Shadowing Practice: The Sussexes prepare for UK life, but will that include security? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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And it's the major development on the return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Britain.
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Because according to royal experts, Prince Harry's long battle to win back his royal protection could finally be over.
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It's expected that security will be granted to him, Meghan and their children upon their return.
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And the bill, estimated to be £5 million a year, will apparently be paid for by the taxpayer, not the palace or Harry.
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Well, there's still been no official comment about any of this from Buckingham Palace, about the Sussexes' return generally even, despite the royal family all meeting in Balmoral.
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Well, our correspondent Nick Dixon is at Buckingham Palace for us this morning.
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Morning again, Nick.
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I mean, the consensus this morning generally in most of the papers
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and amongst royal watchers is that after years of battling this, Harry's won and he is going to get the protection that he's been asking for.
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Yeah, and any level of protection really would be potentially very expensive for the taxpayer.
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But as you say, he's had this long battle with the Home Office, a legal battle, which ultimately he lost.
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But clearly, something seems to have changed here in terms of his security and the plan going forward.
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Because if you consider just last year, Harry said repeatedly that he just couldn't see a world in which he would be back in the UK with his family,
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with his kids and with Meghan and feel safe because of the lack of security.
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Now, there are senior political figures who feel that Harry and the family should receive protection, some degree of protection.
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And there is a feeling that that's already been signed off on.
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Unfortunately, many people might not want to hear it, but I think Harry is entitled to it.
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And I'm fairly certain, and sources I've spoken to are fairly certain, that he will be given a degree of royal protection, which will be paid for by the taxpayer.
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There were reports over the weekend suggesting that Harry had appealed directly to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, about his protection when coming back to the UK.
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There's been no official word at all from the royal family.
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The King was together with other sort of senior royals, core members of the family in Balmoral over the weekend, but there's been no statement as you'd expect.
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But that kind of silence is quite predictable and deliberate as well.
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Charles and William basically have to stay pretty much totally silent about Harry
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and Meghan's return in order to reinforce the point that Harry and Meghan are private royals, they're not part of the monarchy.
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So you can't have kind of on the record statements from Buckingham Palace about it,
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you can't have spokespeople talking openly about Harry and Meghan relocating because that sends completely the wrong message.
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There's also the question of how Meghan's future will look here in the UK when she is back.
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There was a lot of reports over the weekend that she may well resume her acting career, potentially getting a part in season three of the Netflix show The Gentleman.
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That seems to have gone quite quiet now.
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Whether or not it was even an offer on the table, well, we'll probably never know.
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I guess this headline in this morning's mail kind of sums
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up the majority view in this country over the weekend and as we speak, most of us are fed up to the back teeth with Harry and Meghan, why should we have to fork out for their protection?
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And I suppose the answer is because he's the king's son.
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That's the problem, isn't it?
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Whatever you think about them and their motives for coming back here
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and their behaviour over the last God knows how many years, living here, he's the king's son and they're the king's grandchildren.
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And that's the issue, isn't it?
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Yeah, we wouldn't want anything to happen to them.
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I have to say, when I saw the announcement at the end of last week, my heart sunk because I just thought this is all we're going to talk about now Harry
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and Megan I can only apologize you know I just think there's for those people out there
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that you know find them really annoying you know think they're
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just coming back for attention the rest of it the best thing to do is to ignore them
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and for those of us that think the royal family shouldn't exist
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and it's not personal but structurally think
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that we shouldn't have a royal family then also ignoring them would be the best way to go
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but I mean I agree like god forbid anything happens to them
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so I there is a question about their security
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but i mean i guess andy burnham said it's a private matter it's got to be something
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if they're choosing to come back
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and they don't have royal royal roles per se like there's
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got to be some you know we we're not we need money for other things right
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and so i think there's probably some kind of compromise
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that needs to be made
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when andy burnham says it's a private matter i mean is it
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if taxpayers are going to have to pay no then it's not
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but i mean And I think I'm hoping what he means by
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that is that they are going to have to put some of that bill.
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Well, it's five million pounds a year to protect someone, give them the full level of protection.
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I mean, this is obviously catnip to the press.
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And we do this kind of slightly hypocritical dance where we say, oh, we can't believe it's Harry and Meghan again.
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And then it's pages one, two, three, four, five, six, seven of the papers and it's cell papers.
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And we're the ones who read them.
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You know, if you talk to you can monitor what articles people are reading online
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and the most read articles will be Harry and Meghan.
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So it's a great soap opera and it's going to run and run if they do come back.
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I mean, David Blunkett, the former Home Secretary, very well-respected Home Secretary across the aisle, as it were, and another anonymous former Home Secretary, who both said he should...
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Harry and Meghan should receive protection.
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They sort of put it at the middle level, not the full monte of a special car and three police officers and so on.
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But I think most sensible people would say that some form of protection, I mean, they're a very high profile couple, as you say, Charlotte, the king's son.
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You know, it's not just, you know, people point to other royals who don't have protection, but they're not the king's son.
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He is fifth in line to the throne and his children sixth and seventh.
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And there was some suggestion, wasn't there that perhaps there could be this temporary arrangement put in place
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and it would be monitored to see you know what the longer term needs would be
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because we still don't know how long they're planning on being here exactly
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so we have to kind of play it by ear
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but i think most people would expect them to have some
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form of protection they're not going to be getting on the
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tube although i gather the tube's not working today uh you know
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and uh wherever they go they'll be surrounded by paparazzi uh they'll be very high profile
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so i i would personally favor them having some form of When you say some form, do you mean armed protection?
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Yeah, yeah, I mean special brands.
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I mean, they also, unfortunately, they generate a lot of hate.
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I mean, it's really unfortunate to see that there's, again, this bullying in the press.
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It's like we've learnt nothing from what happened to Professor Arday a few weeks ago.
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Like, you cannot...
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Just this constant...
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It's almost like made up.
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How much do we really know about roles that Meghan's been offered or not offered?
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But it just...
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They do generate a lot of hate.
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You know, you can say some of it's racism.
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You can say some of it is because of, you know, how people perceive they behave.
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What specifically do you think is the hate, though?
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Because there's been a lot of speculation about, you know, what acting roles she may or may not have.
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Well, I just think it's just as soon as this started, I mean, they must have realised this would happen, given that they left partly because of the press.
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But, you know, immediately it's just nonstop criticism, nonstop, you know, you know, comments about personalities and why they're coming and being,
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you know, attention-seeking and making things up and the rest of it.
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And I'm not, I don't know what's true or not true.
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We know that actually, unfortunately, a lot of our press...
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Well, hang on.
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We do know a few things that are true.
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One is that they gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey where they utterly slagged off the royal family
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and made some extremely personal comments and some unsubstantiated allegations of racism, and that's on the record.
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We know that Harry wrote Spare, where he was vile about his brother, extremely unpleasant about Camilla, um i mean i suppose he would say he was putting
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his side of of course he would say they would both say
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that but nevertheless it's on the record
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and there are certain things you can't unsay you you have to stand by them they haven't created an environment
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which allows them to come back as it were into britain into british society
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if i can put it that way very easily you're right
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but again this points to the kind of contradiction you know he said all these awful things in spare
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and then promptly sold three million copies of the book to us here in Britain.
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So, you know, when Harry and Meghan 1.0, I thought, were going to be a refreshing, fantastic boost to the royal family.
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Harry and Meghan 2.0 has been very bad.
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Harry and Meghan 3.0, let's see whether they can make a way back.
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And don't forget, with the press, it's now personal.
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Harry started this catastrophic action against the Daily Mail.
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They lost.
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He's got a £9.5 million bill to pay, I think, by the end of the week.
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So he'll be putting his hand furiously down the back of the sofa trying to find that money.
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So he is not going to have an easy time.
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And also there's this kind of, it is a perfect drama.
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It's Harry and Meghan versus Will and Kate.
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It's biblical, isn't it?
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That is just going to run and run and run.
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It's rival royal courts.
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It's the things that we watch on TV.
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It is a proper soap opera.
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But again, I think the most catastrophic thing about it is
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that we won't be talking about all the other things that actually could make the normal people in this life, the majority of people with life in this country actually better.
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And you're right, every single royal engagement will now be front page news.
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You know, why is Kate here?
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What's Meghan doing today?
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Look at her face.
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What does this dress mean?
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What does that piece of jewellery mean?
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But as a couple, you know, they could come and they could, in theory, you know, their aim is, I think, to sort of tuck themselves away and try and live some sort of private life.
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And then they could do a lot for charity.
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And there's a role that they could carve out for themselves that I think could change people's opinion?
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100%.
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There's a playbook where they could...
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I mean, I think the British public are very forgiving.
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And I think, you know, Harry, he served in the armed services.
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Meghan is charming.
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There is every opportunity for them to win back the affection of the British public.
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Whether the British press allows that to happen is another question.
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And whether their behaviour allows that to happen is another question.
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Well, I agree with you, Ed.
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I do think that they're going to have to have official armed protection because if you just think of a scenario, Let's say that they don't get armed protection and they have to pay for their own security,
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but that does not involve guys packing heat.
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That makes them a real target.
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I mean, you think of all the malevolent players on the world stage at the moment, both states and independent terrorist groups,
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knowing that the king's son and wife and grandchildren don't have armed protection.
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I mean, it's not a pretty scenario.
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Absolutely.
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In some ways, it could...
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I mean, this sounds a weird thing to say, but it could be a kind of cost-saving measure.
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If somebody feels that they can just march up to them in the middle of the street and cause a ruckus, that's going to require a police response and so on and so forth, and diversion of police resources,
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it's much better to let people know that there is protection.
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And one of the issues was wasn't it
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if they had their coverage from their own protection
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that actually they wouldn't have access to intelligence
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and not necessarily have the latest security information to be able
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to keep them as safe as they should do exactly
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and you know when you have arm protection you know before you go on a visit
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and so on there's scoping of the environment and so on
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and an assessment of the security i do wonder though
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when it's like that collective taxpayer and I agree like they need some protection
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but if it's that collective taxpayers money that's going into this
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but we had no say in them coming back very good
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that's a fair point you didn't charge them a fortune for
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their visa I mean that's what I'm saying there's got to be some compromise
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because they are wealthy individuals and they do come from a very wealthy family yeah
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and they're going to be back well then maybe okay moving
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it on then maybe we should be charging them for the state armed protection
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that they get That's what I'm saying about some kind of compromise.
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I'm not saying that maybe they fit the whole bill, but a gesture.
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But this is the point, isn't it?
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Because it's also partly our fault, as in the political class, because we've got how many ex-prime ministers?
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I've literally lost count.
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I can't now remember if it's seven, eight or nine former prime ministers.
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It's a rugby team form.
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You can serve as prime minister for 47 days and get the full Monty of arm protection.
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What have you got to?
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And so, you know, this VIP protection squad is now stretched very thin in a scenario nobody ever fits.
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It's crazy employment, then, isn't it?
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You know, widening it for MPs as well, you know, so we just don't know what the situation will be moving forward with security, do we, and politicians?
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Yeah, I mean, I don't think MPs will get arm protection.
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I thought, you know, obviously we've talked about this a lot, I'm no longer an MP, but I would certainly expect most MPs will now check in with their local police force in a way
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that I wouldn't have done.
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Ten years ago, holding a surgery, I would not have told my local police where I am or whatever.
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Given your expert contacts, what's your best guess? and what William said to the King about this?
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William, as we know, is the one who is most worried about this return.
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I mean, the King is a forgiving soul and he's much more, I think, open to the idea of rapprochement.
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But William is an intensely private man who is as devoted to his family as Harry is to his
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and who still feels that what Harry did in terms of throwing the family under a bus on TV with various accusations,
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throwing their childhood together into the public domain in a book, it's going to take a very long time to mend.
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However, he's a pragmatist.
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They all are.
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The monarchy has to adapt.
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It's done this before.
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It's been through far graver crises than this.
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I mean, this is a second-order sort of challenge compared to some of the things in recent years.
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But, yeah, this weekend, I think there would have been...
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I'm quite sure it would have popped up because you've got the whole family together in a very sort of private...
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They're kind of a happy place.
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Yes.
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I guess the central question must have been, how can we trust him?
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How can we trust...
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If we do welcome him back, if there is the rapprochement you talk about and he is present at private family events, how can we trust him not to talk about it, to write about it?
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Well, I think Harry and Meghan would have learned that trust has to be earned.
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I mean, it was interesting that the visit earlier in the summer
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when Harry brought the family back to meet the king and Queen Camilla, none of that has leaked out.
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I mean, previously, as we saw in his book, in his documentaries, in his TV interviews, Harry would be quite...
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..just sort of casually drop in, you know, and my father said this, or I've been cut off, or they won't talk to me.
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I think those sort of casual throwaway grievance grumbles are now at an end.
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So that could mark a shift that could make reconciliation easier, do you think?
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I think it certainly points in the right direction.
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I mean, it's going to take a while.
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But, you know, they're not coming back into the royal fold.
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I mean, yes, they're coming back to the UK.
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I'm quite sure that Harry and his family will see a bit more of the king now.
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But obviously everyone's waiting for that rapprochement with his brother.
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and I think we can look to next year really as the focal point of
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that because next year will be the 30th anniversary of the death of Diana
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and that's going to see it as obviously some major events where they will have to be together.
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It's interesting, isn't it?
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Obviously the royal family will be planning those events, won't they, in advance.
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We've got things like the remembrance commemorations, there'll be Christmas at Sandringham and all of this will be a delicate balancing act, won't it?
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It will, it will.
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And, you know, the Palace are good at sort of handling...
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I mean, to say something like Remembrance Sunday, Harry, because he's not an official member of the family, he probably won't be at the official commemoration events.
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But, you know, we are going to see him as of, as we mentioned in your reports today.
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I mean, they'll be back on British soil within the week.
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He's got a big date with his bank manager because he's got a rather large cheque to write.
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Yes, so that's some £9 million he has to find his share of by the end of the week.
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Yes, by the end of the week, and that's just a down payment.
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You know, he's got new schools for the children.
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He's got his charity work.
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He's going to get stuck into his Invictus Games, and then we've got the whole question of, well, what's the Duchess going to do?
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It's OK, we'll come on to her in a second
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but it sounds from what you're saying is
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that he's not going to be quite the outcast figure that
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that prince andrew his uncle is uh and the royal family have shown
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that they can excommunicate somebody if they so choose
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so they do have it in their power um in terms
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of his his personal relationships though i mean we we saw a poll in um
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and i think your paper the mail yesterday saying
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that only four percent of people polled think that it should be William
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that hands out the that offers the the olive branch
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so how will peace be made how will it will there
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be some kind of summit will there be some private dinner
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somewhere what's going to be the mechanism i i i don't
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think it'll be done in a sort of summit fashion i mean that's that's what what would happen
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if there was some urgent um constitutional or managerial issues
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that had to be resolved um i think it would probably
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um happen over uh some sort of walk in the in in the countryside.
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I mean, that's normally how they sort of resolve things in the past, in the open air, and very much in private.
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And trying to keep it as far removed from the officials as possible as well,
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because, you know, Harry always sort of bristles when any sort of courtiers are involved.
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So, I mean, I think if he's coming at it with a positive attitude, then things will slowly start to shift, but there has got to be.
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He is the one who threw the hand grenade into the pond.
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He is the one who's got to, I think, take the first step.
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To make amends from that regard.
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Can we talk about the thorny issue of security then?
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Because we are hearing this morning that he may then have won his battle for royal protection, that it is expected that security will be provided in some form,
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paid by the taxpayer on their return.
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Is that your understanding of the situation?
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Well, the great thing about security is that, as everybody says, we never discuss security.
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So, I mean, we're all sort of scrabbling around.
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But what is clear is that if you are a public figure and there is a known risk,
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then it's beholden on the state to provide some sort of security
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and also to provide the intelligence that leads to that security.
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So that process will be in play.
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I think there's no question that, I mean, they're not going to get what you might call full royal security without riders and that sort of thing.
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That's just simply not going to happen.
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But if there is, if it's, and we've had sort of former Home Secretary David Blunkett over the weekend, who's talked about the different degrees of security.
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I mean, it's not a sort of rigorous, you know, sort of package A, B or C.
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I mean, they'll work it out.
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It's going to depend largely on where they live, what sort of events they're doing.
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But if they're going to things where it's known in advance they're going to be there, then I'm quite sure there'll be state security.
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And we're talking about armed security.
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We're talking about armed police officers.
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Well, yeah.
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I mean, if the risk requires it, I mean, you know, we don't know.
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As I say, they never discuss security.
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But presumably, we were saying this earlier, if an international terrorist group or an international player in anti-British sentiment were to hear
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that Harry didn't have armed protection and his family didn't have armed protection, that would potentially make him a target, wouldn't he?
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He is the king's son.
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I mean, that's why, that's one of the reasons why they never discuss protection.
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I mean, clearly, Harry didn't help matters by talking about the Taliban being killed in Afghanistan.
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I mean, that's not going to help things along.
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But on the other hand, we've seen in the past when you had known threats, I mean, one thinks back to the writer Salman Rushdie,
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you know, when there was a fatwa against him years ago, you know, the state provided security.
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I mean, it's what it does.
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It does witness protection.
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It does it for politicians.
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So, I mean, there will be decisions made, but I think at the same time, everyone, the government in particular,
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the royal household, will be very conscious that it's got to look fair.
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OK, well, we've got, so we think it's a more charity-based role for Harry.
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When we look at what Meghan will be doing, then we had talks about her being in talks with Netflix about having a role in The Gentleman.
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Then it was off, and then the suggestion it might be back on again so what's the detail on that?
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Well, as you both know very well, the world of TV moves in mysterious ways but what we do know,
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certainly from recent months, is that dramas based in the Cotswolds do extremely well, as fans of rivals will attest,
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and so is The Gentleman and we're told that that's where Harry
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and Meghan are looking to live so it would be very convenient.
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I'm afraid I'm not a great fan, or I haven't actually watched The Gentleman Obviously, you're going to have to start now.
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But, yeah, that would be...
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It would make sense for production companies to be looking at her potential, for her people, her talent agencies,
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her agency to be talking about that.
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But, yeah, it's funny.
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One day it was on, one day it was off. Who knows?
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Maybe somewhere there's a sort of script called The Gentlewoman.
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Someone is looking for a lead role.
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Now, there's an idea.
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They're putting the best spin on it they can.
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But just finally, last.. only a couple of sentences.
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When they land here on Thursday, Friday or Saturday, will their tails, whether they admit it or not, be between their legs?
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Yes.
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Absolutely.
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Thank you, Rob Harbin.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “The Sussexes prepare for UK life, but will that include security?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Harry, protection, royal, security, Meghan. This video has 319 sentences and 4322 words to shadow. The speech runs for 21:18. The speaker talks fast, about 203 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| taxpayer noun | /ˈtakspeɪə/ | A person who is subject to, liable for, or pays tax. |
| rapprochement noun | /ɹæpɹoʊʃˈmɑn/ | The reestablishment of cordial relations, particularly between two countries; a reconciliation. |
| compromise noun | /ˈkɑmpɹəˌmaɪz/ | The settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions. |
| scenario noun | /sɪˈnɛəɹioʊ/ | An outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events. |
| commemoration noun | /kəˌmɛməˈɹeɪʃən/ | The act of commemorating; an observance or celebration to honor the memory of some person or event. |
| grandchild noun | /ˈɡɹændˌtʃaɪld/ | A child of someone's child. |
| nonstop adverb | /ˌnɑnˈstɑp/ | Without stopping; without interruption or break |
| catastrophic adjective | /ˌkætəˈstɹɑfɪk/ | Of or pertaining to a catastrophe. |
| remembrance noun | /ɹɪˈmɛm.bɹəns/ | The act of remembering; a holding in mind, or bringing to mind; recollection. |
| monarchy noun | /ˈmɑnɚki/ | A government in which sovereignty is embodied within a single, today usually hereditary head of state (whether as a figurehead or as a powerful ruler). |
| resolve verb | /ɹɪˈzɑlv/ | To find a solution to (a problem). |
| soap noun | /soʊp/ | A metallic salt derived from a fatty acid, commonly used in cleaning products. |
| rival noun | /ˈɹaɪvəl/ | A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary… |
| attest verb | /əˈtɛst/ | To affirm to be correct, true, or genuine. |
| beholden adjective | /bɪˈhəʊldən/ | Obligated to provide, display, or do something for another; indebted, obliged for a bounden duty. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| come on to verb | To start to. | |
| cut off verb | /ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf] | To remove by cutting. |
| going forward adverb | In the immediate future and beyond. | |
| hand out verb | To distribute; to give out, either by hand or as if so (figuratively). | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| pop up verb | To come up with a "pop" sound. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- That's the problem, isn't it?
- What specifically do you think is the hate, though?
- What have you got to?
- Given your expert contacts, what's your best guess?
- Is that your understanding of the situation?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | there's still been · that's already been signed · I've spoken |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | will be granted · be paid · been signed |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | protection, which will · ones who read · one who is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 107 contractions and reduced forms, such as they're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thorny /ˈθɔɹni/, throne /θɹəʊ̯n/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: rapprochement /ɹæpɹoʊʃˈmɑn/, commemoration /kəˌmɛməˈɹeɪʃən/, contradiction /ˌkɑːntɹəˈdɪkʃən/, allegation /ˌæl.ɪˈɡeɪ.ʃən/, diversion /dɪˈvɝ.ʒən/
- Long words — get the stress right: commemoration /kəˌmɛməˈɹeɪʃən/, catastrophic /ˌkætəˈstɹɑfɪk/, contradiction /ˌkɑːntɹəˈdɪkʃən/, excommunicate /ˌɛkskəˈmjunəkeɪt/, furiously /ˈfjʊə̯ɹi.ə̯sli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like taxpayer, rapprochement, compromise.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.