PR Disasters thread 16.

[HoldMyWine]

Meghan and Harry the grift that keeps on grifting. Long may they continue. Better than any soap opera on the telly.

And couldn't he find a charity doing similar work a tad closer to home

This is something I've found interesting since he moved.

The US always seems to have a great respect for veterans. I would have expected Harry to want to get involved with some of the local veteran (or other military) charities.

US posters have spoken a few times about problems happening in LA that have been ignored by the Sussexes while they've commented on UK matters.

I'm sure Charles would step in if they were completely out of money, as would any parent. I can't see him giving them money to fund their enormous house, time wasting court cases and influencer lifestyle though.

He doesn’t look good in that video. He looks pale and tired.

I think he looks depressed a lot of the time

Has anyone seen the new photoshopped/ AI video from MM?

No - it's not on her insta?

You're not alone in wondering this, bluegreygreen, but of course if Harry got on board with a pre-existing charity a lot would have to be done under someone else's say-so, whereas with Invictus he can pretend to be "it"

Same goes for all the unanswered questions about expenses, in that I rather doubt Harry would want them scrutinised by anyone genuinely independent

After all we've seen what happens when those not in thrall to him presume to speak up and it ain't pretty

They seem to be trying to adopt a royal model of philanthropy. Or rather, a royal model from several years ago. These days, rather than 'dabble' in various charities, royals tend to focus on a smaller number.

But just as with those weird 'tours' they do, they don't realise that a) the way royals operate has changed, even in the time they've been gone and b) they don't have the status or resources to emulate royal practices.

Realistically, they'd be much better off 'adopting' one or two local charities. But then they wouldn't get the chance to jet off across the world, and Harry would have to acknowledge that his royal life is over and California is his home now.

And it all rather begs the question: Why stage a grand flounce only to try to set up a bargain basement imitation of royal life on the other side of the world?

yes it is.

It's on her 'As Ever' Insta, not her 'personal' Insta.

The lack of distinction between the two is another marketing fail from the Duchess.

And yes it's weird. Here's me in mismatched beiges drinking wine on a hard stone bench on my own with an invisible friend.

Yes, who does she keep looking at in these cringey adverts; is it the imaginary friends yet again?!

And what's up with her right hand? It looks much bigger and darker than the rest of her! I know lighting and camera angles can play tricks on the eyes, but this is weird!

I wonder if the whole thing is AI? why else would the hands look so strange

He looks very thin / frail

Tbh the look in his eyes reminds me of my ds when he was struggling with his mental health. He most definitely doesn’t look like someone living his best life in the California sunshine.

Oh don’t get me going. It’s my specialist subject. I’ll spare you all my latest analysis, but you’re not wrong.

There may be no ‘direct costs’ yet identified for Birmingham City Council (yeah, right …) but the indirect costs will be substantial.

Also, as she's walking out she's holding a green bottle in that big paw.

Yet in the rest of the video the bottle is clear glass?

Also, why has the wine already been poured when she's uncorking the bottle?

😕

@IcedPurple "And it all rather begs the question: Why stage a grand flounce only to try to set up a bargain basement imitation of royal life on the other side of the world.?"

I can only guess , but I think H didn't quite think it all through 😉 After the initial excitement (and money) when he then realised he had nothing to bring to the H&M party apart from his father and his title , he fell back on what he was used to. Without realising Prince Harry with the guidance and heft of the WRF & BP behind him is an entirely different thing to HM-W , Prince Harry , Duke of Sussex as an individual. I think he probably misses the bit of structure and usefulness he was prepared to put up with & hence the rather paltry version of being a royal he's come up with. I think he's interested in being a figurehead - less interested in more onerous / low key things. Now, for all I know, he is working all the hours he has to eg try to make some sense out of African Parks' problems. I wouldn't bet the farm on it though.

And why does she pick up her shoes? It isn't fun or alluring.

But just as with those weird 'tours' they do, they don't realise that a) the way royals operate has changed, even in the time they've been gone

Agree, the RF have changed in the time they have been gone, yet they are both stuck in the past. Sad really.

It reminds me of a child playing tea parties with their teddies.

There is a sports Reddit community that I follow and they are complaining about the sports people left out of theTime 100 list, someone asked how serious is the list, and a few posters use Harry being included as an example of how unserious it is.

Some of the posters have never even HEARD of Invictus. and one poor poster thought the 63m cost was actually the prize fund LOL. Here are some of the commments,
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“Why shouldn't he be included? He's the founder of the Invictus Games. Last years edition had more than 500 athletes
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Which I've never heard of.
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500 doesn't sound like much. And 63 million dollar is about 1/8 of the budget of Roland Garros (the first random event I compared it with).
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Clearly, Harry is on the list because for some reason he's a celebrity in the US, not because he actually has any special importance in the world of sport
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I agree that his celebrity status is a factor, but I don't but I don't agree that he has no importance in the world of sports.
His importance is very tightly coupled to combat veterans though, and that of course aligns with American values, which is most likely the primary reason
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I'm an american who follows basically every sport and have never heard of that shit
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wow 500
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Yes. I think that's a lot considering who can participate.
It's a 63 million dollar event, with athletes from 23 different countries.
It might not matter to you, but I know a few veterans with combat wounds who have been very happy to participate.
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Never heard of it one time. Just posting a huge prize purse and larping as a popular sport doesn't count as influence
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It's not the prize purse, it's the cost of hosting the event.
It's a sports event for wounded combat veterans, so it's primarily a thing in the countries who participated in the NATO operations I guess.
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That's even worse. He didn't even pay them.
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My local 5k run gets 3,000 people.
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That's close to the participants of Paralympic’s
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The Paralympics at 5,000 is way more important than Invictus at 500. I shouldn't need to explain that.
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Of all the sports for good causes, Invictus gets a far outsized platform because countries who callously murder their soldiers in the stupidest of wars make heroes of them when they survive and need these events to keep face. That the Paralympics are not mentioned here but Invictus is exactly makes the point.
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Last years edition had more than 500 athletes competing.
So about as much as my local skeet shooting competition?
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Turns out that as an avid sports follower I hadn't heard of 57 of them (listed below). I think the problem is less so that the list is US-centric, which is to be expected, but that the journalist seem to have little clue about other sports,

Times magazine seem to be very keen on H&M. H featuring as top 100 is even more ridiculous than that aviation award

I really should not say this but I could imagine a SNL sketch of H as a rich old man in his man cave with his Heroes of Aviation and other risible awards he has been given arranged on the shelves around him , like Howard Hughs and his jars of urine.

Sorry , flashed through what I laughingly call my mind - perhaps should have kept it there. 😊

Yes, there is really no such thing as bargain-basement royal life. As they might have known, if either of them had bothered to inform themselves or to think about it for five minutes.

They seem to have wanted both independence from the RF, and the status and activities that go with royal life. But who is there - in the whole world - who has both those things? Perhaps the super-super rich, if they happen to be philanthropically inclined. Especially those from phenomenally successful showbiz backgrounds, who are used to self-presentation, fame, and being able to draw attention to a cause just by showing up to an event. People who have star power, expert advice, money to burn, and whole teams of staff to set things up and make them run smoothly.

The RF functions as a collective, not as individuals. As a collective then they have all those things. An individual who leaves is going to have very much less of all of them. Not enough to function as "royal."

@Singan - I agree with you. I haven't thought this through , so bear with me , but one I can think of who had the individual star power & the focus , was Elizabeth Taylor and her Aids charity. That's a long time ago , but one example I can think of.

What's going on here?