PR Disasters part 11

[HoldMyWine]

The ongoing dramas from Montecito courtesy of H&M.

I can’t see another thread but I made the same mistake last time …

Can someone explain to Scobie the difference in range and influence of an absolute and constitutional monarch.

Nothing he says is ever accurate.

I agree it's pointless but I like the photo. It's the sort of thing Id put on the wall as a nice memory of a place and time, if it had my children in it.

Thank you for the new thread @HoldMyWine

The birthday puff piece from People. Why is Meghan obsessed with going on “dates” with her own family?

It also repeats Harry’s racist remarks about being glad his genes prevailed over Meghan’s!

https://people.com/meghan-markle-celebrates-prince-archie-7th-birthday-new-photos-princess-lilibet-11967353

I take a lot of pictures of the backs of my kids and husband, as I am always the one trailing behind and taking a million photos; and I get what you mean, it’s a memory for us of what we were doing - looking out at the view, walking a trail, observing something’s beauty. However, the focus of the photography is then more on the environment we were in and the beauty etc of what we were seeing, and our presence is an incidental feature, iyswim. If someone asked to see a picture of us on holiday, I wouldn’t send a back shot, as “us on holiday” wouldn’t be the primary focus of one of those photos (to my mind, anyway). For this reason, I do wonder if the primary reason Meghan posts these photos is to try to engender envy over the environment she lives in, and to showcase what she is providing for them as a mother, rather than to show her child as a growing and developing human being in their own right.

Again she's selling nice moments with her children as a product. Lunch with her child, as a product to sell herself as a wonderful mother, and her life style as idyllic.

Why does she need to tell the world about lunch with Archie? Because it makes her sound good.

Archie doesn't benefit at all. Only she does.

I still can't get over her last week: these have been the worst 7 years of my life.
This week: Happy 7th birthday Archie!

Oh dear lord. What an absolute crock from M:

‘Once you know us, I think you want us to have the same normalcy as parents and for our children as they do’

What does this ^^ even mean??

‘That normalcy includes "day dates" with Archie’

This is followed by descriptions of M and Archie sharing food she absolutely does not eat, like burgers, caesar salad, ice cream sundaes, cherries on top.

This is the clapback to what is on this actual MN board, isn’t it, about her seeming to be more Lil-Princess-Diana-focused? She and/or her PR actually read our ramblings. Crikey. I might go all power-crazed now.

I can’t believe how quickly these threads have been filling up recently. It just reflects how relentless H and M have been recently. They seem desperate for attention and relevance.

I don’t think that’s showcasing a beautiful landscape, it’s barren hills, horrible mudflat beach, it’s a really unattractive setting.

Yes I'm sure it's a nice family memory.

The question is: why share it with the world?
If children's privacy is paramount just don't post any pictures of them.

The photos are not shared for the benefit of the kids. It's for the benefit of Megan's social media and the no faces is a fig leaf to pretend the kids are prioritised.

Wow - it says something about Meghan’s talent and ability if she has the backing of all these influential Hollywood power brokers and yet somehow every one of her projects fails. And she still doesn’t get invited to the big events or mix with the A list. I wonder - is their advice terrible, or does she not listen. Or as a PP suggests, maybe their interest is not in Meghan but in the money to be made from her.

I’ve checked Archie’s stick again, along with Lil Princess Diana’s right arm, and I’m pretty sure it’s photoshopped. One or both DC have been added to the image.

To be fair, you can hardly see what/where it is it's so fuzzy, and I agree with pp that it's probably deliberately like that because it's a photoshop composite. Or maybe it's an unconscious message: Lily gets a day at Disneyland for her birthday, Archie gets to look at mud. One child she dotes on, the other heralded, as @StrawberryWasp points out, her 7 years of "misery".

Yes, two children, backs to the camera. No friends, no family, nobody. Joyless is the perfect world.

It reminds me of last year's birthday photo, with poor Archie stood alone staring out into the sunset. Quite melancholic really. Not really what you'd associate with a small child's birthday.

I’m sort of HazMeg-neutral really but I also think that image looks weird. The reflection in the water doesn’t look right.

Strange for A to be in long trousers on a beach/mud flat

The red hair is inherited from both sides....that doesn't suit the narrative though.

Day dates with her son? Talk about elevating an experience! I take my son out for something to eat occasionally - generally combined with a haircut and buying new pants....I think if I started calling it a 'day date' he'd think I was deranged.

I also think there is something odd about the girls arms - it looks from a distance like they are holding hands but Lilis arms are awkward. And there is a bulge in the back of her t-shirt which I assume is the wind? Bit of photoshopping maybe. If you really want to do this type of photo you could have a bit of fun with it - I have photos of my kids running and their hair covers their faces or completely covered in mud from head to toe...It just goes to show the lack of talent with photography that they can't do anything more creative.

I still can't get over her last week: these have been the worst 7 years of my life.
This week: Happy 7th birthday Archie!

At the same time, we have the likes of Scobie and People saying they left the RF to protect Archie. That poor kid - when he grows up and doesn't turn out the way they want him to, they will be screaming at him about all the things they gave up because of him.

I think this was probs MM’s own experience of birthdays as a young child. Maybe the melancholy is subconscious. What was MM’s family experience at 7 - often when your own child is the age when you experienced tough times it brings it all back.

Did Doria leave with MM when she was two? What age was she when she went to live permanently with her Dad and was Doria in her life 50/50 or EOW etc?

The Q is why does she think the anonymous randoms of this world needs or wants an update on her DCs?

I just find it a bit sad really. They had the world at their feet and threw it all away. And for what? Crumbs at the table. What a foolish pair.

They do both talk about the children solely in relation to themselves.

I believe this is their biggest PR problem, there is no coherent narrative. They don't look at what they have just said before releasing the next statement or clapback. It's random and messy and means they aren't actually building a profile which people can follow and become invested in. I know they hate the press and want to correct the narrative but they really need to learn to take a breath and let the rubbish just fade away without giving it more oxygen.

And it does seem as if they are reactive, to tabloids, comment sectiins and other social media, rather than actively creating a coherent narrative which advances whatever it is they want to put into the world (have no idea what that is at this point).

Archie birthday photo checklist:

• back of heads
• no interaction between the kids. She’s used a photo of the kids in the distance to give the appearance of such, but if you look, Archie is a step in front, one hand in front of him, the other holding a stick.
• isolated from friends, family, public
• No interaction with parents, dogs, siblings, friends, family, public.
• in an isolated garden or beach
• No indication that Archie spend the day with friends
• No indication that he had a party for it
• No ref to when the pic was actually taken
• No real information shared. Nothing about Archie’s likes, how he will spend the day, who he will spend the day with.

“
Always the digs with them. I’m not convinced being frequently absent from your children on your own personal jollies counts as giving them space to be themselves.

Let’s see whose children are falling out of nightclubs and throwing punches at security guards in a few years time.

I actually think the problem is that neither of them know what family life is really. Meghans mother left when she was quite young. She doesn’t have any full siblings. Her childhood was probably quite unhappy in many respects. Harry’s parents split up and then his mother died. He spent a lot of his childhood at boarding school or with nanies and staff. They really don’t understand how to do normal or meet a child’s needs.

PR disaster number 2 for the day:

She sent Kris Jenner a mother day As ever gift box. But the note says ‘happy Mother’s Day, to the most maternal woman in the world, grateful to…..(this part has been obscured by a candle)

So:

• what 44 year old woman, sends another woman’s mother, a mothers day gift? There’s nothing on the box that says Mother’s Day….it could have been passed an an as ever gift but she wrote a Mother’s Day note.
• Kris’s kids must have alarm bells ringing
• what in the word salad….is she writing ‘most maternal woman in the world’ for? What an utterly bizarro thing to write!
• Shes basically saying- you’re the best mum in the world
• Which feels like a dig at Doria.
• Also I have a feeling that the last part is obscured because it reveals info that Kris doesn’t want to share. Grateful to ….you for all you do, grateful to …have you in my life as my friend etc
• It’s obviously Meg trying to create an intimate moment with Kris. Meg is coming across a bit psycho.