PR Disasters Part X

[AtIusvue]

For all Meg and Harry PR shenanigans

Do you really think a school would accept A or L given that William could remove his children immediately he heard about it? He doesn't have to agonise over losing a term's fees, after all.

A&L education, I only know briefly from a friend how different the UK & US are, especially if you compare to UK top Public schools. Boys will tend to have army cadet experience, especially Royals as it's seen as important to understand military lingo. Given H's interest in the Army this must be something he will struggle with. Then there are the Royal annual events, it will all be completely unfamiliar to A&L.

I didn't read Spare, did H ever reference the children's future, other than wanting titles?

The Duchess really is out of the loop, isn't she?

So in the past week we've had a State Dinner, a New York gala event and today the Met Ball. As a working royal, she would have had zero trouble securing invites for all three. She'd even have managed it post Mexit if she'd kept on good terms with the RF and conducted herself with a bit of class. But instead she's 'leaking' to People magazine about how she affected no airs and graces at a child's First Communion in Chicago. It's quite the trajectory.

I'm just watching The Chase and have weirdly realised that Ellie Leach looks a bit like Meghan.

It's incredible how their stock has plummeted, isn't it, after all the incredible opportunities they have been gifted. I almost feel sorry for H&M. But not quite. they are a pair of scorpions.

Ooh. Serena has definitely dropped M. I object to Emma being described as M’s rival though - only in M’s dreams! She’s stunning and classy. I think she and her dh had some tricky times with her ILs but she handled it with dignity.

It's scary how quickly they've become social pariahs. And there's no coming back from that. I'm honestly not sure where they go from here. I wonder if quiet rumours about selling the house for "security reasons" will be next...

I can see Harry trying to get in a begging visit with Pa in the coming months when he's in the UK for Ingriftus events.

I think they are would consider absolutely anything to be relevant and this is a good point that PH’s only identity is his military service - so this public school cadet thing would be right up his street. I think he’s even said he wants to hand over IG to Archie - so unless he’s headed for the US military then this would fit with PH’s affectations.

I doubt MM would see it as ideal but if the wolf is at the door in 5 years time she might see it as a PR exercise.

I think if H&M are being routinely cold shouldered by KC3 they could manipulate the situation by putting A&L in the UK and it would look very mean for their grandfather, aunt, uncle and cousins to reject them.

They really are screwed I think. There might have been a way back after Oprah and Netflix, but getting Scobie to label C a racist, allowing her to be so relentlessly attacked and saying nothing, the lies, the constant running to the press, the embarrassing greed and lack of decorum, using sick children and terrorist atrocities to sell clothes, the hypocrisy, the bullying, the grandiosity and entitlement, the constant attempts at oneupmanship, their lack of talent, ability, popularity, there’s no way the RF could touch them with a barge pole now, even if they wanted to.

Handing IG over to Archie ? There's entitlement and nepotism wrapped up
in one.

I would expect W&C to consider their own DCs educational and social consistency first and not behave in such a knee-jerk, flouncy and petty way.

I doubt A&L would do boarding school in the UK as they would need to be tutoring Archie already - don't most top boarding schools require exams at 10 or 11? It would be a huge culture shock from school in California

TBH I think A&L are more likely to go to a celebrity school in the US with a Kardashian than traditional boarding school in the UK with a royal

There is no way a public school would allow A&L to join if W&C didn't want them to.

Well that would be a hugely discriminatory level of behaviour to become enmeshed in - H&M would have a field day if it was shown that the King was so duplicitous.

If only they'd kept their mouths shut and not insisted on clapping back about every single little thing, they really could have had the best of both worlds. The prestige of royal connections, their children raised with the love of their British family, attending the 'glamour' events without having to open Youth Centres in Sunderland or have people tut tut over the cost of your wardrobe.

But spite and vengefulness got the better of them and now here we are. Peddling fruit 'spread' on the internet and using the backs of their children's heads for clicks. I agree that there's no way back for them now.

I would expect any school W&C's kids go to to be pretty tough to get into. I doubt they'll be sent anywhere where they'll feel like total dunces, but I also doubt they'll be required to sit the extensive tests and interviews a top public school usually demands. Or if they are, it will only be to reassure their parents they'd fit in; I can't see any school rejecting them, regardless of the result.

I can't see H&M's kids being given the same offer. They'd have to pass all of the academic and intellectual tests, plus a load of interviews explaining why they're suitable - and why they want to go to that school in particular. I doubt "pissing off my dad's brother" will score terribly highly. And even if by some miracle they did pass everything with flying colours, I still can't really imagine a world where any school educating G, C or L would choose to admit A&L. Not least because it would be terribly cruel to all 5 children.

I can't imagine them sending them off to boarding school in any case, surely that fits into the whole 'evil RF upbringing' bit they do. How on earth would they explain that to the Americans, to whom boarding is extremely rare and reserved either for the genuine global elite, or for 'problem children'. I do wonder if H will be happy with his children's American education though.

I work with ten year olds who manage to bully and behave badly with their mobile phones without having the ability to get their mean words into People magazine. Imagine how much fun M would have with that. It's a non-starter.

Thye'd be in different years at school - DC state school three kids first primary had three different chirstmas plays at one point and two different sports days - just becuase kids were in different years and satges. If they did send them to the same schools it would be managed with little to no drama.

TBH I think A&L are more likely to go to a celebrity school in the US with a Kardashian than traditional boarding school in the UK with a royal

I think this is more likely - not least because in general US school system is very different. Many who transfer between can find there are years differences in attaintment.

Plus whole apparent "security" issue in UK would be problematic for H&M.

To be fair, I think it’s a bit of a myth that Scobie directly labelled Catherine a racist. In his book, the claim seemed to be more that Catherine was in the room, while Charles was the one who allegedly made a remark — something along the lines of being concerned about how other people might react, rather than him personally having an issue.
The media then ran with the “two royals” angle, and haters twisted it into Catherine being the one who said it. Then, of course, Piers Morgan named King and Catherine on TV, which made the whole thing spread even further.
So yes, the whole situation was awful, and Harry and Meghan certainly didn’t help by letting it hang over the family. But I don’t think it’s accurate to say Scobie directly labelled Catherine a racist in the way people now repeat it.

https://people.com/meghan-markle-says-prince-archie-and-princess-lilibet-love-bluey-11965274

Something about renewing vows in speedos?

I read snippets of the recent people magazine article and apparently H has a small group of very good friends and a he's living his best life. Same for Meg. A tight group of friends and she "shows up" (that favourite phrase) for them even when she's busy 🙄🙄

‘Sean and Marley also presented Meghan with her “favorite” Australian candy, Minties, a can of chicken salt, a pair of NRL rugby jerseys for Archie and Lilibet, sunscreen, two cans of their favorite beers and a bikini bottom with “Aussie Bum” printed on the backside.
“That's going to be for my husband. I just have a feeling,” Meghan chuckled while receiving the swimsuit, later adding, “We might renew our vows with him wearing these.”

I wonder if people are becoming a bit fed up with the transactional nature of M' s friendships , which do largely seem to be based on what people can do for her rather than vice versa. Also if you want to be invited to the Met Gala maybe don't piss off Anna Wintour and Lauren Sanchez. And especially , if as reported , it is true you have been trying to woo ( in a business sense ) Jeff , who could bankroll any of your crackpot ideas, but might just choose not to if you've teed off his wife.

Edit to correct predictive text of Wintour. Even I daren't piss her off and going to the Met Gala would not be my cup of tea. 😃

Actually boarding schools in the US aren’t that unusual. They are definitely not just for the elite or problem kids. At high school level at least. Definitely rarer for under 13s.

It is expensive but there are bigger endowments to help provide financial aid.

My DD is boarding on the East Coast and fees are about $75,000 a year. Over half the students get up to 50% off in FA.

I think they make a lot of money from alumni donations (one family donated $20M recently for a new science wing) and also from rich overseas students who come for a semester to experience US life.

They can be incredibly selective though depending on where you are. In the Washington DC area it’s cutthroat and there’s a similar forum to Mumsnet where there’s much angst over admissions and waiting lists.

I don’t know much about the West Coast boarding scene but I’m sure there are many fancy ones which would suit Archie and Lili.

I think transactional relationships are fine if both sides get something out of it.

In Meghan's case however, what does she have to offer to the likes of Lauren Sanchez or Dame Anna? No talent, no real money, no fan base. The one thing she DID have was something even A listers can't match, and that was the allure of royalty. But we all know what happened there.

So what does Meghan bring to the table in any transactional relationship? It's very hard to see at this point.