How come William chose to ignore the massive elephant in the room and no one challenged him on it?

[Roadtripwithpretzels]

Prince William spoke about the very important subject of mh yesterday on Radio One and while it’s a subject that should be highlighted, does no one else think that his credibility on this issue has now been damaged by the AMW case?

He may not have been personally responsible for the alleged cover up, and he may well loathe Uncle Andrew, but he is still a central player in the institution that helped to pay off and cover up the voices of AMW’s alleged victims? Virginia Giuffre took her own life fhs! He can’t just ignore it!

To me this interview came across as incredibly unintelligent and insensitive in current circumstances. And proof that William himself just doesn’t “get it”.

Why on earth did he not say that in the light of current circumstances and out of respect for victims; the interview couldn’t go ahead?

Or why did his new ex crisis manager PR person not advise this?

And why was he allowed to sit there by the BBC and not address this?

And what about the mh of the Palace staff who have suffered because of AMW’s boorish and inappropriate behaviour for years? The nanny who allegedly left because of AMW being inappropriate and the policeman whose arm was hurt by AMW’s speeding at Windsor? The maids who were screamed at? What about the mental health of the police protection offices who quite recently were, according to Lownie, reminded about their NDAs and the safety of their pensions if they spoke out?

I don’t think it’s good enough any longer for a senior member of the RF to sit there and say yet again in a rather generic way “we all need to talk about our mental health” while ignoring what their own institution has covered up for years and is still allegedly trying to suppress?

And the BBC should hold some accountability about this too!

In was wondering this, too. It seems that facts are being retrofitted to lay blame on the individuals who are still alive, so they can be legitimately attacked.

@Roadtripwithpretzels Great post. W must have access to a TV I think. How could he possibly watch that and think all was well.

No they don't. But they may take a passing interest.

This is getting silly.
You are tying yourself up in knots over this.
PW turned up to a pre-recorded and pre-planned event on mens MH, it really isn’t complicated.

No. I am saying that, in the conditions prevailing on 29 January this year, a member of the BRF due to do an interview about mental health might have been wise, if they couldn’t cancel, to shift the focus from men to something more general. To be honest, I would have thought his supporters would think the same.

@CurlewKatei just looked up the details of the radio programme. It tied in with a National Men’s Suicide Prevention Network programme. It has nothing to do with Epstein and women’s mental health. It was pre recorded and had several guests focussing on men’s health. He was invited on the programme because the Royal Foundation donated £1m to support it. I’m guessing having him on the programme attracts press coverage to help reach men who need help. I think it’s unreasonable to expect him to have talked about Andrew /women’s welfare when that wasn’t the subject of the programme. He wouldn’t have had control over the timing either.
Whether he should have made his own statement about AMW on another occasion is another matter and I have some sympathy with that suggestion.

And would they expect their brother to share that he's got a paedo mate who sees him right?

No. But if they were the King they might have more knowledge of their brother’s movements than the rest of us do. Particularly if they had tried to block said brother’s taking up a Grace and Favour job he felt he was entirely unsuitable for, and was aware that one of his victims had been paid off….

You are aware that this wasn’t set up by William, right ?
you are aware that he was invited along with another guest to speak about men’s mental health, right?
you are aware that talks about men’s mental health and high suicide rate is a hot topic at this present time , right?
as a survivor, if no other topic but the global abuse of women and girls needs to be discussed while they suffer means that nobody can discuss any other topic at all ever ,right?
and lastly I don’t recall your concern about women’s mental health being important when you were being very critical of a woman with cancer!

BBC news says he said

"Prince Edward made the comments at the World Governments Summit in Dubai after being asked by a CNN journalist how he was "coping" with the fallout from the files.
The duke, who is the youngest of King Charles' siblings, replied: "Well, with the best will in the world, I'm not sure this is the audience that is the least bit interested in that.
"They all came here to listen to education, solving the future, but no, I think it's all really important, always, to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this."

I would imagine if I were in a high positon I might even be a bit more careful and ask questions.

Get real!

AMW has been arrested. Nobody in their right mind, especially William, will utter a word publicly or give their opinion while that's going on, what value will he add, he is ill-equipped to do anything other than keep his mouth well and truly shut. Whatever William does, he will be in the wrong,

I don't think that would apply to my brother but if it did I really don't think he'd tell me.

I do think the comments that anything the RF do or say in the last 2 months has to revolve around Epstein and abuse of women is narrow minded. Yes it’s all devastatingly awful and needs to be addressed-and it is. But can no one campaign or talk about anything else - heart disease, cancer, homelessness, SEND, or men’s suicide prevention ? Many of these appointments will have been planned months in advance and are all still important topics. Epstein and the aftermath is on the news/radio almost 24 hours, rightly so, but that doesn’t mean every other topic should be cancelled. Men are in danger of suicide and this topic deserved the press.

So how would the questions go? Hi brother have you been raping any girls lately? Yes I'm sure that would get him spilling the beans.

Yes but if he pulled out of engagements they could criticise him for being lazy and unreliable. It has all got a bit ridiculous now.

@TheignTi agree with you. He was right to do it

“Head of the Royalty Protection Unit* bring me a report on what Prince Andrew has been up to while being a Trade Envoy”
*or whatever it’s called.

😵‍💫 Once again for those in the back seats; if your father is head of state, and you are in your late thirties/early forties and are the heir apparent, about to take on the same role in approx the next five to ten years, yes, yes and yes, you pay very close attention to the actions of your father and the wider family business! Why do you think the RF themselves call it The Firm? Yes, he is meant to be checking!

The RPO’s dont report to the King though, they report to the Metropolitan Police. Charles has no involvement with the delivery of their services. That is managed by the Home Office. He is a Constitutional Monarch. He doesn’t get to demand information from independent Government departments - that would be seen as intereference. I can’t imagine why you think he would.

Exactly, on both counts. You don't think your brother would. And you don't think he'd tell you if he did.

So you don't give it any thought.

I haven’t caught up with the entire thread yet but I haven’t read anyone literally suggesting that the RF should only address issues relating to women’s health in the next two months!

In fact, imho, if W had addressed any other subject than mh, it would have been better!

It was the fact that he was referring to mh and suicide seemingly without any thought to Virginia Giuffre or the other victims that got to me! As I said in the thread, it was like an enormous elephant in the room that no one was addressing. And I thought it was ill-advised and rather sad.

It was the fact that he was referring to mh and suicide seemingly without any thought to Virginia Giuffre or the other victims that got to me!

Honestly, I think it was just William that got to you.

It’s the Erskine May guidelines that got us in to this position in the first place!

For the nth time on this board:

The 'Erskine May rule' does not say that the Royal family cannot be discussed in parliament.

What it says is that discussing the conduct of the Royal family (and certain other public figures such as judges) must be done properly in a formal motion, not incidentally in another discussion.

This means that parliament has to allow time to do it. Practically, that means the government has to allow parliamentary time for it, as it has much more control over control over parliamentary time than the opposition.

Link to Erskine May: Incidental criticism of conduct of certain persons not permitted

The interview was a panel discussion on a special episode of the programme Life Hacks, based around male mental health and suicide.
William was one of 4 panel members - the others were a clinician who leads a mental health charity, a young man who has been helped by the charity, and 2 musicians known to speak out on mental health issues.

I assume the reason William was involved in this is that he, with the Royal Foundation, was instrumental in setting up the National Suicide Prevention Network last year, which brings together organisations across the UK with the aim, among other things, of improving access to services.