"Prince Harry" : I didn't air any dirty laundry in public

[ThatAvidViewer]

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.”

I didn't air any dirty laundry in public - my conscience is clear, says Prince Harry during visit to Ukraine: Duke reveals he wants to spend more time in the UK in the next year as 'the focus really has to be on my dad' | Daily Mail Online

The derail is working nicely.

Interesting analysis here (edit: when it hits the fan)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002jf4j?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

No actually. I got it from a Diana biography I bought on holiday in a charity shop. It was written by Patrick Jephson I think, her aide for seven or eight years. Also, I was alive at the time of that particular state opening and of the Charles and Diana counter briefings afterwards.

I remember it. I thought that was fair enough. Diana knew that a different hairstyle would make the headlines. Of course she did. The day should have been about the State Opening of Parliament and she made it about her.
If she was reprimanded, good.

@NewAgeNewMe I can't listen to it. Would you mind summarising their position, even if just a sentence or two?

Of course I perfectly understand if you don't have time or don't want to. Thank you anyway for posting the link.

They are always presenting opposing sides. But the general consensus is that Harry is winning the PR battle at the moment and may have slightly blindsided the RF PR. Also it puts PW in a difficult position if the king is photographed with the Sussex children and not the Wales children.

I’m abroad so perhaps why the link isn’t as usual. It’s on the BBC sounds app if you get it, When it hits the Fan.

@NewAgeNewMe Yes, I listened to it last night. Definitely interesting.

Brief summary:
Harry has 'driven a PR juggernaut' through the gates of Buckingham palace
Meredith Maines is working on a narrative arc; the next thing will be pictures (still and moving) of the King with his grandchildren
The public will want this as they will go for the 'family story'
The media in the UK is a zero sum game: for any story if one side is up the other must be down; hence if Harry is doing well stories about Prince William will be negative

The person who has worked in Royal PR (can't remember which) did say that the issue with the RF will be trust which is still very tenuous. He seemed less convinced than the other but both felt that Harry had the mainstream media on side.

I think any PR gains from Harry's 'tour' were cancelled out by that ridiculous Guardian interview.

Also, the media moves on with quickly, and especially with the State Visit, with the royals and Windsor Castle in all their finery, Harry's 'tour' is already old news. Nothing really has changed.

That's what I would have said @IcedPurple but they included that interview in their discussion

PH winning ? How and where ?

Did PH tease earlier in the year that he would announce a significant new commercial venture this month?

"PR" in itself isn't a goal, but of course experts in that field will see everything through that lens.

What is Harry's aim? If it's to be a working royal or get HIHO, then a few cute pics with the kids won't cut it. If it's to play up his royal links for commercial gain in California, then I do think the King and his advisors will be on to that, and won't let themselves be used by Harry and Meghan to plug pancake mix.

I also don't think the British public will be so easily swayed. Yes, the public is fickle and memories are short, but there is so much water under the bridge with Harry and Meghan, and the Guardian interview suggests that he's still incapable of any sort of introspection or reflection.

But I guess we'll see.

Pictures with the Sussex grandchildren will be interesting logistically.

I doubt H&M would allow A&L to travel to the UK (would be a bit of a climb down post his failed security litigation - even tho he took them both here and they were very high profile for QE2 Jubillee).

So would this involve KC3 (and QC?) travelling to US or neutral ground - Africa / Commonwealth? I can imagine safari type holiday snaps of the Sussex’s on holiday going down well for both parties. Would their faces be obscured?

Next step might be that they decide that a Sandringham Christmas Morning Church Walk would make them $$$$$? This might be tricky if PW is still frosty and might not be fair on all the children as people will be interested in interactions between the cousins / aunts / uncles.

Or maybe Balmoral in the summer - could legitimately separate out PW for that photo OP.

On a personal level it must be heartbreaking for KC3 barely to have met his DGC and especially at his age and health status. He also needs to be seen to be the wise compassionate player in this messy family situation.

What is Harry's aim? What it always is. To maintain his title, status, wealth and influence. He intends to remain as royal as possible, without actually doing much work. . He wants publicity, and to stay in the headlines. If he has to sell privacy, secrets and "wash dirty linen", he will.

So would this involve KC3 (and QC?) travelling to US or neutral ground - Africa / Commonwealth? I can imagine safari type holiday snaps of the Sussex’s on holiday going down well for both parties. Would their faces be obscured?

The King is a Head of State and any travel abroad would involve extensive pre-planning and security coordination with the host country.

He's not going to do this for a photo op, when Harry and his family are perfectly capable of travelling to England pretty much any time they fancy.

And while the King may want to meet his grandchildren on a personal level, he has little to gain from being seen to do so. The same is not true for Harry and Meghan. So they need to make the effort. Not the King.

I agree with your assessment of the PR landscape - but I think there is an emotional element around innocent young children estranged from their elderly, cancer suffering, grandparent which any compassionate person would love to see resolved and healed. The photos (or even the meet up) don’t necessarily even need to include H&M if MM’s involvement is too sensitive on both sides.

No matter what KC3 prognosis is, at 77 life is short and he may take the risk that after meeting his DGC his DS and DIL will attempt to monetise it to flog pancakes and he might well think at this stage it’s worth it.

Listen to it if you can.

@bluegreygreen explained far better than me.

For other posters, one of the presenters is a former RF advisor and the other former editor of the Sun, so generally interesting discussions.

The PR battle? It looks like the RF are continuing with their usual tasks as opposed to engaging in any " PR battle" . Trump is headline news right now and he has praised William and Catherine at the State Dinner. As for that dress Catherine wore wowza!

Exactly what I thought. This poster is more obsessed with the RF than the people she claims are 😂😂

KC3 could easily extend any foreign trips already scheduled by a day or two to meet his DGC on neutral ground.

I think the monarchy would have a net gain to its reputation by this ‘soft power’ move. Everyone loves children and meeting up with an estranged ill grandfather would be a tender and touching story whatever was still going on between the adults in the family. Of course H&M are in the wrong here and need to make amends but if their emotional intelligence is limited capacity then it takes wiser family members to take the lead with compassionate steps for the bigger picture.

I feel sorry for these DCs - there doesnt seem to be any family or long term friends in the picture (where’s Doria these days?) - their parents are consumed with bitter ruminations which must leave a bleak emotional environment to be raised in.

Harry and Megan are using their children as the proverbial carrot not only towards Charles but the public especially in the way Megan is already merching them. The lower the fun’s go the more likely we are to see a People Magazine interview with pictures at home article

I agree.

Her concern for A&L’s privacy / security flip-flops when it comes to $$$$$.

She was happy to show Archie full face-frontal in the bath for the NF $$$$. She instigated a photo shoot for Lily 1st Bday in Windsor during QE2 jubilee and issued full face-frontals to the global media.

Now she does the face obscuring thing with the hearts - I wonder if these will be removed if they seal the deal for a selfie with the King $$$$$

IMHO, I think a lot of people fail to grasp the cost to the host nation taxpayers of extending a trip by a day or two, as any host nation provides security resources to ensure the safety of any visiting Head of State.

It is extremely unreasonable to expect taxpayers in any country to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for H&M to effectively get a photo-op, when they can take their kids to visit their KC3 in an already secured location.

They would just pay their own additional security and logistical costs for any extension surely?

Same as I imagine what happens when they go on any private family holiday overseas?