PR Disasters Part X

[AtIusvue]

For all Meg and Harry PR shenanigans

La, la, la, not listening.

I want that to be true, it sounds fabulous.

I think that is the other problem with H&M, by complaining so much they have lost any mystique. I think we want the Royals to be posh, and a bit batty, and removed. Otherwise the curtain falls and we head towards a republic.

This from the spectator was written a couple of days ago - so before the tour. I think it's worth a read . I would be interested to see what this chap's views are after the State Visit.

https://spectator.com/article/what-harry-and-meghan-dont-get-about-royal-visits/

I agree. Also, the difference with Diana is that, A/ she actually was our future queen for 15 years and mother of the future king, B/ she put in the hard yards of royal service and, C/ she was innovative in her work. So the success she had post separation/divorce, and the authority she held in her "Queen of Hearts" roles was actually founded on something solid and meaningful. Meghan in particular has zero claim to the authority of "royalty" and next to no record of service, and everything she does is just a poor imitation of others, be it Diana or Catherine or someone else she's decided to imitate on any given day. Both she and Harry have no new ideas, no sense of humour or humility about themselves, and no staying power to build something up from the ground. It's all facile, fleeting and easily debunked "victories" based on smoke and mirrors with these two.

I don’t think Charles writes his own speeches 😀

Thank you. I've archived it:

https://archive.ph/By3es

Harry holds no office, no mandate and no accountability to any government or public. His assumption of authority on war and peace is not leadership; it is an exercise in self-promotion that crowds out serious diplomacy. One cannot renounce royal obligations, cling to the titles for commercial advantage and then adopt the pose of global statesman whenever it suits. This is the very definition of a grift. It cheapens the Crown’s reputation and insults the public’s intelligence. The present arrangement of privilege without responsibility has grown intolerable.

I think Harry and Meghan think they can do exactly this and they don't care about the consequences and take no responsibility for their actions, because they will always lay blame elsewhere than themselves for anything that goes wrong.

Pmk

Charles has done a fantastic job building bridges with Trump and the American administration and the opposition and yet as always posters focus on slating h&m - get over it, Harry isn't coming back to the UK why on earth do people think he want he want to.

Part of the reason people have been so affected by Charles’s speech is because he’s an old man who spoke confidently (I’m guessing - with superiority for sure) and unsensationally about uncontentious things, historical things that ended well, and of hope for a brighter future. A little Obama-esque. We are starved of wisdom and sagacity, especially in the US. I didn’t watch it, just read excerpts. I thought it trod surprisingly close to the edge, was quite daring/audacious in parts. There was some pretty snarky stuff which I suspect was delivered softly and with a smile. There was no appeasement. There was the British monarch reminding the USA how young it is (“as we say in Britain, ‘just the other day’“) and who the grown ups in the room are.

That’s probably not a bad outcome. Everyone in their own corner, doing their thing. It’s already obvious there’s no competition. H&M will just continue to do random shit in a crappy way, shooting themselves in the foot every time they speak, doing whatever earns them some $$$. They are indeed carving out a new role for themselves - just a shame it’s a shoddy, cringeworthy, cheap one compared to what they could have had. But, they seem intent on doing this, so why not. It’s just looking like a big standard family NC situation.

Harry does have good intentions when it comes to service, I believe. I think he enjoys it and can still be charming. Meghan couldn’t give a shit about anyone but herself. If they ever part ways, Meghan can do her thing whining to a vacuum, and Harry might be a useful side-attraction to the RF doing his good deeds away from Meghan’s merching (I’m talking in 20 years’ time!).

Like the tax funded security Harry wants 🙄

It's a thread about Sussex PR issues.

In the last week or so, immediately before or during an important state visit by the King and Queen, we've had:
-Harry directing very unhelpful messages towards America and Russia
-The People article published today (in the middle of that state visit) entitled Making Their Own Rules
-The statement from the Sussex press office yesterday (during the state visit).

All of these things invite comment; none particularly positive. Had the Sussexes kept quiet, the comments wouldn't exist, and there wouldn't be the distraction from the very successful state visit.

I haven't seen anyone on this thread talk of Harry wanting to come back to the UK, but I may have missed it.

Oooooo@canklesmctacotitsi just love this take on his speech. You really have hit the nail on the head!!!

I really can’t stand Charles I used to think he’s a pompous old fool, who’ll be forgotten in history. To be honest I’m completely indifferent about the RF, except H&M of course, as they’re such a gift that keeps on giving.

But that speech!! Wow! The speech writers need some sort of award. And Charles’ delivery? Double wow!!! I’ve never seen him do a speech before so don’t know if he’s usually that good. But he commanded that room, his comic timing, his gestures were all just great.

He has actually made me rethink my opinion of having a monarchy.

As to the writing of the speech, an article in the Guardian said it was a combination of Charles’ private secretary, no10, the foreign office and Charles himself, so I don’t think it can be said he didn’t write it.

The statements from Montecito just show how little Harry and Meghan and any of their advisors understand about the place of the monarch in the world stage.

I do wonder how different things might have been had Meghan ditched her American advisors before marriage and listened to those offered her by the palace. She may have decided not to marry but she may have grasped something I don't think she, or their many advisors and spokesmen, have has ever understood, the difference between a working member of the royal family and a celebrity, any celebrity even one on the A list. It is clear that Harry has never understood this either.

And so they will continue on, believing they are important royals when at this point the only reason they aren't in obscurity like the Princess of Bourbon Two Sicilies us because the tabloids and social media they claim to loathe find them a useful revenue stream. If the famously fast to react badly to criticism Trump treats you with a bland dismissal you are a non entity on the world stage, whatever title you have.

It's very sad but also hubris in action.

What has struck me from the coverage of Charles and Camilla is how genuinely thrilled those who are meeting them look. There still seems to be a glamour and status attached to monarchy even in the US.

We'll never know his contribution to the content but the delivery was superb. 👏 👏 👏

His delivery was superb. I saw someone on another social media platform saying it was Charles’ Love Actually moment.

I don’t think it’s sad at all. Also I
do think Harry knew perfectly well the difference between monarchy and celebrity. However since his marriage Meghan has changed his thinking. He wants what she wants and lets her direct him and his behaviour now. She clearly just doesn’t understand what monarchy is about at all. She clearly has contempt for them all and thinks she’s a better person because she was a third rate actress for a while.

It was excellent , and I think has endeared him to both the UK and the USA.
If H&M had gone to the US, kept their mouths shut and had done some good work I have no doubt they would have been sat on the top table with Charles.
The last few days have shown just how much they have shot themselves in the foot over and over rhe last few years. They can protest all they like but if Harry isn’t feeling left out and embarrassed right now then he’s a bigger fool than I thought.

To add to my other comment on your post, I think Harry said at some point that he’s doing what he thinks his mother would have done had she lived - he thinks (because he has no understanding of his mother at all) that she’d have gone to live in the US with Dodi and would be challenging the institution from afar, holding truth to power with the love of the frowned upon (for race) romantic partner. I know we all say Meghan likes to cos play a Diana fantasy, but Harry is just as bad.

KC3 is often viewed through a single very simplistic lens...his failed familial relationships primarily his divorce and secondarily his strained relationship with his younger son. There is a lot of negative projection on him. So, I was unsurprised at how surprised people are that KC3 delivered.

But a fair look at KC3's track record since his accession to the throne will show that KC3 absolutely delivers. His French state visit wowed the French, the German state visit wowed the Germans, the Australia state visit wowed the Aussies...I can't think of any diplomatic event where KC3 has failed to successfully represent the dignified part of government.

In the USA, post the Obama Presidency (Obama's UK speech to the Mother of Parliaments was truly excellent even by his high bar) and due to the brevity of the insta-tik-tok attention span, US politicians are hyper-focused on 15-second sound bites to get their messaging across. But since KC3 is a visitor from outside the system he received more airtime which he and his team used to great effect. It was a treat for me to listen to a well-written and well-delivered speech which combined eloquence and wit.

Is this a not so subtle dig from the NYPD?

I think the govt / RF were straight on the blower perhaps half hoping that Trump would be asked and would say exactly what he did. Or maybe they even requested it.

I disagree with the narrative that Harry simply goes along with what Meghan wants. I believe that a large part of their victim narrative and insistence on being treated as the royals they no longer are comes from him not her. I believe Meghan would be more than happy as a celebrity influencer, as long as she had millions of adoring fans, it's Harry who is trying to manifest half in half out to a world that increasingly sees him as the bitter, entitled Spare he is.

Again, there are only 200 countries in the world. The number which will accept a faux royal tour is just a fraction of that, then you have to rule out the actually unsafe and wildly corrupt ones. That doesn't leave many before you run out completely.