BBC The Princes and the Press

[coniferforest]

Did anyone watch this last night? About William and Harry and their different approaches to the press. Last night was part 1 of 2.

@Roussette

CamillaT is awful she really is... she crows about any bad news on Meghan especially if she breaks a story or non story

Camilla was not asked to name her sources, but she made such a big deal out of it.

Remember that time when she claimed Meghan was Jewish - I guess to ramp up anti semitic hate from her bigoted market.

Did she really @rubicscubicle? Though more bonkers corners of the web have reportedly said the same about Kate as her mother's surname was Goldsmith.

@Roussette

What I also find interesting is this...

CTominey said last night she was enquiring about "how it was going " around the H&M wedding preparations when she got the "Meghan made kate cry" story. Then why did she publish that so called story 6 months later?
Dan W kept the tiara story for 6 months, Thomas kept meghans letter for 6 months, Camilla kept this story for 6 months. The bullying complaint was made after 6 months. Seems to me like that was the point a decision was made.

That will be disputed on here of course. But it's an opinion I have. The negativity ramped up at a certain point for a certain reason.

I think 6 months later was after the success of the Australia tour, wasn't it?

Definitely a strategy was put in place.

I think Camilla does not want to even say the category of her source because it may be quite revealing.

@Bouledeneige
Great and interesting post.

rubics Good precis there.

There's so much that isn't mentioned when it comes to K&W. I agree rubics. The Flybe cheap flights for instance. No-one said that two empty planes had to fly hundreds of miles to enable this stunt to take place. Rather negating the whole 'we're flying budget' scenario.

And W wanting to give the press pack on the plane a group hug. If that is not normal, the timing was crap. His SIL was being pulled apart on the press and he's offering group hugs.

I think Camilla does not want to even say the category of her source because it may be quite revealing

Weeeelllll...... the same time as she's writing toxic articles about MM in the DT, there is Carole Middleton's first interview. I have NO idea if it's true or not, but I've read somewhere they are friendly. (yes, I know, it could be a load of BS, no need to point that out to me lol)

@Roussette

I think Camilla does not want to even say the category of her source because it may be quite revealing

Weeeelllll...... the same time as she's writing toxic articles about MM in the DT, there is Carole Middleton's first interview. I have NO idea if it's true or not, but I've read somewhere they are friendly. (yes, I know, it could be a load of BS, no need to point that out to me lol)

There are other reasons she wouldn’t want to say anything about it though. It leaves open the potential it’s a really interesting source, if it’s actually an ex-employee’s second cousin then of course she’ll say “oooh I couldn’t possibly reveal my super secret sources!”

Plus if you sometimes allow yourself to be drawn on who a source is, people then read things in to other times when maybe you won’t be drawn on it.

She just revelled in her ooooh can't tell you.

I find her objectionable

Hearing first-hand about the tactics the press use was the most interesting part of the programme for me. I mean, I was aware of them before but this time the information was coming straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak!

For me too
Being media trained I already have a handle on a lot of it, but nevertheless it was interesting to see the journos themselves questioned (even if not rigorously enough for my taste)

Still can't quite see why the palaces got in such a snit though - after all most of it's been old news - so perhaps it's just that they'd rather it wasn't raked up again?

Still can't quite see why the palaces got in such a snit though - after all most of it's been old news - so perhaps it's just that they'd rather it wasn't raked up again?

Since they didn’t have advance viewing of it, maybe they thought it would contain certain things that actually it didn’t. Rose whatshername wasn’t mentioned, as someone said above.

there is Carole Middleton's first interview. I have NO idea if it's true or not, but I've read somewhere they are friendly. Oh wow how very convenient ! Yes it’s Ma Middleton, doing everything she can to tarnish the new SIL. .
Gosh Only on MN Carole Middleton is portrayed as a force to be reckoned with .

Maybe I have imagined this but weren't there suggestions last week that the second episode had been changed, possibly following the latest court events? If that is the case maybe the RF were anticipating worse than what was broadcast?

@Bouledeneige maybe Harry didnt want to marry the kind of woman who was happy to be a bland pastiche in public? It takes a certain personality to be happy to behave like that for years and years. After all marriage has to work for the individual as well.

julieca I agree - that's what I said. He wanted someone more feisty but that was never going to be a good fit as most stronger women would run a mile. Unless, like Meghan they did no research and didn't know what they were letting themselves into (If we believe that!).

Harry seemed to get on extremely well with Kate before Meghan came on the scene. They seemed very close. I don't think he was actively looking for a completely different woman from her. It just happened that M came along and he fell for her. I think he thought she could handle whatever was thrown at her because she was an actress and used to being in public etc. I think he underestimated her much of a shock the whole Royal system was going to be for her, especially as she is American. For someone who has grown up in that very odd structure, it's all they know. It must be hard to see it from an outsider's perspective. His previous girlfriends had been on the periphery of it all.
He had obviously not made it clear that she wouldn't be able to say and do exactly what she wanted to once married.

I haven't read everyone's comments since last night's - will go back and do that now.

I was totally TRANSFIXED by Meghan's lawyer having one really thick eyebrow and one thin eyebrow. It's like she was being interviewed halfway through her makeup being done! Have a look.

I too think Meghan and Harry thought she was used to being in the public eye as an actress, and totally underestimated the major negative press she would go on to receive.

Harry seemed to get on extremely well with Kate before Meghan came on the scene
it could be that it was made to look like it, maybe they were not as close and just friendly.

I know that he said she’s like the sister they never had but he also said that his family is like the family Meghan never had so I think either he just says stuff that he doesn’t really mean or turns against everyone very easily.

I think all the RF say stuff publicly to portray a very close family. They normally prefer to keep any splits secret.
But abroad it was reported that Kate and Harry were close, the issue was between the brothers.

@meercat23

Maybe I have imagined this but weren't there suggestions last week that the second episode had been changed, possibly following the latest court events? If that is the case maybe the RF were anticipating worse than what was broadcast?

Make you wonder what they thought was going to be said and how they could possibly know if it hadn't actually happened...

Coincidentally, the bizarre and out of bloody nowhere denial in the newspapers at the weekend was "Charles is not the royal racist".

That just makes it seem as if Charles is a racist.

The statement that Prince Charles is not a racist is not out of the blue. A book being published in the US by an author famed for making spurious and unsubstantiated claims says it was him that speculated about the colour of Harry and Meghan’s child.

@Bouledeneige

The statement that Prince Charles is not a racist is not out of the blue. A book being published in the US by an author famed for making spurious and unsubstantiated claims says it was him that speculated about the colour of Harry and Meghan’s child.

Yes, but the headlines came right before the doco aired - the same doco the palace was so alarmed about and wanted advance view of. The palace clearly thought the royal racist would be named, and their refutation was for Charles.

But it would be better to say nothing. Most people wont hear the claims in a book.
Its like having an article in the newspapers saying you said you are not a paedophile.

@PicsInRed very good point.

@Roussette

I honestly think it was never going to work. There is too much going on behind the scenes... too much of the press pitting one woman against the other, one couple against the other. Add into that Harry's huge dislike of the press, and William's protection of the RF at all costs and it was never going to be.

However, I have disagreed for years about Harry wanting number 1 status. I honestly honestly don't think this. I just think he was too damaged by what happened to his Mother, and him and Meghan wanted to do it their way and given the RF haven't changed much since 1950, it was never going to work. If there is a middle management team, i.e. some of the courtiers, they ought to be changing and refreshing them. They need new forward thinking people in there.

If only, the RF had tried to modernise a bit a long time ago, it might've been a very different story.

The courtiers on the York and Cambridge sides seemed pretty diverse and young, with lots of women and included Americans, Australians, plus a Ghanaian equerry.