PR Disasters, chapter 13

[AtIusvue]

Meg and Harry and all their PR shenanigans

Trigger Warning: this thread may contain talk about sleeves.

A quiet presented card and a glass of champagne, yep.

It was the idea some seemed to have that crews might go beyond that and burst into song that was making me go 😨

I think the key words here are "if you let the crew know early on."

The crew aren't going to descend on a 'celebrity' with a card full of gushy greetings out of the blue. That could well be perceived as intrusive and drawing unneccessary attention to the 'celebrity' who in most cases would probably prefer to be as unobtrusive as possible. The rich and famous value discretion very highly, and first class cabin crew will be trained along those lines. Of course, our Duchess is not 'most cases'. So the card likely is genuine, but no doubt she or whoever she was flying with will have tipped off the cabin crew in advance.

Whatever the case, posting it publicly is naff and desperate. I'd not be best pleased if my name was on that card and it was now all over the internet. But privacy is for the Duchess, not the plebs.

Because as @others mentioned, European business class is rubbish,if she did go commercial she possibly booked out the full area for her entourage, or at least maybe the full row, so she didn’t have some random business person in the next seat.

There were several PJ’s that left GVA for Farnborough on Monday morning, she could have been on one of them and then a luxury 40 min limo to Heathrow.

‘That being said, they apparently flew business to Australia, as there was no first on the carrier they choose, so I guess they are not totally averse to mingling with the peasants.

Luton airport accepts private jets. It's one of the busiest airports for private couriers. I have a friend who is a private jet pilot, and he works out of there.

Oh I know, I was just listing those GA airfields most handy for LHR.

Still think BA, both sectors, via LHR is Occams choice...

Yeah, I agree that someone must have told them in advance. I knew their anniversary was in May, but I would never in a million years have been able to guess the exact date, and that’s coming from someone with a keen interest in history and the Royal Family. There’s no chance that random crew members would just happen to know the date and decide to go out of their way to do something special for a celebrity entirely off their own initiative.

More likely, whoever booked her seat mentioned it to the airline beforehand so they could arrange a little treat, or perhaps she mentioned it in conversation while being served and the crew decided to go above and beyond.

It’s just a lovely little perk of flying with a slightly nicer airline. You certainly wouldn’t get this on easyJet 🤣 (their idea of a treat is letting the stag do the safety demonstration).

I find that very frustrating and annoying. What Sophie does isn't about her of course, there's no controversial back story, so it never makes headlines.
Her work with VAWG is excellent, and the report about her conversations with those women and girls who survived the most brutal attacks in Sudan was a very difficult read.

Maybe they needed handles for forks.

I find the Meghan car crash endlessly sad & fascinating at the same time. I wonder if either of the Sussexes realise?

I don’t know what goes on these days but, years ago, when I was BA cabin crew, I got a card from flight crew and cabin crew on my very first flight.

I’d assumed it was done to all new cabin crew, but on reflection, it may have been because I made quite the first impression. Firstly, I needed the pilot’s help to use the 5 point harness in the cockpit correctly, secondly, I struggled to get out of the cockpit, and thirdly, I dropped a tray of chicken tikka salad on myself, a passenger and in the aisle … 😂😂

Yes, you're right. Both Stansted and Luton accept private jets, but BA don't fly out of those airports, so it wouldn't make sense to go to either of those, only to have to drive to LHR. Perhaps she flew private into City Airport and picked up a BA flight from there? I guess the other possibility is that she managed to cadge a free private flight one way and took whatever airport it was going to.

What about the lightbox installations/locked screen exhibit? It would have been quite the expensive operation getting those to Geneva from wherever they are kept in the US. They belong to Archewell, I think? I hope it wasn't charity money being spent getting those to Europe, only for their message to be completely drowned out (as usual) by Meghan drama.

🤓🤓

On a BA flight in 1st and Business the Head Purser goes to greet each passenger (in terms of airline status) early in the flight and thank them for traveling with BA. I imagine M had an assistant with her and one of them mentioned on the Monday flight that M was keen to get home as it was her wedding anniversary. The crew has a variety of notepaper, compliments slips etc so they gave her a card. Flying BA as British royalty could give you a tiny bit more VIP status onboard. And of course none of the crew would want M to make a complaint about them so giving her a card might curry a bit of favour with her.

At Heathrow there is a set of private suites and lounges so you don’t have to mix at all with other passengers. M and especially H will have used it a lot over the years - maybe they pay the £3k, maybe they get it comped as British royalty. So BA is the airline they have used most and have status with, via an airport they know well and has good luxury services.
https://heathrow-vip.com/windsor-suite-heathrow/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22971178727&gbraid=0AAAAA-BnjgcKVVbpUz7PuIG0xnLtvRbWE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0rS0u67HlAMVZJVQBh1hyQoBEAAYAyAAEgLpsvD_BwE

No one implied that the BA crew were going to 'burst into song.'

I bet it's comped! I don't think they'd have to pay for it.

I imagine Archewell own the screens and the transport costs and Megan’s expenses were paid by Archewell. The WHA just provided the display space either for free or for a fee.

It’s really just bought PR for Megan paid for by Archewell.

On their "Freedom Flight" (sic) I understand that the crew thanked them for their service.
Which really happened.

Wow, that is brutal but true!

Thank you. It's still behind a paywall for me, so here's the archive link:

"That same wedding where the bride and groom strictly enforced a 'no cameras' policy, with guests required to hand over their phones and cameras to ensure Meghan and Harry enjoyed the total privacy they have demanded and exacted from everyone except themselves since day one.
For we all know that when it comes to the Duke and <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/2SX03/www.dailymail.com/tvshowbiz/meghan-markle/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Duchess of Sussex, privacy is a highly prized territory which they often choose to invade themselves on behalf of themselves for the benefit of themselves.
They do this when the occasion suits, when the going is tough, when there is mercantile advantage to be had in slyly reminding everyone just how special and royal they are."

https://archive.ph/2SX03

@Indianrollerbird

. Perhaps she flew private into City Airport and picked up a BA flight from there?

Not sure if any biz jets can operate into City (local factors can mean special equipment and special clearances needed), but as to the later point, BA only ever operated one US service out of London City, the bespoke business class only LCY-JFK service that stopped a few years ago.

In any event we know (from the card) she flew LHR-LAX with BA on the BA269...

The only mystery people seem be wanting to perceive is the GVA London bit...I'm loath to defend MM but it has been pointed out MM has flown business class before (Qantas), so < 90 minutes in BA Club Europe and then an internal T5 connection wouldn't be slumming it, and from a logistical and possibly cost POV a logical itinary.

Excellent points. They share private moments for the headlines and the money making.
The image of Lilibet helping Mom in the enormous closet is a good example of that.

I don't agree with alot of things she does but its starting to feel like stalker vibes on here tracking down what flight she was, where she flew into or out of, what time she might of landed and she is unhinged? All this does is prove her or well Harrys point about security, that there are people out there going to great lengths...

Yeah, I agree that someone must have told them in advance. I knew their anniversary was in May, but I would never in a million years have been able to guess the exact date,

Also, it wasn't even the exact date!

She seems to have flown BA on Monday, and her anniversary was yesterday, the 19th.

So First Class cabin crew just spontaneously came up with the idea of signing a card for a 'celebrity' the day before a non milestone anniversary? Just like that?

have landed

Oh give over!

She's so obsessed with security that she posted a photo of a card, which gave away details of her flight, on her public social media?

And she also posts photos from inside her family home, including her bedroom, on that same social media?

And it's 'might have landed'. Not 'might of landed'.