Do the Royal Family just think we are really really stupid?

[Bex5490]

Just that really. From Harry’s car chase to Prince Andrew being at a Pizza Express kid’s party.

And now we’re supposed to believe that the country’s biggest PR machine in the middle of a media storm just let Prince William take a casual Mothers Day pic on his iPhone, let the missus edit it and then post it to the world?

😒

I'm another one who doesn't understand why doctoring a photo was the obvious choice here. Louis drawing a card? Kate doing a short voiceover wishing mums everywhere a wonderful day?

It is absolutely not "Kate did it herself, whoops, soz". I run a tiny shoestring organisation and even I have access to better graphic design help. The have a comms team, and part of their job will be familiarity with AP guidance. Let alone access to trusted photographer, editors, sympathetic photojournalists who could've explained that this wasn't going to fly. It's really quite odd imo.

And I'm another one who is usually a bit "Meh, rather them than me" about the royals but it's now caught my attention.

I’m also bemused by it; and why they are saying it’s minor editing. It’s factually not. And most folks know it.

And now reports she just wanted the kids to look good and the best pic possible . It’s her face that has had rhe major editing, the pixels are compressed so the image has been swapped out for another, only really the kids hands and their clothes were edited, it’s not the kids faces that were messed with. It’s Kate’s.

they have dug themselves a major hole and instead of stopping digging, they are keeping digging. And there has to be a reason for that.

The Royal Family have all the power and all the control and get to be proactive on this. They don’t have to respond to the howling mob. But when they do communicate, they shouldn’t lie and deceive.

Same here @TheWayTheLightFalls .

For all their carefully curated relatability, they are a billion dollar brand and the most powerful family in the UK. We deserve better.

Well please enlighten us? William is about to leave Kate so it’s important she’s looking marvellous so no one can claim he left her when she was unwell? I mean just what do you think it is - beyond wanting a nice photo? Which might not have been the best course but really isn’t all that sinister…

"We deserve better" Right...

They don’t have to respond to the howling mob

That was their fatal mistake. The howling mob don’t have Kate’s interests at heart - they are just serial disrupters on SM. You see it on here - demanding a thanks - when all of these posters know full well this was done repeatedly in writing and verbally. There is never enough to satisfy the beasts - because they don’t want to be satisfied.

Responding to them in any way is just handing them the bullets to shoot you with. Starve them and maintain dignity.

KP should have kept to their stance on privacy on ill health and an update at Easter. Looks like this was a rush job - in response to the ghouls and was never planned as it was complied the day before issue.

Urgh, who cares

But we do @wincarwoo ! Otherwise we’re just children being told bedtime stories by the press acting for paedophile / pegging / tampon-wishing / wife-beating / philandering millionaires. Is that what you’d like? As long as the women look pretty and demure at the Trooping of the Colour?

then they stupidly forgot to scrub the metadata!
I'm probably being infected by the paranoia virus that is in the air but my line of thinking is that the data was left to be discovered as a side swipe to kate because she had refused to co operate about being seen in public/doing a voice message/issuing a more direct thank you to well wishers.

Hunting animal abusers the lot of them
Time to get rid

I think we shall have to disagree @RoseAndRose .As far as I'm concerned the RF absolutely should take a very hefty slice of the blame for being media fodder .
Public opinion is important to them ,they court and manipulate it .
As for There is a proper public interest in the Royal Family, in relation to its constitutional and representational roles.as far as I'm concerned they have no right to any constitutional role - their power stems from a historic wresting of power by violence and corruption .They don't represent anyone but themselves and from this and other debacles they clearly don't buy into the notion of being a good role model either.

That was their fatal mistake. The howling mob don’t have Kate’s interests at heart - they are just serial disrupters on SM. You see it on here - demanding a thanks - when all of these posters know full well this was done repeatedly in writing and verbally. There is never enough to satisfy the beasts - because they don’t want to be satisfied.

Responding to them in any way is just handing them the bullets to shoot you with. Starve them and maintain dignity.
Agree with you.
The more I watch the circus and the wheels falling off, the more I think there was a lot of sense in the late Queen's approach to the media.

None of this situation needed to happen, thought I'm still surprised that a well-oiled press office would get things so wrong.

I don’t agree that all Brits are nasty. I have many friends and colleagues that I see regularly and can honestly say this subject regarding RF has never been talked about. I think that people IRL didn’t give it any headspace until the media started stirring ! Absolutely bloody awful carry on .
Hope KP now just closes all communication with the media ,untilCatherine is well enough to deal with all those awful people.

👏👏👏
Your post really has made my day @VampireWeekday and put this tiny scandal into perspective.

I just had a look at the Daily Mail, and as expected, there are a couple of articles where the blame of this PR disaster is being very subtly placed on Kate. Nothing really changes in the press closest to the royals - they will always blame the women outside the family for whatever problems they have. First Diana, then Meghan, now Kate.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13186177/Kate-Middleton-Mothers-Day-picture-Prince-William-apology.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13186213/Palace-Kate-Middleton-photo-conspiracy-theories-William-Mothers-day.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13185295/Kate-wanted-photo-blunder-honesty-feels-awful-deeply-upset-conspiracy-theories-health.html

@Mentquit yes. I agree in real life generally not, but given the anonymity of a keyboard...

Again, for the gloating non-Brits: the monarchy isn't a bunch of B list celebrities. They are part of the structure of the government.
Why are they part of the structure of government ?What is their right to be so ? No accountability ,no connection with the real world ,no mandate from anyone .

There is a lot of evidence to suggest it is true. The way so many Brits worship them and line the streets waving little flags. They way they bow to all the silly pageantry and curtsy to people whose only achievement is to be richer than everyone else, through generational stolen wealth.
If people still worship this, with everything they know about them, then they must be stupid or gaslit or have Stockholm syndrome.
King Charles' actual best friend was Jimmy Saville. An absolute creep. But no one mentions that any more, it's all just about Andrew and his paedo friend.
Charles other mate was the paedophile bishop Ball.
It's all a big fantasy that these people are somehow better than any of us in the queue in Gregg's or in an office or unemployed. But try to tell a lot of Brits that and they go quite mad.
So you can't blame the Royal Family for capitalising on this arrangement at every opportunity.

Like it or not, we are a Constitutional monarchy. They are there because we have no choice. Because we have no choice, they need to be held to account by the rest of Parliament, the courts, and the media. 99% of the time, all three roll over and do what the Royals want. Now the media, for about 5 minutes has actually pulled them up on something because they lied to them. They are already rowing back and blaming everyone but William for this, when as head of his household he has responsibility for his team. He can't be ' working as hard as a CEO' or whatever the puff piece is this week about how hard he works behind the scenes and not be held responsible for this.

I'm a non Brit and I don't gloat. I'm the only one in my circle of friends that believe there is a positive role in an institutional hereditary monarchy. A role that can't exist in this day and age, when there is extreme wealth and power without any type of institutional accounting.

Years ago a leak about the Pandora's papers revealed the BRF has enormous amounts of assets in fiscal paradises and the British Parliament shut down any type of enquiry with both parties support. There is no effective accountability for their wealth or the influence exerted over public institutions for which they keep gaining more power and wealth. Until this happens, yes, they are taking people for granted.

@Alondra did you mean to say " does not believe" ?

King Charles' actual best friend was Jimmy Saville. An absolute creep. But no one mentions that any more, it's all just about Andrew and his paedo friend.
Charles other mate was the paedophile bishop Ball.

Williams other Godfather ( not the one who's funeral he couldn't be bothered to turn up to) is Lauren's Van Der Post, who got a 14 year old pregnant when he was in his 40's. Charles has form. I actually think ( hope) it is more that these people are manipulative more than anything particularly sinister about Charles. I think this, and Andrew is what happens when you have a family who is worshipped and allowed to do whatever they like for generations, surrounded by yes men and servants bowing to them from when they were toddlers. They think they know best because no one tells them otherwise so are susceptible to flattety from people much cleverer and more manipulative. They have done this to themselves, as have the people who tie themselves in knots to believe these ordinary none too bright people are our betters and should never be criticised or held to account.

I’m finding the whole thing so odd. On 28 dec at about 6.30 pm there was a blue light convoy from sandringham to what looked like king Edward v11 hospital. Kate and William would have been at sandringham. What you can’t see in the link below is there was also an ambulance.

so who was blue lighted? Charles, Kate, someone else?

is it possible Kate was actually hospitalised on the 28th and they didn’t announce till 16 Jan, till they were sure of the situation? And she was actually in hospital for close to a month?

https://twitter.com/RVdajdynCrclemN/status/1740443152606196096

No. I believe a controlled and transparent monarchy has a role to play in a modern society. It may not be very democratic but democracy lost its value long ago. Most head of states in republican countries are politically chosen by parties or by the biggest millionaires contributing money to a person expecting serious benefits after being elected.

The problem with the BRF is that their soft power is so enmeshed into the British two party political system that it's impossible they are held to account for their wealth.