RoaringKitten the US is currently preoccupied with our mad, bad president trying to start a war with Iran and the effect that will have on gasoline prices. Nobody really cares all that much about shenanigans in Buckingham Palace right now.
@Sooverthemill
^I completely agree with your post of Thu 09-Jan-20 11:32:47.
M is genuinely imo committed to equalities and women's rights and empowerment and Andrew doesn't sit easily with that. He has had no real flack from the RF about his poor judgement ( at best). And with no constitutional role and a hell of a lot of heirs before him Harry isn't needed^
Agree with @BlingLoving Thu 09-Jan-20 10:21:51 too.
...one or both of them will accept paid work in the form of speaking roles etc. They'll fundraise massively for their foundation which they will then be very involved in how it puts out its funds (think Bill and Melinda Gates).
And throughout that, they'll have the support of most people in North America (USA and Canada) and a huge swathe of the UK population who have a more modern view. The old Royal Reporters and the forelock tugging types who are outraged that a 30 something grandson doesn't spend christmas with his Grandmother are not going to be in their sphere any more and their view, I think, will be that as those people aren't the ones who help them raise money and change the world, and as they're not accepting money from those people, they're not interested.
And YYY to all the criticism of management.
banivani Thu 09-Jan-20 09:43:18 your post is spot on.
BP has a lot to learn from the Swedes.
The government and the Royal Family and the entire frothing, inward looking /asshole-gazing British Establishment and press are failing to grasp what a massive opportunity this is for British 'soft power' globally, and what a massive gift to British 'soft power' Meghan Markle is (or was) if only it had been played right.
Here was an extremely intelligent, articulate, beautiful, talented, charming woman from another country, a different culture, with an education that encouraged a spirit of charity and giving and using your talents to the full, with family and racial origins distinct from those of the usual marriage pool into which the RF tapped, with the potential to take the Royal Family brand and with it the British brand and really run with both - and nobody wanted to see any of that.
She was treated instead as a sponger, a stranger, and someone looking out for what the Royal Family could do for her.
There is a limit to how far the likes of Downton Abbey and Doc Martin and Hyacinth Bucket and even Sherlock Holmes or James Bond can take Brand Britain. The potential of H&M was far greater, and even now, nobody is able to see how this surprise could be turned into opportunity. The Buckingham Palace statement was baffling. Airing dirty linen in public is always a terrible idea. If BP put out any statement at all it should have covered up the fact that there have been no discussions with H&M about their decision. A no statement response would have been better than the one they issued. Whoever is doing their PR is a complete amateur. They should have said they look forward to working with H&M to make sure the future is bright for them and restating the hope that Commonwealth ties will become all the stronger as a result of H&M's decision.
Now the press are seemingly in competition amongst themselves to see who can be the most obnoxious over the decision, there are shrill calls from the public of 'don't let the door hit you on the way out' and obvious disarray in Buckingham Palace, on top of the gross mishandling of the Andrew scandal (and all in the context of the Brexit decision and subsequent political mess) and it all makes Britain look like a country completely failing to see or grasp reality, a country determined to shoot itself in the foot, publicly.
I ALSO think their PR is aimed at people like them and not the average man in the street. And I'm not sure if that's a purposeful strategy because ultimately they want to be big in the USA or if it's a sign of their inability to understand the reality of the UK public and media BlingLoving Thu 09-Jan-20 09:57:30
I suspect they have decided to bypass the UK public and media completely and treat them as irrelevant, which actually, given the global scope of their plans, they are.