PR Disasters….Part 8

[AtIusvue]

PR Disasters of the The Duke and Duchess of Sussex continued :

• So far we have Meg using charity events/sick children/vulnerable adults to merch her fashion, with the launch of her new fashion platform
• She will be appearing on MasterChef Australia
• Harry claiming to have had therapy when Archie was born, even though he never sought MH help for his ill wife a few short months earlier.

The lack of actual knowledge about mental health, child rearing and the dangers of labelling it reveals is staggering. Why anyone pays then for speeches about mental health when they clearly know absolutely nothing about it is fascinating. Saying you are an expert, or having mental health struggles doesn't mean you have anything valuable to say to those in the field.

My children were young in the prime of Facebook and i got some flak for refusing to show their faces or name them online. (Now of course their generation is rueing the day mummy put their toilet training online). So I do agree with the principle, but at this point I'm pretty sure AI could produce an accurate image of both of the children. Plus not showing their faces is pointless if they are the focus of your marketing strategy, you are still exploiting them.

The thing is we don't need to see these kids at all, back of heads or front of heads. There are so many celebrities whose childen we have never seen. Often we don't know the names or even the gender.

The Sussexes could keep these children completely private if they chose. But of course they, or at least Meghan, won't do that. So they use the whole 'but we don't show their faces' thing as a sort of fig leaf. But as you say, they are still being exploited for their parents' business interests.

I think it will hurt him, it's completely at odds with his own self perceived image of fun loving, popular, protector, prince and dragon slayer.
He must in the middle of the night or occasional sober moments realise his life is shit, William was right and he is being openly ridiculed. He is not a cool Californian fox, surfer dude he is a washed up middle aged addict.
Edited to say: I bet his old mates have no problem telling him what a twat he is and how much wealthier they are to him. That laddish banter is brutal.

That deserves another plea for the laugh emoji.
ETA - pressed button too soon

Consider yourself in receipt of a 😂

I just don't think H has the self awareness. As far as he's concerned, he's a Prince and a Duke. He's better than anyone else and he should be paid, revered simply for existing

This is spot on IMHO . And he thinks he should be listened to. He has a "platform" by virtue of his birth and he is now deciding what to use it for. The tiny wee problem is he no longer has any proper guidance and he just isn't that bright. (By the way I am not not saying academic excellence, or probably more apposite an ability for critical thinking, is the be all and end all, but not having it , combined with always having been protected , public image curated, and a very inflated sense of self importance , and not having (seemingly) people he will listen to who will just say no - or have you thought about it another way just doesn't - to me - seem to be working for him . Others will differ)

I agree. Meghan is the same because of who she married.

Unless you’re a Meg superfan….you’re going to think a candle dedicated to a child is super weird and ain’t going to buy. Who would admit they bought candle because it smells like a 7 year old boy??????!!

You buy a candle because you enjoy the scent! That’s the whole purpose.

They’ve gone off the deep end with that one.

It's so strange. If they were the Tindalls then we would catch glimpses at Christmas because they are part of the family. But the Tindall kids don't have to interact with the crowd so it's very minor exposure. Harry and Meghan are choosing to put their kids into the public consciousness simply to make money. They only release photos linked to products or to publicise As Ever.

Unless you’re a Meg superfan….you’re going to think a candle dedicated to a child is super weird and ain’t going to buy. Who would admit they bought candle because it smells like a 7 year old boy??????!!

Well, when you put it that way...

£47 too! And looking at the ad the candles are 241g, which is tiny. The big Yankee candles which are available for about half the price, and often discounted, are 500g. The scents sound rather generic too, which makes me think these candles are yet more white label products sold at a massive mark up. But who the hell is going to buy?

When you phrase it like that …I can think of who might want to! 😬

You're quite right, MarmladeorJam, and as I said in my update at 10.30 it was my fault for putting it clumsily

As mentioned, I wasn't trying to imply she deserved "some kind of moral authority", more that her long reign, senior years and ossified attritudes as a result of that led to her being regarded as having it anyway

As others have said, there can actually be dangers in a long reign - even though it avoided Charles being foisted on us earlier - in that their ways can come to be seen as the "natural" way of doing things, and that's far from the case

What on earth are H&M thinking? Middle school is going to be brutal on these kids because their parents are oversharing to make money from them

If it came to it I wouldn't put it past this pair to get in tutors and insist on home schooling, @My2cents1975

Just think of it ... fewer outside influences and every chance to infeat the growing youngsters with their own narrative and absolutely nothing else

It does seem like William has a clear picture of the life he wants for his family, within the constraints that come with his position. I also think he has benefited enormously from his in-laws being a close, hands-on family, and that's given him something that Harry has never experienced - family life as most people would recognise it. I remember reading something a while back about how Kate has effectively had to teach him how to parent, because he simply didn't have the experience from his own childhood.

William married into a functional, loving family and has learnt from it: Harry married into a family that's so dysfunctional that he's only met one member of it, and, sadly, has learnt from that.

Very good points. Also, it has to be said, that William has had counselling and has worked with it, and worked on himself. I'm sure it wasn't easy, but that's the only way to make it counselling effective. He has said that he actively had to work on improving his mental health and his relationships.
That's the difference. You have to want to change.

https://www.thewhitecompany.com/uk/Saint-Florent-Luxury-2-Wick-Candle/p/A18037?swatch=No%20Colour

White Company candles cheaper and bigger than M's . Dyptique more expensive but I think proper high end. Again I think she's falling between two stools. Edging towards high end prices with no established brand / quality behind her.

I'm going to take a punt and guess they're maybe not likely to be terribly well made. I imagine they'll be the cheapest paraffin wax of the sort you get in the supermarket. Which in fairness do let off a lot of scent... along with all the toxic chemicals.

I may of course be wrong.

(I also slightly suspect that anyone who would buy one probably doesn't have much experience of Diptyque...)

I was stunned when a friend bought two Diptique candles but they are a premium brand if you like that sort of thing and have the cash. I see Fortnum’s own brand is £50 for 330g - bit of a bargain compared to Diptique at £63 for 190g.

I simply can’t imagine who would buy one of Meghan’s candles, especially the ones named after the children except for the diehard fans and I wouldn’t think they have an excess of cash to splash.

Oh well, I guess there’s probably lots of garage space at Montecito towers.

I can't imagine spending 50 quid on any candle, no matter how 'luxurious'.

But the ones you linked to have a detailed description of the product, and the scent does sound unique. Whereas Meghan's candles sound completely generic. What is the selling point? Organic soy wax? Herbal fragrances plucked by the Duchess' own fair hand? And the same ugly 'As Ever' packaging which makes them look like souvenirs from the airport lounge of some Middle Eastern airline.

Seriously who is the market here? The mega fanz maybe but there's just nowhere near enough of them.

You can get a Dyptique candle for a little bit more than what Meghans charging and it would be worth it despite it being smaller than Meghans.

I don’t know why each time I think of her candles I imagine pink bottles of lurid smelling perfumes aimed at the teenage market.

Wow a white company 2 wick candle at that price is excellent, I hear you can't always bank on M's candles having a wick.
I spend a fortune on perfume but I have to be honest and say I wouldn't be happy burning £50 no matter how lovely they smell, I prefer to waft around expensively in the latest rich bitch juice £200+ for 100ml and lasts for years not one evening.

@binkie163 I’m another who will happily spend on perfume but has only ever had a candle when it was bought for me.

William has been very lucky. The Middletons seem like a solid, loving family. Harry has Doria, which I guess is something. Mind you, she seems to have gone off the reservation 🙄

I’m a sucker for a good quality candle. Family and friends know this and buy them for me for Christmas and my birthday. It’s a win win. If I’m in Bicester I may pop into the white company and get a couple but oh my Jo Malone and Diptique are 🤩🤩 there was another high end I used to buy but sadly since retiring is now out of my price range. Luckily I’ve forgotten the brand.