The Press & The Royals: a discussion

[Whaeanui]

As we were just having a great discussion on this topic I’m going to try again to continue it on a thread of its own. A previous thread highlighted two particularly prolific ‘royal reporters’, but the same is true for all. They often manufacture stories to create divisions between the women in the family, more often than the men. The public seem to feed off this and none of the family get treated very well except the monarch. So do we think it is possible for the royal family to stay relevant and in the publics mind without their unhealthy relationship with the media? Can social media replace this? What do you think they can do to make positive changes that would reflect an understanding of the mental health challenges the media intrusion results in? Also their role in charities that deal with mental health and misogyny, mistreatment of women etc could be impacted by this too. Thoughts?
Please do not derail this thread by discussing your personal dislike of particular members or if they deserve it. I would like a discussion on how the royal family could change the relationship with the press.

I don't believe for a second it wasn't Meghan's camp. Not for a second. Either it's her directly, or it's her through a friend on a "don't let this get back to me" basis, or it's a friend without her knowledge. No way this isn't someone on her team though. I am sick of being gaslit by this random woman!

@tigger2022 😂 gaslit? I don’t think you know what that means. Legal letters from both the palace and Sussexes have gone out and the correspondents are retracting their words so if you don’t believe that then you’re just refusing to accept reality because of your own bias.

I had wondered too about the source of that odd story and who stood to gain from it. I wondered about the palace as there does seem to be a shift in stories towards gentle magnanimous Charles reaching out in peace to both Meghan and Harry, and it’s mean old W&K who are still cross?

It gives the added hint that racism has been downgraded to bias, it implies that Charles wasn’t the one who said it (narrowing down the hit list) and that Meghan agreed that whoever said it did so without malice… trying to de-escalate the whole thing into a storm in a tea cup, and ensuring that if a name ever does come out, it has been downgraded in the public’s eyes to the sort of benign remark that has been discussed at length here before. Then commentators imply its attention seeking from the Sussexes ahead of the coronation, even though it’s got the two-years later feel of the bridesmaid story.

Perfect statement from Meghan I’d say btw.

How are they better protected? With the Wales kids there's at least a good division between public and private (supposed "private" photos of them which get released are incredibly staged, they are not actually private moments being made public, actual private moments stay private, and they are released on social media to mark events). And they don't have paparazzi to the extent W&H had. And what W&K "reveal" about them is always really bland - Charlotte likes cookies, Louis likes Paw Patrol, whatever, so that people feel like something was released but in fact nothing was at all. Even with all that factored in though, the kids are still SO significantly more exposed than previous generations. Hundreds of thousands of people see their SM posts. Photos of them are shared millions of times. And this is like - adults being cruel too. Eg after the Jubilee parade, I saw loads of accounts on Twitter with MM in their avatar talking about which object they thought Louis should have been beaten with. Or Prince George's appearance at the Euros being mocked (literally, a little kid's looks and clothes) 😬

And with the Sussexes it's even worse because there's not a division between public and private: not just because there is no public whatsoever (they don't take the children anywhere in public) it's ONLY private we see, but unlike the Waleses it's not staged family moments, it's actual intimate family moments. Like, I've seen these kids in the bath ffs. I've seen them listening to storytime, I've seen them at bedtime, right after they were born etc etc etc. And this wasn't on social media, the photos were sold to Netflix. So it's even worse than the Wales situation because the Sussex kids learn NOTHING is private, nothing is intimate, everything is for sale, and when you're an adult all that means is you get to curate which parts of your private life you flog to the media.

To an extent, both families are trying to find a path in a tough situation, however I think mistakes have been made.

I don't think things have improved at all - they are certainly different, but I don't agree better.

@Toomanycaketins oh that’s an interesting take on it and about who might benefit. If BP has sent legal letters and it wasn’t the source, then who else? Someone they know who did it without their knowledge? It’s not likely is it. It was a pointless story anyway so seems strange.

Legal threats mean nothing, even if the person retracts. Often they are sent out just to intimidate. Wealthy people cam afford to do that, and often people who can't afford the proceedings to defend themselves will just retract no matter what they think. MM has already had to apologise for misleading a court where she claimed her team had not been involved in briefing FF writers when in fact they had. She has priors. Meghan is the only one who stands to gain, it's her camp, someone might have gone rogue but her statement is laughable nonsense.

@tigger2022 whatever. Please read my opening post, I’m going to stick to what that says this thread is for.

Either that or it’s completely random pot-stirring because they’ve run out of things to write about. 😅

I honestly think it is this. 100%

Meghan is getting on with her life, she hasn't been seen but once in months. The toxic media over here are just beyond desperate for something, anything, to write about her.

The article was badly written, boring and really not worth talking about! That was the best they could come up with.

@Toomanycaketins yes that could be it too!

Meghan's entire career is complaining about trivial arguments from years ago to whip up a circus against her in-laws. Endlessly re-litigating old fights about bridesmaid tights, holding grudges and never forgetting any perceived slight no matter how tiny is what pays her mortgage. You're all talking about wanting her to write a memoir too. To what extent is she "getting on with her life" and "leaving the past behind her" 😂

You need to have a bit more credulity when rich people open their mouthes.

Since December 2022, she has been seen just once, and released Archewell impact statement. That's it.

I would call that getting on with her life.

@tigger2022 one last time, please read the opening post. You’re not posting in the spirit of this site if you come into a thread to derail and start arguments. This is not what this thread is about.

You want me to say M&H are brilliant and persecuted? Don't want to sorry x

@Roussette she released a statement literally yesterday which you yourself have quoted. Their documentary was barely 4 months ago. Variety was just before that.

Since December 2022, she has been seen just once, and released Archewell impact statement. That's it.

I would call that getting on with her life.

Almost like she’s not mentioned at all in Spare, and never came up in all the reviews and interviews about it…! And like there’s been nothing referring to her at all coming from people and Omid Scobie…

Not physically seeing here is not remotely the same as her viewpoints not being heard (loudly).

not at all, I want you to stick to the thread topic and stick to the guidelines of the site and respect other peoples discussions. I don’t engage with bad faith posters so you’ll get no further replies from me.

As a reminder of the thread topic:

So do we think it is possible for the royal family to stay relevant and in the publics mind without their unhealthy relationship with the media? Can social media replace this? What do you think they can do to make positive changes that would reflect an understanding of the mental health challenges the media intrusion results in? Also their role in charities that deal with mental health and misogyny, mistreatment of women etc could be impacted by this too. Thoughts?
Please do not derail this thread by discussing your personal dislike of particular members or if they deserve it. I would like a discussion on how the royal family could change the relationship with the press.

I agree. There's a lot of nitpicking going on, as I am obviously talking about live appearances by Meghan. It has been a very interesting discussion so far, and talk about the media and the RF will increase the closer we get to the Coronation.

Personally, I feel there is a bit of an undercurrent out there, it's just a feeling I get. Because I don't think the Coronation is as popular as some would like. I think the press in the lead up to it is going to be very interesting.

There has been some robust discussion on this thread which has proven that the individuals themselves, their thoughts and intentions aren’t fully knowable to us, we all interpret, like/dislike based on our own viewpoint. I’m not as enamoured with Harry’s approach as some on this thread and maybe more sympathetic to William than some others for example. But that is not the topic of this thread, and it has remained civil and conversational rather than combative and there have been some really insightful contributions. Please don’t try to make it go the way every other thread does.

Thanks so much @Toomanycaketins I’m really enjoying reading your perspectives.

I think it is stirring the pot that the letter information is released just before the coronation. Who released it I wonder.

Yay! For the first time in many threads I agree with @Viviennemary

Someone definitely stirring the pot.

I don't believe this is a 'story'. It was MM who said it, if I recall.

NHS transfers very sick babies to Portland NICU and they need equipment, so yes, ambulances do come in. To top it off, I have only seen cars and people coming in via the main entrance. I'm not aware of any other entrance that is regularly used by visitors and patients. Most of the patients are rich, famous and private, so not sure they would want to be photographed by press coincidentally.

The street is small and clunky. The entrance looks like a hotel entrance or apartment block. Photographers would have to stand across the street and block the sidewalk. The is a station, practically across the road and Marylebone Road is incredibly busy. The street with the main entrance even has buses passing by.

St Mary's meanwhile, is off on a quiet street, with a side entrance for ambulances which would not be obstructed. Lindo Wing is not the main entrance. The worst that could happen is for the reporters to wait in the canteen and therefore get in the way of visitors who are worried about a sick loved one.

I should know have been to both more than once and pass by quite regularly.

Nice try, trying to discredit MM once more though.

You've cut out the first half of the original post which was being challenged