Sunday Lunch. We kick things off with a little royal rapid fire: the most misunderstood royal, the best royal PR operator, who Rebecca would invite to Sunday lunch. Then Rebecca takes us behind the scenes of The Heir Apparent*, how covering Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding planted the seed for a novel about a royal who doesn’t want the job, what royal protocols in the book are actually real, becoming a *Reese’s Book Club pick, and whether we could ever see another book set inside Lexi’s royal world. And then, naturally, we get into the royal gossip. We talk Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet’s surprising return to the UK*, the family’s security concerns, Harry’s battle over royal protection and whether his experience of Diana’s death still shapes the way he sees risk. Plus, we unpack the latest royal bombshell: *Earl Spencer’s new memoir, * _ *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister _. Chapters 00:33 Introduction to the Royal Episode 05:02 Reflections on School Formals and Upbringing 08:12 Royal Gossip and Misunderstood Royals 10:56 Diana: The Complicated Legacy 16:45 Rebecca's Journey to Authorship 23:07 The Journey to Becoming a Part of Reese's Book Club 27:50 Reflections on Harry and Meghan's Wedding 33:13 The Unexpected Return of Harry and Meghan to the UK 39:09 The Complexities of Royal Security and Family Dynamics 48:08 The Spencer Family and Royal Duty 50:30 Charles and the Spencer Legacy 56:59 The William and Harry Rift 01:02:01 Fashion Statements and Family Politics 📖 Rebecca Armitage – * _ *The Heir Apparent _ https://books.apple.com/au/book/the-h... 👑 More from Rebecca Armitage https://www.abc.net.au/news/rebecca-a... 📖 Charles Spencer – * _ *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister _ https://www.penguin.com.au/books/swan... Follow @sundaylunchrealityserved on Instagram for clips, recommendations and everything that distracted us this week. If you enjoyed the episode, please follow or subscribe wherever you listen and a five-star rating or review helps more people find us. Sunday Lunch: Reality Served is just for fun. We have no special insider knowledge, we’re discussing what we’re watching, reading and obsessing over with the rest of you.