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The royal family

Talks about reconciliation 2

1000 replies

bluegreygreen · 17/07/2025 10:18

I've never started a thread here before, but I thought some people might be interested in this take on the story by a PR podcast I listened to yesterday (started listening to this podcast as I know very little about PR!).

It would be good to know if any of the resident PR people agree.

When It Hits The Fan: A Right Royal Whodunnit

When It Hits the Fan - A Right Royal Whodunnit - BBC Sounds

David Yelland and Simon Lewis examine the fallout from a very public secret royal meeting.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002fvh7?origin=share-mobile&partner=uk.co.bbc

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
CathyorClaire · 18/07/2025 21:17

Serenster · 18/07/2025 18:37

Certainly this critical article by Carole Malone was published in the Sunday Mirror on the morning of 31 July 1997 - and swiftly pulled in later editions!

www.thefreelibrary.com/Be+clever+like+Camilla+and+clam+up%2C+Di.-a061117874

That is quite fascinating and from memory absolutely typical of the press at the time. I'm always quite aghast at the revised St. Diana narrative that has gained traction since.

Reading that, Harold is indeed his mother's son...

JSMill · 18/07/2025 21:35

BigWillyLittleTodger · 18/07/2025 20:18

Yes if they had managed to broker a deal that involved them getting security paid for and a the keys to the Buckingham Palace balcony when they ever felt like rocking up, the leak to the mail would read very differently.

This is exactly what they wanted - actually expected - in January 2020. They are incredibly thick if they haven’t learned they aren’t going to get it.
A couple of years ago, I had to leave a job I loved in a school I loved because of family problems. When the situation got better and I wanted to return, I had to take whatever hours and with whatever class was available if I wanted to return. I accepted that because I knew that in my absence, people had moved on and I wasn’t indispensable. I think H doesn’t realise he isn’t indispensable.

Rhaidimiddim · 18/07/2025 21:51

NewAgeNewMe · 18/07/2025 10:32

Could have been conjecture but I definitely read it somewhere, someone with a better memory may be able to help.

I heard on the radio, on the day, that the Sussexes were planning to go see the flowers with Netflix in tow. Then BP got hold of it and headed that off with a foursome.

JADS · 18/07/2025 21:52

CathyorClaire · 18/07/2025 21:17

That is quite fascinating and from memory absolutely typical of the press at the time. I'm always quite aghast at the revised St. Diana narrative that has gained traction since.

Reading that, Harold is indeed his mother's son...

I remember Diana's original minefield walk being seen as performative in some press circles. She was seen as trying to manipulate her image and people weren't buying it.

Which is why Harry recreating it for the third time on the back of African Parks and Sentebale is the height of white savourism. I agree it was poor PR.

HonoriaBulstrode · 18/07/2025 22:14

I remember Diana's original minefield walk being seen as performative in some press circles. She was seen as trying to manipulate her image and people weren't buying it.

There was also criticism, as I recall, of her being in an operating theatre watching an operation, mascara'ed eyes above the surgical mask.

Vespanest · 18/07/2025 22:30

Seeing all the headlines must give the palace food for thought. If a meeting about a meeting can cause so much leaking and sharing of the Sussexes plans an actual private meeting would be off the scales.

Mylovelygreendress · 18/07/2025 22:35

HonoriaBulstrode · 18/07/2025 22:14

I remember Diana's original minefield walk being seen as performative in some press circles. She was seen as trying to manipulate her image and people weren't buying it.

There was also criticism, as I recall, of her being in an operating theatre watching an operation, mascara'ed eyes above the surgical mask.

Was that when she was dating Dr Khan ?

HonoriaBulstrode · 18/07/2025 23:16

Yes, but I don't think it was at his hospital. Though I suppose he could have arranged it.

LadyJaneGrey18 · 19/07/2025 05:35

HonoriaBulstrode · 18/07/2025 23:16

Yes, but I don't think it was at his hospital. Though I suppose he could have arranged it.

Yes he did. She watched him performing an operation.

CoffeeCantata · 19/07/2025 06:29

Diana was a complex character, wasn’t she? She always had the public image of being shy but when she fancied someone, whatever their relationship status, she really went after them.

ObvIously her confidence grew over the years (she was so young when she entered public life) but it almost seems that she needed to feel powerful in the sense that she could attract any man who took her fancy.

PoppysAunt · 19/07/2025 06:53

It's interesting how she was portrayed as "shy" because she clearly loved being the centre of attention. That was clear even from the early engagement days.

GiveMeSpanakopita · 19/07/2025 07:22

bluegreygreen · 18/07/2025 17:49

I have read (don't know how true it is) that the headlines that Sunday morning were due to be critical of her and had to be withdrawn in a hurry

Yes! The most dramatic one was the Sunday Express which at the time had an early put-to-bed. In fact the vans had already gone out and the editor, roused from slumber and in complete panic mode, had to send more vans chasing after the first vans to stop them and get the offending papers back (or even snatch them back off bemused newsagents, in some cases).

The other interesting story is the one about how the famous carpet of flowers came to be laid at Buck House. Diana was a gay icon and a group of dashing young men, on their way home from a night's dancing at G-A-Y, bought bouquets from an early morning flower seller and laid them at the gates. A group of tourists, out early, saw this and thought the Queen had died and this flower laying was a British tradition. So they bought more and laid them. Then a whole bus load of tourists saw this and didn't want to miss out, so they fanned out, bought lots and LOTS of bouquets, and laid them on the ever growing pile. At this point other flower sellers got wind of this never-seen-before £££ payday and started turning out in force and setting out their stalls in SW1.

By this point the media were turning up in force and the pictures of the bouquets were being broadcast live around the world. Londoners and, quickly, other Brits, determined not to be outdone in the floral stakes by mere tourists, started turning up and buying flowers in their hundreds, and thus the legend of the 'spontaneous outpouring of grief' was born.

Also interestingly, vox pops and surveys done AFTER the event have consistently shown that the majority of Brits were saddened but not devastated by Diana's death....UNTIL the rolling 24/7 news started telling them how devastated they and all their fellow countrymen all were. THAT'S when they say they really started to feel strong emotion.

For me it's an interesting example of the innate herd mentality within the human animal and the power of the media to manipulate and actually CREATE emotions in otherwise reasonable people. And the entrepreneurial spirit of the average British florist too, of course.

RandyRedHumpback · 19/07/2025 08:00

Harry’s friend and William and Catherine tormentor, Stephen Colbert, has had his show cancelled. Ha!

LadyJaneGrey18 · 19/07/2025 08:06

CoffeeCantata · 19/07/2025 06:29

Diana was a complex character, wasn’t she? She always had the public image of being shy but when she fancied someone, whatever their relationship status, she really went after them.

ObvIously her confidence grew over the years (she was so young when she entered public life) but it almost seems that she needed to feel powerful in the sense that she could attract any man who took her fancy.

I think that was because her own husband wasn’t really interested in her which must have felt devastating.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 19/07/2025 08:12

BigWillyLittleTodger · 18/07/2025 19:48

I think the latest leak via the mail from Harry and Meghan’s camp that they are never coming back is just them getting in first because the so called secret meeting didn’t go their way, a bit like not being invited to the Bezos wedding, they were too busy to attend when really they didn’t get an invite at all.

You could be right, BigWillyLittleTodger; the clickbait articles are getting ridiculous, but I said at the time that I hope Meredith Maines found a way of spinning things if the meeting didn't produce whatever H&M wanted

Because otherwise I expect she'll be the next one out of that revolving door ...

elessar · 19/07/2025 09:04

Serenster · 18/07/2025 18:37

Certainly this critical article by Carole Malone was published in the Sunday Mirror on the morning of 31 July 1997 - and swiftly pulled in later editions!

www.thefreelibrary.com/Be+clever+like+Camilla+and+clam+up%2C+Di.-a061117874

This article is so interesting - thanks for sharing.

It really highlights the parallels between Harry and his mother in terms of their behaviour.

NormaMajors1992coat · 19/07/2025 09:20

BigWillyLittleTodger · 18/07/2025 19:48

I think the latest leak via the mail from Harry and Meghan’s camp that they are never coming back is just them getting in first because the so called secret meeting didn’t go their way, a bit like not being invited to the Bezos wedding, they were too busy to attend when really they didn’t get an invite at all.

I think this could be right - imagining something along the lines of:

M: I have great news. The Sussexes are now willing to be persuaded to return to the RF in some capacity.

T: Oh yeah?

M: Yes - they just need a public apology from the Waleses who will from now on walk behind them, the Queen to disappear, a generous allowance, IPP status and to be gifted Windsor Castle. They will also continue with their current enterprises so will only be available for the higher profile occasions, some of which may need to be shifted in order to accommodate product drops and pap walks.

T: Not possible I’m afraid.

[an hour and several offers later]

M: Ok, how about Meghan gives up her careers as media mogul, podcaster, author, chef, philanthropist and gardener entirely. She will also retire as a female founder just as soon as a billion dollar offer comes in for As ever. So all those skills of hers will be available to you guys.

T: God no.

M: Please.

T: No.

M: I’m begging you, let them come back. Nott Cott and a few grand a month will be fine. And I promise they’ll be good. Please. My job’s on the line here.

T: Nope.

Cue press leaks about living their best life, thriving not surviving, never wanted to come back anyway, throwing themselves into exciting new ventures etc etc. And maybe - entering an age of simplicity (house goes on the market..)

RandyRedHumpback · 19/07/2025 09:33

This "Sussex reconciliation" malarky has been a regular, pre-Summer break "story" of a few years now. It always ends up the same way, the the Sussexes declaring how they are living their best lives, blah, blah, blah. It's harder for them to spin this time though, because Meredith and the other one must have had some reason to want to talk to the BP rep and leak the fact. I think @NormaMajors1992coat you are right, they couldn't get a deal, so now they have to reverse ferret. Long may they continue to be living their best lives in California!

NewAgeNewMe · 19/07/2025 09:39

Do you know I don’t like their behaviour but I really do hope they are living their best lives and are truly happy, otherwise what was all the pain they’ve caused for.

Battymaud · 19/07/2025 09:48

CathyorClaire · 18/07/2025 21:17

That is quite fascinating and from memory absolutely typical of the press at the time. I'm always quite aghast at the revised St. Diana narrative that has gained traction since.

Reading that, Harold is indeed his mother's son...

OMG - PD & PW are the same covert narcissist characters. You couldnt make it up. And this was just the shenanigans for one day......

Be clever like Camilla and clam up, Di.

It's a pity Gucci don't make designer face zips, then when Princess Diana was on the verge of opening her ill-informed mouth and causing an international incident (an increasingly frequent occurrence these days) she could just zip her trap shut.

This week she claimed she was "stitched-up" by the French newspaper Le Monde, because they quoted her as saying that, while the Labour Party were supporting her land mines campaign, the Tories had been "hopeless"."

However, now that the horse manure has hit the fan and Diana has been accused of doing what's a definite "No-no" in the Royal Family - i.e. meddling in politics - she has come over all wounded and persecuted and is denying she ever said it.

"I've been stitched-up," she has wailed. But how can we believe a woman who just a few weeks ago (pre-Dodi) denied telling reporters: "Wait 'til you see what I'm going to do next," when the reporters she spoke to had her quotes on tape?

How can we believe a woman who swore she didn't make hundreds of harassing phone calls to businessman boyfriend Oliver Hoare - even though most of them came out of Kensington Palace?

The Princess, I fear, suffers from the "Open Gob Before Brain Engages" syndrome - a condition which affects the trivial and the brain dead. However, there is one very easy way for Diana to ensure she is not "stitched-up" by newspapers - and that is to stop talking to them (she's done it again this week because how else would a certain tabloid newspaper have every cough and spit of her encounter at Kensington Palace with reporter Annick Cojean, who wrote the Le Monde story).

In her interview with the French newspaper she complained she is hounded by the British Press and only remains in Britain because of her sons.

Which is tosh because her sons are away at school most of the time, and even when they're not - like now - she's on permanent holiday in Europe.

Instead of realising that silence is her best form of protection from the Press she decided once again to "open her heart" (blab is the more common expression for it) to a foreign newspaper and then claim victimisation again when it all backfires on her.

Diana needs publicity and controversy like the rest of us need air. Why else does she repeatedly put herself into situations which she knows will cause scandal and uproar?

I think, at least I hope, people are catching on to Diana and realising that this "I'm just an innocent" act is a scam.

What we have here is a woman who has little common sense, even less judgement and a very convenient persecution complex which she drags out as a defence when her little publicity plots go belly up.

Diana should take a leaf out of Camilla's book...and say nowt.

Profhilodisaster · 19/07/2025 09:50

I don't why there has to be all this hoo ha or even an in-person meeting . I know zoom calls can be recorded and leaked but the meeting was leaked although the actual content isn't known for sure. It's all so overly dramatic. I think, if H is trying to repair his reputation, he's going about it in the wrong way (again). I wonder what his upcoming business venture is going to be.

CoffeeCantata · 19/07/2025 09:53

NewAgeNewMe · 19/07/2025 09:39

Do you know I don’t like their behaviour but I really do hope they are living their best lives and are truly happy, otherwise what was all the pain they’ve caused for.

I don’t like them - I think they’ve done unforgivable things - but, like you, I wish they would just be content to live comfortably wealthy private lives in the US. I don’t like their publicity seeking or their royal cosplaying and I don’t want people to forget the damage they’ve done to their victims. But if they’d just be content with their considerable privilege and keep out of the spotlight, I’d never discuss them again.

What I don’t want is for them to whitewash the past and get away with the rampant hypocrisy that they often display - regarding bullying, online safety for children, claiming to be radical and anti-monarchy/ anti-hierarchy when they’re clearly nothing of the sort! Oh, and creating problems for the charities they claim to support.

That’s all I want. I won’t hold my breath!😄

CoffeeCantata · 19/07/2025 09:59

GiveMeSpanakopita · 19/07/2025 07:22

Yes! The most dramatic one was the Sunday Express which at the time had an early put-to-bed. In fact the vans had already gone out and the editor, roused from slumber and in complete panic mode, had to send more vans chasing after the first vans to stop them and get the offending papers back (or even snatch them back off bemused newsagents, in some cases).

The other interesting story is the one about how the famous carpet of flowers came to be laid at Buck House. Diana was a gay icon and a group of dashing young men, on their way home from a night's dancing at G-A-Y, bought bouquets from an early morning flower seller and laid them at the gates. A group of tourists, out early, saw this and thought the Queen had died and this flower laying was a British tradition. So they bought more and laid them. Then a whole bus load of tourists saw this and didn't want to miss out, so they fanned out, bought lots and LOTS of bouquets, and laid them on the ever growing pile. At this point other flower sellers got wind of this never-seen-before £££ payday and started turning out in force and setting out their stalls in SW1.

By this point the media were turning up in force and the pictures of the bouquets were being broadcast live around the world. Londoners and, quickly, other Brits, determined not to be outdone in the floral stakes by mere tourists, started turning up and buying flowers in their hundreds, and thus the legend of the 'spontaneous outpouring of grief' was born.

Also interestingly, vox pops and surveys done AFTER the event have consistently shown that the majority of Brits were saddened but not devastated by Diana's death....UNTIL the rolling 24/7 news started telling them how devastated they and all their fellow countrymen all were. THAT'S when they say they really started to feel strong emotion.

For me it's an interesting example of the innate herd mentality within the human animal and the power of the media to manipulate and actually CREATE emotions in otherwise reasonable people. And the entrepreneurial spirit of the average British florist too, of course.

That’s fascinating! It’s so interesting to analyse how this kind of thing snowballs and takes on its own momentum. If you’re interested in history I think it can tell us something about how all kinds of historical events started: wars, revolutions, riots, maybe the storming of the Bastille and The Terror. The strange phenomenon of mass-hysteria is definitely a thing!

Battymaud · 19/07/2025 10:00

LadyJaneGrey18 · 19/07/2025 08:06

I think that was because her own husband wasn’t really interested in her which must have felt devastating.

Probably as devasting as it was for the numerous wives / girlfriends / children whose husbands / partners she serially persued and harassed.

Two wrongs dont make a right (I know the husbands / partners were as more to blame - three wrongs dont make a right...) - but to then go on global TV to talk about the details of her husbands affair (totally humiliating and providing zero support for her teenage sons at the time) whilst presenting herself as some innocent victim was highly dysfunctional, manipulative and disingenous.

Battymaud · 19/07/2025 10:04

BigWillyLittleTodger · 18/07/2025 19:48

I think the latest leak via the mail from Harry and Meghan’s camp that they are never coming back is just them getting in first because the so called secret meeting didn’t go their way, a bit like not being invited to the Bezos wedding, they were too busy to attend when really they didn’t get an invite at all.

a bit like not being invited to the Bezos wedding, they were too busy to attend when really they didn’t get an invite at all.

Similarly The Met Gala, The Oscars, OW birthday celebrations, the opening of an envelope in Skid Row. 'NFI' as my teens say.

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