PR Disasters Chapter 14

[Recklessismymiddlename]

Continuing the baton on from @Atlusvue

Also, isn't "recollections may vary" the best clapback anyone has ever done, ever? A medal for the MIGS who drafted that!

I'm prepared to say I believe HLMTQ agreeing to Lillibet was piffle. If M can clap back to products being made by Temu , why would they have not taken this all the way .

Many companies where the quality and provenance of their products are important will tell you where they are sourced / manufactured . It sort of explains why you are paying more. If you choose not to pay more , fair enough , but that is their brand and business model.

Re "a spokesperson for As Ever said: "Thank you for drawing this false and defamatory tweet to our attention. For clarity, this is completely untrue; her products are not sourced from Temu." Is not the obvious question - well from where are they sourced ? But you might as well ask Oprah to ask that 😂

I assumed her “investment” was time/support/motivational soundbites on bananas free advertising as she promoted the product or carried the bag or whatever

I thought the same, @shamedbysiri, but I don't actually know and thought maybe someone else might

The MO of encouraging people to think something that isn't necessarily so would be par for the course though, and there's been a lot said about the actual lies, but less about the things they "suggest", with deniability tacked on

I prefer to think that it was QEII herself. She was pretty acerbic.

@Puzzledandpissedoff Just so re "suggest" and plausible - not not so plausible deniability " - M didn't explicitly say A was not made a prince because of the colour of his skin , but she sailed as close to the wind as she could and Oprah helped her out. That's egregious IMHO. But the pair of them were in their "everyone's racist & that's why M had a hard time " time , subsequently hamfistedly taken back. But it was a big deal at the time. & H , however dim he is , should have known when his child could expect a title. If he didn't well , I have no words. * It does not surprise me OW has taken that interview off line. She looked like a willing dupe. Albeit I am sure one who was crying all the way to the bank.

• I might actually but a useful phrase 😊

Then send her flying monkeys out to tell everyone she thought of it first or the other person doesn't "own" it. The most hilarious was on these very pages, with one of her semi-regular defenders insisting "Lillibet" is a common name!

Oh goodness yes! The list of things that Meghan did first/has proprietary rights over is endless. So anyone (usually Kate) who does similar is a jealous copier. Even if there is photographic evidence of them doing this before Meghan was even known about. They include:

wearing more than two rings on one finger
wearing tailored trousers
wearing white suits
wearing black suits
wearing black trousers and a blue jacket
wearing an one-shouldered evening dress
styling your hair in a messy bun
styling your hair so it curls over one shoulder
taking photos in black and white
taking photos at the seaside
preserving food in jars
growing a beard

And many, many many more….

They have bounced back from an awful lot and continue to do so.

The American Hustle vanity Fair article should have been the end but it wasn't.

Their lack of talent / ability is astonishing. Podcasts. Unbelievably dull. He produced absolutely nothing. His Putin idea was absolutely absurd. Polo, etc ....

They are bouncing back to lower heights every time though.
They've gone from record-breaking Netflix series and book sales to speaking at random, undersold events.

And selling matches! 🤣

Of course they bounce back - they are indefatigable and they think that the titles owe them a living. Now if you are a member of the WRF of course the titles give you a living , whether that is appropriate or not , there are many opinions. 😉

ETA wink in recognition of those who do not believe the WRF or the RF should exist , I don't agree with that as I am in favour of a constitutional monarchy but I do agree with some of the criticisms. But given it does - H hasn't really got an argument either side other than his Dad has a position , his mum was rich and he has bailed out of doing what the WRF do. I agree with the pp who said , H wants the platform the accolades etc without the responsibility and the restrictions. That's not really how it works H.

I have used it in real life. It is a great clap back.

Absolutely this. Harry is the worst version of royalty, and by connection, Meghan too. It's just about the titles, status, wealth and privilege.

Just leaving this here .
https://www.dailymail.com/news/royals/article-15858529/prince-harry-overshadowed-fears-prince-george-school-oundle-eton-andrew-morton-palace-confidential.html

And I would say Fenella - & I do agree with you - once you give up the responsibilities - the titles , the status , start to drop in meaning , increasingly a bit Ruritanian. Yes it keeps you in the public eye but more as a novelty or a talking point. They must be realising it wasn't about them. It was because they were in the working family that they were feted. Left to their own talents and personalities , less so. But it's what they have so I don't expect them to stop trading on it anytime soon.

Just a quick point & I can't remember which poster it was ( Sorry ) - but they pointed out H said he had a certain amount of time before George came of age. Good point. Why would it matter if he is doing quiet service & not angling for importance ? If he were doing Good Work & showing up - he could do this whatever. For a long time and working hard to see the benefits accrue. I think the problem is he thinks he's a poster boy who can do good by simply being H. Sentebale , AP , and the IG have shown - not always true. He is like the young boy who had the stabilisers taken off his bike without someone to catch him when he wobbles. ( I know I've said that before - apologies )

M didn't explicitly say A was not made a prince because of the colour of his skin , but she sailed as close to the wind as she could and Oprah helped her out

Exactly, @basiliskstare
If memory serves, and without looking up the exact words, it was something along the lines of "If that's the assumption you want to make I believe it's a safe one"

In other words the MO I referred to ... someone else said it, not me

They really must think people are completely stupid, and I've edited to add that goes for Oprah too, with her ridiculous claim that Meghan didn't know what questions would be asked

Here’s the transcript of that part of the Oprah discussion, if it helps:

Oprah: You certainly must have had some conversations with Harry about it and have your own suspicions as to why they didn’t want to make Archie a prince. What are . . . what are those thoughts? Why do you think that is? Do you think it’s because of his race?
Meghan: (Sighs)
Oprah: And I know that’s a loaded question, but . . .
Meghan: But I can give you an honest answer. In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time . . . so we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.
Oprah: What?
Meghan: And . . .
Oprah: Who . . . who is having that conversation with you? What?
Meghan: So . . .
Oprah: There is a conversation . . . hold on. Hold up. Hold up. Stop right now.
Meghan: There were . . . there were several conversations about it.
Oprah: There’s a conversation with you . . ?
Meghan: With Harry.
Oprah: About how dark your baby is going to be?
Meghan: Potentially, and what that would mean or look like.
Oprah: Whoo. And you’re not going to tell me who had the conversation?
Meghan: I think that would be very damaging to them.
Oprah: OK. So, how . . . how does one have that meeting?
Meghan: That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him. And I think . . .
Oprah: Whoa.
Meghan: It was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations.
Oprah: Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?
Meghan: I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but that — if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?

Thanks @Mylovelygreendress

Archive link https://archive.is/JqmxO

(And I totally call bullshit on any suggestion from Oprah that this line of questioning was not set up in advance with Meghan. Oprah introduces the issue with “Do you think it’s because of his race? and then herself draws the conclusion that it would be be a problem if Archie was too brown, which Meghan endorses. That’s a set up if ever I saw one…)

Yes, good points. I'm mindful of those people who still use their royal titles from houses which became defunct many years ago. I suppose it enables them to dine out and get an account at Harrods.

You can tell how much interest in her business has waned because I haven’t seen any journalists doing product reviews for ages, even though now there’s no availability issue.

Of course I’m not trawling the news, but I’ve not seen any articles posted reviewing the candles - the only thing I’ve seen is some commentary on social media about some of the candles being sent without wicks. A year or two ago there would certainly have been a Mail article reviewing the candles and comparing the scent and quality vs other similarly priced candles.

Very good points. Yet Archie is a Prince, Lilibet is a Princess.
They use the titles....so how do they explain that?

Harry is said to have been fully briefed on the scandal I can just imagine how that went!

”Daily Mail bad. You good.”

More trouble at t'mill: https://www.reddit.com/r/SaintMeghanMarkle/comments/1tr2ft1/meghan_markle_tells_prince_harry_im_not_going/

Basically, an unsourced and gossipy article about how H desperately wants to spend time in the UK and with his father, and M doesn't. I'm sure there are grains of truth in there.

And that's why there will never be a reconciliation.

Nope. She absolutely wants him and the kids to spend time with KC. They need royal connections more than anything now. Problem is, it can't be private as both of them will be posting photos of the prince and princess kids with King Papa🙄🙄🙄