The PR Whodunnit?

[StormzyinaTCup]

So what is this all about then?
Who did it and why?
And whoever's PR team is responsible needs tearing off a strip, it's going to backfire.
I know there was a thread about this earlier today but it was deleted due to questions over how genuine the OP was. As this story is everywhere at the moment I thought I would have a try myself and see how we go. Just a couple of preemptive points:

1. My MN credentials are rock solid so don't anyone even go there😁
2. Lets also keep some perspective, at the end of the day we are talking about a bunch of privileged and entitled millionaires who likely wouldn't even pee on us if we were on fire and that goes for both 'sides'.

https://news.sky.com/story/meghan-wrote-to-king-charles-expressing-concern-about-unconscious-bias-in-the-royal-family-reports-12863044

🤞🤞🤞🤞

I think you're spot on, @Serenster

INTERESTING. So on balance, it looks like it could have been from the Sussexes side but probably not someone official but they somehow have some sort of plausible deniability that means they can send out letters from lawyers perhaps.

Either way, it’s not all that damaging, just gossipy. If Harry says they’re not racist and Meghan says it wasn’t malicious, they should know!

Indeed, that should really end that part of the conversation at least, @DuchessOfPort

Well that 'plausible deniability' is doing A LOT of heavy lifting

Whatever was in that letter - there was quick response
I'm not sure I've seen such a volte face

Whatever was in that letter - there was quick response
I'm not sure I've seen such a volte face

From Valentine Low? Indeed, which is why I said I thought his reference to lawyers letters in his tweet very interesting - it read to me like he was suggesting he had been contacted by lawyers (the Sussexes’, presumably) and told to retract his earlier tweet.

(And before you ask why they didn’t get similar retractions from other royal reporters, there is very clearly a history with Valentine Low and the Times, who first broke the story of Meghan bullying her staff. If my speculation is accurate, I can well imagine Meghan’s legal team being delighted at the chance to get one back at him. It makes a Saturday spent working on letters for your clients much more satisfying 🤣🤣)

INTERESTING. So on balance, it looks like it could have been from the Sussexes side but probably not someone official but they somehow have some sort of plausible deniability that means they can send out letters from lawyers perhaps

Yes this seems the only logical explanation.

Also - the article quotes the Palace discussing what it assumes are Meghan’s reasons for not attending (feeling Archie and Lilibet are being overlooked and irritation that the palace didn’t declare them Prince and Princess )

That to me suggests that the original story about the racism letters came from elsewhere (Sussex source) and then the journalist approached the palace for their response.

You forget to mention that Low also talks about a lawyer's letter from the palace, as well the Sussexes.

As for the Palaces' PR being "galactically stupid", I think that's a great phrase. Their comms on race-related issues in particular have been galactically stupid.

Consider for instance the ham-fisted trotting out of random black people to stand next to various royals in the months after the Oprah interview, for photo ops.

Consider too the mishandled Lady Susan Hussey debacle.

Add to that Charles promising to look into links between the monarchy and slavery in the same period that his propagandists are out crowing how pleased the king is that the only member of colour in his family is not coming to his Coronation.

And consider the "Kate wanted Meghan to sit at the back of the Abbey" story from Bower, followed swiftly by a "friendly" soft soap story about Kate's (not quite) ancestor freeing Meghan's ancestor from slavery, rebranded as "servitude".

Consider the hideous debacle that was Kate and William's Caribbean tour, complete with a tone deaf standing on a driving landrover images, as though we are still in the 50s. No surprise that the anti-monarchy sentiment in Jamaica swelled after that.

Away from race, the backfiring story about Harry and family being evicted to make room for Andrew, and to make the Royal Lodge available to the Wales because, as one KP friendly journo somberly put it, the Wales deserve to live at Royal Lodge because their kids have to go to birthday parties at house bigger than their own. Oh the horror.

I always thought the royals and royal reporters were clumsy and tone deaf. Am glad to have found a new phrase. Galactically stupid is exactly right.

I think it's pretty clear it's come from the Sussex camp, but "unofficially" so they can say "not us". Similar to when Meghans friends spontaneously decided to speak to People magazine without telling her.

It puts them back in the UK press as victims, doesn't throw Charles under the bus, and paints William, Catherine & Camilla as villains. Harry's preferred targets.

It's a couple of weeks till the Coronation so makes Meghan's excuses for not going a teeny bit more palatable for their US fans.

There is really no PR benefit from KP or BP leaking this. Especially when they've had some PR "wins" lately (the birthday photo, W&Ks visit to Birmingham).

All pretty tawdry and tiresome.

Also the Telegraph is H&Ms preferred UK publication.

So typical of H&M to provide this story to the telegraph (well known for supporting them) a matter of days before the coronation. This correspondence has been lying around since the Oprah lie fest so how 'odd' it appears now. Let's just keep fuelling the flames. This has come from the sussexes as BP wouldn't release private correspondence because they just want the whole thing to die down.

The Oprah lie fest made clear references to racism both to Meghan and their children, so they can just stop fudging it with this unconscious bias nonsense.

A remark of some kind was made to Harry in an unmalicious way (as Meghan admits herself..well there's a turnaround!) which he chose to relay to her at the time as though it was malicious (fuck knows what weird codependency was going on there) remark, and Meghan thought it would be a good idea to signal this to the world during the interview, as a reason for her victimhood.

Personally I don't think it's a remark that should have been made by anyone but a misstep of sensitivity, isn't a hanging offence. And this is what this nasty couple have done for 2 years, set out to destroy a family's reputation. From Harry's POV, it would have been great to also bring down the monarchy as his jealousy of William meant he would have been happy for William never to be king.

Charles reached out to her personally after the Oprah show as he was clearly still taken in by the superficial charm and believed her lies were something other than a manipulative alteration of the facts, to suit her narrative...victimhood. I just hope he sees her for what she is and also sees his son as the embodiment of all Diana's faults, and sadly none of her lovely redeeming qualities.

The last few posts do put in mind the whole TM letter/friends/'People' magazine incident.

If it is the Sussexes and this is the start of a PR campaign then they are walking a tight line and their PR needs to be absolutely top drawer otherwise any 'Operation Steal Your Thunder' or whatever they may have planned could easily backfire

They will have something planned I'm sure, likewise the Palace PR will be on full alert so it's going to be interesting from this point of view and as always the media will be salivating at the thought.

Consider for instance the ham-fisted trotting out of random black people to stand next to various royals in the months after the Oprah interview, for photo ops

@MrsMaxDeWinter Yeah, bit like Alison Hammond last week in Birmingham when K&W visited and wanted to meet her. "I got a last minute call from Kensington Palace" (her words). New best friends and selfies together.

So typical of H&M to provide this story to the telegraph

They didn't. By the way, are you now sticking with this one name??

Hmm

Just before the letter story broke ?

Damage limitation if it was William who made the remark

Or the usual 'look we take photos with black people - so we are definitely not racist ! Nosiree ! No racism here . Definitely not '

Honestly @StormzyinaTCup the Coronation is a historic once in a life time occasion.

It is a really poor show that the thunder is being stolen by a woman who will be absent on the day.

If the press wanted the focus to be on the Coronation, they would stop this circus.

Clearly the Coronation is missing something if its thunder can be that easily stolen by an absent woman! All that pomp and majesty. All that money spent. All those ancient gowns and jewels. The stone of destiny. But an actress who posters here say is D list overshadows a whole King?

This can only happen if people want it to.

The press should focus on Charles and Camilla.

The press should focus on Charles and Camilla

And therein lies the problem!

As I said elsewhere, I think there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction about this Coronation. The massive cost to the economy etc. This is a handy diversion I feel

@StormzyinaTCup Yes, it's a pathetic attempt by the Sussex camp to pull attention away from the coronation but it will last a day and be in the recycling bin tomorrow. It's just a quiet news day pre coronation, and won't derail anything. They have form for this and they will be putting up photos of their kiddies star studded birthday party with days. Money on it.

Fortunately their relevance is slipping away by the day, so maybe they will actually get on with their charity and humanitarian work and leave our country and monarchy alone?

Within days!

Based on what everyone has said here, I think BP threw KP under the bus. Leading up to the coronation, I also think Charlse is facing questions from the commonwealth or remaining states and this issue needed clearing up. Technically it can now be put to rest or changes the direction of the conversation. Charles has gone into race overdrive which tells me something is off.

It also shows that Charles and Meghan get on, not surprised at all but it also points fingers to where it had always pointed to. Interesting how it would be done in itself.

I notice the traffic level seems low, most people don’t seem that fussed by Meghan’s latest letters.

I fear they are now over exposed,

They are irrelevant you say, and yet you post about them daily!! Changing names to do it too. I am glad I inspired the last name change. You are very welcome!

"I got a last minute call from Kensington Palace" (her words). New best friends and selfies together.

Alison Hammond said quite clearly to Kate on the video in Birmingham: “Lovely to see you again” when they met so they clearly already knew each other, so not quite the story you are pushing, but don’t let that get in the way of it (I know you won’t). 😀

Three or more of these threads have already been deleted. Secondly, it also proves Meghan was right. That's not what these threads and newspapers thrive on.

Technically it can now be put to rest or changes the direction of the conversation.

I rather think Harry, you know, the only person we know who was present for the conversation saying “we never said it was racist” and “knowing that family as I do, it was not racist” actually did that rather better than this article did.

Has to be Team Meghan, has to be