Backseat PR drivers: Just for fun how would you manage the Royal PR?

[wordler]

Light-hearted or serious suggestions - let's get all those bright ideas from us backseat drivers on the royal and ex royal communications output / and or what to do to improve their public images going forward. Or what not to do.

Pick a team or do them all:

Charles and Camilla

The Wales Fam

Harry and Meghan

The best of the rest - Edinburghs, Anne's clan

For the brave among you - The Yorks

Republicans, play along with your worst suggestions that you hope they will do to bring down the monarchy.

I don't know this poster, I am not on here much but I can repeat again...I don't wish divorce on anyone. I stated that quite clearly

It's not about thinking they're 'useless' or not. It's about the weird 'phase out' theories circulating. We all know the source of those 'theories', and the motivation behind them. Let us not pretend otherwise.

I think it would be better to keep speculation about the state of the marriages out of it. None of us can know what is going on with either couple and it's not relevant to the PR conversation.

I also don't think comparisons are reasonable either - William and Kate have a constitutional role and responsibilities, Meghan and Harry do not. Of course Harry doesn't do what a working royal should do because he isn't one. I don't really understand what Harry is trying to achieve TBH.

I think it will be a poor look for Kate if she exclusively does things like attend Wimbledon which she clearly really enjoys and shirks any meaningful work. I'm not saying she's doing that yet but I do think it's a distinct possibility.

Anyway, back to some of my favourites, the Edinburghs. I think Sophie needs some high impact patronages because she'd work hard. Is the National Theatre one still free? This is in addition to unfettered access to the jewel vault, of course

Funny really, the Press pushed her so hard as "the new Diana" (which was terribly unfair) then there was the screw up with the fake sheikh hard upon. She (and Edward) have done so, so well in pulling back from that and just being models of getting on with it and supporting the monarchy.

Well we can only take your word for that so it’s irrelevant really, what isn’t irrelevant is the influx of ‘new’ posters to the RF threads who have very strong in depth opinions which always are to put down William and Kate as much as possible and promote Harry and Meghan as the second coming while simultaneously claiming they are no H&M fan girl, it’s like a script which all new posters seem to follow.

The family need H&M back in in some capacity, it’s just a fact. This public playing out of family drama needs to stop for the sake of the monarchy- we’ve had years of this nonsense now. It’s a pre-Covid beef. From another world in time away now. it makes the UK royals and H&M look trashy and drags down tbe whole facade. Perfectly OK to have an international- domestic split of duties. They’re none of them negotiating key trade agreement for God’s sake. It is literally gladhanding and making people feel special internationally and being charming and promoting UK culture and as a place to visit. The serious stuff is the UK royal hosting of foreign dignitaries which Charles and Camilla or William and the rest of the family will do very well. While making it obvious it’s them with the serious weight as royals

The family just really need more hands on deck, especially if you fast forward 5 or 10 years. Sophie is great but she will have to slot on when Anne retires. So not swelling the numbers. Edward has no profile and presumably that’s how he likes it, so he’s not going to suddenly take any big family role.

I do wonder if pressure will start to build on their kids to become public figures when they’re older which will not be good- another reason to keep spreading out the jobs among the fullest possible extent of the family.

Meanwhile, if they can’t work this out, William’s kids as teenagers are going to have a huge weight of expectations placed on their shoulders. Which must be the last thing they want especially with Kate having to be quite low key or effectively fully retired.

So it is hugely in William’s interest to negotiate and patch things up with his brother and sister in law. Keep it very calm and just have a super practical set of agreements drawn up where everyone comes away feeling they have got a little bit of something they wanted, if not everything.

That’s because they were there in a flounce, and seemed to want to waltz into an official ceremonial position. They needed to be seen to pay their dues.

If they had been seen in the front row of some Maple Leafs games, done some interviews about how much they love Canada and Canadians, been papped at some social events (TIFF opening night gala? AGO Art Bash?) and done some visible charity work (real charity work, not just galas) they would have been adopted. Meghan is actually really good at gladhanding, regardless of the rest of it, and would win people over.

They shouldn’t have done the Oprah interview and Harry shouldn’t have written the book. Canadians on the whole do not like whingers, or negativity.

It is literally gladhanding and making people feel special internationally and being charming and promoting UK culture and as a place to visit.

How can people promote British culture when they don't even live there?

"Oh, Britain is wonderful and you should visit. But personally I choose to put the Atlantic Ocean between it and myself."

And I'm not sure you understand royal duties. They do not work for the Tourist Board. Nor are royals divided into 'serious' royals and 'get to do all the fun stuff' royals who live on another continent. That's not how it works.

And while the royals may be spread a bit more thinly than they'd like, the answer does not involve the two backstabbers in Montecito. Most European royal houses only have the monarch, consort and heir as working members, so it makes sense if Britain moves in that direction too, even if it's happening a bit more quickly than had been planned. William will never welcome back the people who caused his family, especially his wife, so much pain. It's not going to happen.

Atlantic World College ? That’s an excellent idea actually.

If I were Harry and Meghan - which I’m not! - I would have been honest about my desire to leave royal life and live accordingly.

I would have been inclined to buy an ordinary rich but middle class American type house in a gated estate - such as one sees in My Lottery dream home. Secure but not palatial. Lower running / security costs. Relatable!!

I would have chosen to live (or look like I was living) a very (to the press) boring life thereafter. (Eg taking the Daniel Radcliffe tip of buying multiples of the same outfit so as to defeat the paparazzi as it looks like the ‘same’ photo! They’d soon have got bored following me to non exciting destinations like Publix supermarket to buy my groceries.)

I’d have used the money I had to allow me to avoid paid employment to volunteer or taken a low paying job for a charity I loved and found fulfilling and just kept my head down doing that for a few years. Very non glamorous, low key, genuine stuff. No prominent role - no public statements. Harry could have worked in a very low key capacity for one of the numerous US veteran charities.

After a few years of this (and absolutely no public statements about my family (!)), I would have earned the respect, or at worst, the indifference, of most of the public who would see that I genuinely wanted a different lifestyle and was prepared to graft in the interests of others without making a big song and dance about it.

I would have made sure that Meghan understood the cultural differences between the US and U.K. and that American hyperbole and grandstanding goes down very poorly in the U.K. and looks ‘false’ to us. Perhaps a reminder of the biblical statement that when you give to charity, your right hand shouldn’t know what your left hand is doing! I would have tried to make sure that Meghan understood that social media trolls are not reflective of true public opinion. By and large the British were pretty supportive of them and we’re a forgiving lot. Look at Camilla’s popularity now due to her hard work and dogged service.

This would have been the way of maintaining the option of returning to the U.K. when they wanted and probably, in time, in great popularity - for what that’s worth!.

It’s strange that after the rumours of the past few weeks that Harry is wanting back in the fold that new posters come on here clamouring for just that, the RF need Meghan and Harry! They can do all the glamorous international stuff! No, if they and their supporters desperately want them back in Meghan and Harry can do the opening of a library in Wigan on a Wednesday, the extension of Bury St Edmunds recycling centre on a Friday, complete with Hi Viz and hard hats, in fact I would pay to see that, bring Harry and Meghan back pronto!

No way will H&M be welcomed back as representing the rf in the UK - they've shat on the country and it's citizens from a great height, dissed their families, Meghan is so jealous of Kate she's done everything possible to try and destroy her. They'd be an utter liability.

BigWillyLittleTodger

It’s strange that after the rumours of the past few weeks that Harry is wanting back in the fold that new posters come on here clamouring for just that, the RF need Meghan and Harry!

Indeed.
I thought he was living his best life in the Californian sunshine and wouldn't set foot on our salty little island again.
Which, as far as I'm concerned anyway, would be fine.

Err no

H&M can bog off. They slagged off the U.K.
i do not want them here or representing the U.K. thank you very much.

It is literally gladhanding and making people feel special internationally and being charming and promoting UK culture and as a place to visit.

H&M couldn’t even do this, though. They couldn’t be bothered, they ignored protocol, Meghan couldn’t believe she wasn’t being paid (perhaps not realising that she was), Meghan obviously hates the UK … I could go on. The RF needs them like a hole in the head.

Exactly, H&M have turned into money grabbing self serving, garbage vomiting idiots - no one would want them on their team!
MM hates the UK because she wanted to be Diana II except she doesn't have the capability, personality or mindset - she's self centred and self serving only - nothing the RF wants or needs

During H&M's time in California, the state has been hit with devastating floods and wildfire every year. Instead of focusing on Africa (African Parks anyone) or visiting other countries, H&M could have focused on the people and animals displaced or rendered homeless by the extreme impact of climate change in California. Harry's focus on buying awards and flying around in private jets as well as playing polo, an environmentally unsound sport, proves that he doesn't actually show up and do good. He is not an asset to the UK or the US.

yaleclimateconnections.org/2024/03/californias-new-megafires-are-taking-a-toll-on-wildlife-habitat-researchers-find/

I don't think a rehabilitation of Harry and Meghan is totally impossible in principle - I would never have predicted in the 90s that we would ever see Queen Camilla and that she would be so accepted and liked by the public

But the difference is that Camilla had a very powerful sponsor in Charles. No senior members of the Royal family feel that way about Harry and Meghan and the things they have said and done about the family are unforgivable.

I do think it exposes the risks in Charles's slimmed down monarchy though. With Harry and Meghan gone, William being very reluctant to work more than very part time, Kate being unwell, and an ageing crop of working royals, I do wonder if they regret being quite so definitive about shutting the door to roles for Beatrice and Eugenie.

@exprecis IMO the difference is, that for all the headlines and tabloid coverage of Camilla, the public didn't really know her.

We only started to know her character after her marriage to Charles (and even then it took a while). She just kept her head down and supported Charles and HMTQ. She focused on her interests - DV, her reading room etc.

As the public started to get to know her they started to appreciate her.

She didn't give tell all interviews, the focus was pretty solidly on her work.

H&M have never stopped telling us about themselves. They are constantly telling us "their truth". We've had a 6 part reality show, 12 podcasts, several print interviews, a whole book, 2 pseudo Royal "tours", numerous speeches.

The public know them intimately. Never before have we known as much about a Royal couple.

Consistent public polling shows the public don't like them (or at least don't respect them - a camp I'm in).

You can't put that genie back in the bottle. Brain bleach can't erase that amount of knowledge.

Harry may want to come back to the UK, Meghan clearly doesn't. It doesn't appear the UK are bothered about either of them - except in a "can't turn away car crash" type way. That's not what the RF want or need.

I'd say the Royals PR is doing pretty well at the moment, with them just being themselves.

This is chefs kiss

Edit to say - this is worldwide, it's all over Tiktok with Gen Z calling Charles the nations granddad.

https://news.sky.com/story/king-charles-giggles-as-he-finds-himself-in-middle-of-new-zealand-rugby-players-hug-13213146

@MrsFinkelstein yeah I was thinking the same thing actually that Camilla was a really unknown quantity which has allowed her to start from a blank slate.

The quietly getting on with good work approach that @wordler also suggested for H and M possibly could work but I think it's unlikely that H and M would condescend to that

But it tracks back to something I said earlier - actually a lot of the issue seems to be that William and Kate also don't like doing the boring stuff either.. they are quite similar

If this has already been said, apologies, but....

Harry and Meghan to appear on Dr Orna Guralnik's couch (BBC Couples Therapy).

Media exposure for them (tick - their holy grail) and I feel she would really get to the heart of their problems and it would be a revelation for Harry (tick -he might actually start to build those bridges).

She would give them 'the look' and it would all start unravelling.

Why does everyone assume Beatrice and Eugenie want to be ‘working Royals? It’s not something anyone would want out of choice. Their children under constant scrutiny and their husbands dragged into the whole circus? They’re well out of it. Besides, Eugenie supposedly lives in Portugal now.

I agree that they almost certainly don't want to be working royals now but I do think Charles was unwise to make that decision so early - I think he assumed his sons and their wives would be full time on royal duties and that just hasn't happened

Remarrying Andrew and Fergie would be great PR for him and the King , but it would be a terrible move for her, and she may well not want to be used to shore up his /the family’s image. It also would effectively confirm the rumour it was the late Queen who stopped them being together, and undermining her legacy won’t do Charles any favours. (Even if there’s a grain of truth in it.)

Harry is still very popular, stories on him get much more traction /engagement than other royals. So if the press had the possibility of lots of Harry & Meghan stories/photo opportunities - particularly as it’s becoming clear they aren’t going to get many of Catherine for the foreseeable (and William doesn’t seem to have as much public interest when he does stuff on his own)- I reckon they’d be on board with a rehabilitation of Harry and returning to the family fold.

doing that though would need to be carefully handled and William might need to be rumoured to be the one to broker peace, his reputation could do with some polishing and that would be great PR. (William forgiving Harry, convincing his dad and camila to do the same - would be great for him. )

again though, not sure H&M would want to.