PR Disasters, chapter 13

[AtIusvue]

Meg and Harry and all their PR shenanigans

Trigger Warning: this thread may contain talk about sleeves.

Dan Wootton has her rumbled. Apparently Meg brought her own card and had it signed. WTF ??

Oh dear 😆

Uh oh....

Charlotte Isn't in Meghan's dump is she?

I've just seen a youtuber ranting about this card business, screaming "fake", and there appears to maybe some missunderstandings doing the rounds.

There's actually absolutely no reason MM or one of her entourage couldn't have brought a card and carried it onboard.

There's no reason she or someone couldn't have booked the card ahead of time via ba.com.

There's no reason MM or someone travelling with her couldn't have asked the cabin crew for a card on boarding or in flight.

All of the above options will have allowed those crew that wanted to to sign the card and hand it to MM.

Fundamentally none of the above is grounds for cries of "fake".

However where it might be questionable is if there are any claims that the crew spontaneously came up with the card idea out of the goodness of their hearts....

I guess there's a possibility that happened but only the crew and/or MM know the answer to that.

It's gone off her insta now as was in stories. Same with the godawful kitchen.

@notimagain "Fundamentally none of the above is grounds for cries of "fake".
However where it might be questionable is if there are any claims that the crew spontaneously came up with the card idea out of the goodness of their hearts...."

I agree - if it were meant to portray a spontaneous outpouring because Meghan - a bit naughty. If it were a card you could ask for , fair enough , but then why put it on your social media. I asked for a card from BP for my parents for their 60th Wedding anniversary - none of us pretended HLMTQ had suddenly thought she must send a card to Basilisk's parents. But it was a nice private thing.

I think Dan Wootton is a creep but this just makes so much sense. As for the People story about crew coming up and sharing their memories of her wedding, BA cabin crew really go out of their way with first/business class passengers or frequent flyers so I bet they really have to suck up to celebrities.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/20/meghan-markle-anniversary-candle
Very funny from the Guardian - formerly cheerleaders of H&M.
Love the "don't say" one! 😂

I agree - I think it’s conspiracy level to think that the card has been faked. And it’s well
within the bounds of probability that first class VIPs do get little touches like this.

What is bonkers is that Meghan wanted everyone to know that she specifically got a n anniversary card from the BA crew, and that someone on her team specifically briefed People to say that people were coming up to tell her about their wedding memories.

It’s like the story about the freedom flight where a British crew member got down on his knees and thanked her for everything she’d done for the country.

It’s such a weird addiction to needing to be admired and loved in a public way.

From what I saw over the years most
most celebrities didn't expect to be sucked up to at all..

The genuine A listers (and you were often talking Oscar winning individuals on flights such as LHR-LAX) simply expected decent service and generally wanted to be left alone..

I think she presented it as something special because BA is the UK's flag carrier, the nominated airline for the PM and royals. So, she's aligning herself even further with the RF, in addition to posting photos of her royal wedding.

Any minute now we'll be hearing about how she doesn't hold any grudges, bygones should be bygones, water under bridges, Charles is old and she's doing it for Harry.

BA is the UK's flag carrier, the nominated airline for the PM and royals

For info that's not always the case anymore.

These days the Royals and the PM often use one of the government's VIP aircraft run behind the scenes by an outfit called Titan.

King Charles used one of those government aircraft, a A321, and not one of BA's, on his recent visit to the US.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_transport_of_the_British_royal_family_and_government

Oooh, that's interesting. Love this kind of niche info about logistics! By govt aircraft do you mean RAF military aircraft, or that the govt owns/leases/rents one or two planes from this Titan company? I wonder why this is the case. London to Washington is a popular route, no need to make changes to accommodate HRH. Is it security, do you think? Better landing slots/take off times?

Could be all part of "project thaw." I'm surprised there wasn't a photo of KC walking her down the aisle and a mention to my father in law, KC 🙄

The wiki link probably explains the deal better than I can.

One problem with things like major Royal/Government visits is there are big numbers travelling, so it's best to charter..

Also there's often a requirement to have the aircraft and crew parked up downroute at the place of visit, sort of on call, throughout the visit.

These days airlines run so tight on resources many wouldn't be willing or able to sacrifice an aircraft or crew for several days...unless a lot of money changed hands.

Thanks for the wiki link, @notimagain . I didn't know these planes had to have space for weapons storage, missile detection and whatnot! Sounds like a lot of shenanigans. Also a reminder of how much of a tool BoJo was about these planes 🙄

I didn’t say people EXPECTED it, just IME, BA cabin crew really make an effort with frequent flyers or first/class business passengers. That’s just my personal experience of BA and when someone is being extra nice to me because I am in business class or whatever, I have the intelligence to know it’s not about how amazing I am
personally!

The whole thing is on the nose but this bit especially

"a candle you have made on the assumption that people will want to celebrate an arbitrary wedding anniversary? Come on, Markle, you’re not exactly making it easy to root for you."

😂

Still not as puzzling as a candle designed to smell like someone else's 7 year old boy.😬

If she referred to KC it would be my husband’s Dad . She is loathe to give anyone else their title whilst insisting on using hers .

That was a good snark! Moroccan mint, white tea leaves and cardamom to evoke the freshness of the day in the English countryside?! Is she on glue?

Just watching Aston Villa in their Europa League final. Great footage of William going mad when they scored.

In a previous life, I worked for BA and was part of the ops team who planned charters sometime for the late HMQ. We had to pull two aircraft out of operation got her Maj- a main and a backup. I got a commemorative pen for my work on on Norway visit back in 2000…

HMQ on a state visit was the only time we pulled 2 a/c off the line. These days I suspect they would use a government plane.