PR Disasters chapter 12

[AtIusvue]

Meg n Harry giving us plenty to talk about as usual…..

well, in that case your original post was also a personal attack...

Great post.

it’s not just the privacy of photos either.

Its the danger of a childhood lived through a lens, “do that again for the camera darling, no, face that way while pick that pumpkin… etc etc”

Children need the freedom to be themselves without worrying about how they come across on camera, life is to be lived and not performed. As a teen parent, a lot of the anxiety for the current generation of young people (particularly on SM) seems to be from trying to measure up to others, to project an image, an attitude, a lifestyle. To be seen in the right places, with the right people, having an amazing life, looking polished and filtered. It creates both a kind of performance anxiety and a main character energy which is not helpful to anyone.

Kids copy what they see, a parent obsessed with photographing and filming everything, they will pick up pm this. Every time Meghan whips the phone out to film family moments for content, she is reinforcing the view that things only have value if they are recorded and like and shared with others. It is a warning to us all.

Claiming to speak about online safety and the dangers of social media is complete hypocrisy.

That’s exactly what she reminds me of.

Yes , this quickly arranged visit centred around children with a charity they had already off loaded, is obviously her rather sad attempt at competing with Catherine and her Italian tour! , why she thinks we don’t notice is a mystery!

Its the danger of a childhood lived through a lens, “do that again for the camera darling, no, face that way while pick that pumpkin… etc etc”

I wonder what impact it has on the children to be constantly told to turn their backs to the camera? Everyone else can smile, be natural, be seen, but not them?

There was another very weird photo a few days ago with Meghan hugging a grimacing Doria. The kids were behind them, with their faces hidden of course. How many takes must have been needed to ensure that the kids were prominent enough for us to recognise them, but not to see their faces? Quite a few I imagine. Or do they just automatically obscure their faces now? Either way it's weird and creepy.

The dressing room photo is also odd as you'd normally see a mom/dad on knees doing up shoelaces etc. Why reverse the roles?

But how does any competition benefit MM. All coverage is clicks for the media outlet and their sole revenue. She doesn’t get paid for the charity gigs and they don’t seem to be doing what she anticipated - raising her profile to attract commercial opportunities. In fact everything she does is diminishing her brand value day by day. They have zero income stream currently and an estimated $6 million in annual outings - it’s gotta go pop sometime soon.

But I can't understand why she would want to set herself up for comparison with Catherine? She's hardly likely to come out on top. Or will she just claim it's bullying when people point that out?

The dressing room photo is the complete return to influencer mode…..selfie in a mirror! fgs

The dressing room looks dated and cluttered.

I wonder if her outfit is on her fashion platform. It’s a very odd choice. She doesn’t suit lilac at all.

I’m getting ads for Elizabeth Arden 8 hour balm on this thread, are mumsnet trolling M&H? 😂

Will A really want to see his mother laughing at him behind a pillar at Disney when he's older?

I suppose he might find it marginally preferable to the one where he's preserved for posterity in an over full nappy.

As for merching a rising five, there were discussions on forums twenty years back (am also old) on posting pictures of your young dc who couldn't possibly be in a position to consent.

I had tweens/teens then and while I never stuck stuff about them out there (seemed a bad idea / rather wrong even then) they were later very definite they didn't want pictures or any other details posted on their own account.

It'll be interesting to see whether A&L end up feeling as exploited as Harold claims to have been.

I have similar wardrobes we're trying to get rid of. We can't sell them on Ebay so are having to get a clearance van to take them away.

It's hardly aspirational.

The outfit is hideous. It looks like an old maternity outfit from the Queen Mother.

What is she trying to achieve? She's not building a brand, she's not selling anything, she's not building followers. What is she doing??
It's all so very odd.

Spot on.

The new influencer move of not showing kids faces whilst still shilling their experiences and childhood for clicks is I think going to be a short lived temporary virtue signalling phenomenon until the full shame of parents using their kids to promote themselves kicks in culturally. .

The pretence that the only danger is recognition, or paedophiles, is already outdated.

No, the actual danger is that face shown or not, your child is now an unwitting, non consenting commodity, in the selling of you and your brand.

You sold your child's childhood moments to make yourself look good and now they have to live with everything you put out into the world forever.

There is such a reckoning coming for so many parents. Harry and Meghan included. But worse for them because of the blatant, extraordinary hypocrisy.

I really thought the lilac garment in the dressing room picture was a dressing gown 😬

It’s weird because I remember reading a hello magazine article 15+ years ago, Liz Hurley saying her son Damiens fav thing was to watch her get dressed up in her ballgowns and helped her pick outfits…..and look how weird that mum/son relationship turned out.

I get those vibes with Lili and Meghan from this photo.

Me too!

Why is it so huge and baggy?

There’s a thread elsewhere running at the moment about housecoats.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5528798-housecoat?page=1

It looks like she’s wearing a lilac housecoat

@CathyorClaire it'll be interesting to see whether A + L end up feeling as exploited as Harold claims to have been

I think it's really unlikely they won't feel exploited.

It wouldn't surprise me if one/ both end up writing a book that makes Spare and Mommie Dearest look like accounts of a blissful childhood.

"Daddy kept taking my sausages away and giving them to my sister. He said it's because I'm the oldest and one day I'll understand. Mind you, she wasn't allowed to wear shoes until she was 14, so at least my feet were warm."

It really does 👀

I’ve had a thought,
l’m very much of the ‘I hope William removes the titles’ brigade,
However, after reading comments on here and other places I’m now a bit unsure as I feel they would really twist this.
So, I thought of a compromise.
William issues letters patent which state that royal dukedoms can only be held by working royals. It could be veiled as a way to protect historically rich titles such as Kent & Gloucester. The Kent & Gloucester heirs would simply keep their subsidiary titles when the current dukes die, which are Earl of Ulster (Gloucester)and Earl of St Andrews (Kent). The dukes of K & G would of course keep their dukedoms until they die as they are both working royals.
And here’s where it gets quite delicious.
Harry would instantly forfeit Sussex as he is not a working royal and would of course be able to use his subsidiary titles.
So…….imagine the scene. Meghan in the kitchen sprinkling dried flowers all over food. Her ‘friend’says something about Meghan Sussex…..Meghan has to reply ‘Silly, don’t you know I’m Meghan Dumbarton now’?

Of course WE all know Dumbarton is a fine Scottish Town. We have no issues with it.
But Meghan does which is why Archie was AMW at birth, he didn’t get given his fathers subsidiary title which is what usually happens (Viscount Severn became Earl of Wessex, Viscount Linley became Earl of Snowden &his son is now Viscount Linley). She hated the Dum part of Dumbarton apparently.

Welcome, the Earl and Countess of Dumbarton.

I can hope can’t I?

Maybe I should write to William!

Side note - that picture , why has she got coffee cups at the bottom and no coffee pot? Nor coffee spoons? And you don’t have a pile of leaves in a bowl on a tea table. She’s got no idea has she? Common little so and so..

She truly believes she’s better, cleverer , more worthy. She cannot bear Catherine to have any positive coverage .

The lilac outfit is too big and does nothing for her. Her daughter squished at her feet is really creepy.

I do hope Catherine laughs at MM as much as we do.

I really hope so.