PR disasters thread 22

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The ongoing saga of Sussex PR

This week has been a huge win as far as H is concerned. He's too narcissistic to see the damage the past few years has done to DM journalists. Got his RF adjacency today. The ANL costs, he can cover. Or he assumes Pa will cover 🙄

I also think the boiling frog analogy applies. KC doesn't need to make some huge gesture (like releasing a photo) to signal capitulation. Small olive branch meetings, briefings and news items like the BBC one mentioned above, silence on the quasi royal/merching tours to Commonwealth countries - a slow drip, drip signaling that they are being accepted back and given what they want.

I doubt he regards the DM journalists as human beings @Starryfifty .

I bloody hope the DM apply for the costs caps to be lifted, and go for indemnity costs against the 7 buffoons.

My prediction is that today was a 90 minute meeting and the next time they see each other will be in a year's time (if IG goes ahead) for another 90 minute meeting.

I think KC is motivated by thought of quietening his critics who say that he should forgive his son. He's the head of the CoE and has no moral high ground because of mistakes he made in his relationship with Diana so he values the chance to reduce his image of being a bad father.

I think the wider RF may also potentially benefit from a reduction in poisoned barbs coming there way from California. It's awkward for HAM's image to have tea and cakes and then sell more secrets.

W/C: I think they accept that it's up to KC to manage his relationship with his son. They'd never allow George to dictate their relationship with C or L. But they have said to KC - this needs to be low key, 100% private and absolutely no HIHO. Harry's foolishness is the extra evidence they need that he's completely unsuitable to represent the monarch ever again.

Although this week will have looked like HIHO to people not paying much attention (which is most of them, to be fair!), all the things that we've been discussing (IG being a bit of a dated format, his silly/political speeches, her merching her clothes and appearing on roundabouts to tiny 'crowds'), all of this is going to accelerate over the coming years. Today's 15 year olds probably have no memory of HAM being working royals. Time goes quickly and their public profile will inevitably get smaller. I reckon quite a lot of people in their 40s today would not be able to name Princess Margaret if they saw a picture of her when she was in her 50s, 60s, 70s. And she remained in the fold! This is Harry's destiny.

I think KC is taking a slow and steady approach which will end with him seeing them privately for a short time once a year.

I almost forgot to say what HAM get: they get their kids to have memories of meeting their grandfather the king which might be important to their profile in the future. An adult A / L being known for being related to the royals but having no memory of ever meeting any of them is less potentially lucrative than being able to say, 'ah, yes, I enjoyed my visits to see my illustrious ancestor. He had wonderful gardens, you know, bla, bla'. HAM themselves might be encouraged that their HIHO pretence has had a small boost but the news cycle moves on so quickly that it won't last.

Sorry, this turned into an essay!

I’m inclined to hope you are correct @Not2identifying! , however this onslaught of the past week or two has tried the patience of the saints, it’s too much ! , many people have been cancelled for less , yet His royal pain in the ass and his delightful wife apparently are able to lie , scheme and provoke international outrage and it’s all ok ! , the rage is real and understandable.

@jeffgoldblum - agreed, it's been a huge circus because the media loves the clicks (and HAM are happy to have lots of publicity). But within 48 hours of their return to California they'll sink without trace (in terms of UK public profile) and then they'll be back to jam and backs-of-heads...

It's really irritating that powerful media organisations are totally disinterested in holding him to account. But the future is always going to belong to W, C and their kids.

I know it! But I can understand the outrage others feel! 🤷‍♀️

Controversial maybe, but I can't help but wonder if this visit is KC and PH calling a truce and drawing a line in the sand.

KC - we'd love to see A&L again, and of course M, but it will be a private meeting at Highgrove. No one will know you are here until the visit has taken place. You will be covered by my security. But you playing the media stops here - no more leaks, no more digs at the family. No HIHO, just us as a family again.
PH - desperate for a reconciliation persuades M that he wants his kids to meet their GPa and begin having a relationship with his pa again on better terms. No more bitterness, he's got his pa back.

I mean, he did seem happy at the event today didn't he? Maybe that angry little boy inside is happy now he has his dad back.

Is that so far fetched?

It would be nice ! But I’m afraid you are transferring feelings and emotions onto Harry from your own perspective and I’m not sure that he has the same capacity.

Maybe, but it would improve both of their images wouldn't it? KC no longer seen as a bad father and having been the one to send the olive branch, PH & MM stfu with their constant bad mouthing of the RF and hopefully feeling less bitter after a successful visit. Could be a win/win.

This is interesting from Sean Coughlan, ‘royal correspondent’ at the BBC (and the sub-editor who wrote the headline):

Chaos and confusion reign as Harry loses media battle

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78yp5j2e8eo

Meghan has been very quiet. She is still very quiet.

From Caroline Davies at the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/10/king-charles-prince-harry-children-highgrove

None of these reports are exactly glowing. They all remind readers of Harry’s past criticisms of members of his family and how deeply unpleasant he was to them. They also remind us of Harry’s own role in the crap that preceded and surrounded his ‘bumpy’ week, with a ‘No’ from RAVEC, a ‘No’ from BP, and a ‘No’ from the High Court.

I'm sorry I'm not Kate

But I have read that Kate has a MN account so I hope she enjoys the RF threads - I hope Kate, Zara and Sophie have a RF bingo drinking game (take a drink if HAM mention security 🍸)

😂

Neil Sean's Youtube podcast popped up on my feed and he claims to have "excellent sources" of what went down at Highgrove - allegedly/pinch of salt

It was very last minute

Harry wanted 1:1 with Charles and no Camilla but this was denied - Charles never alone.

Meghan had managed to get a message to KC and QC about Harry's terrible mental state - which is why the meeting took place

Harry was went in first to meet the King while Markle and the kids were forced to wait outside

Security was very tight inside Highgrove - had to surrender phones - no recording, no entourage etc

One photographer - photos property of the King only

William thinks it was a huge mistake - but Harry thinks it will lead to reconciliation eventually

Possibility of Balmoral

@Lunde That all sounded very plausible.
I had to laugh at the end when he signed off “As ever, chums, when I know more, you’ll know more.”

They have a unique ability to spin anything to make look like good news of M&H. There are vile posts today attacking C at the polo game, saying she clearly is unwell with an eating disorder and that W&C held hands to try to get attention as they knew M&H were with the King. It is very odd indeed.

Also lots of posts of them saying the King is clearly on deaths door as that is the only way H would allow his children around the King. Completely ignoring the fact that King has been out working and looks very well indeed.

Any further vitriol from Meghan about never setting foot in the UK again etc has been effectively neutralised by this meeting. She can’t slag off the royals without looking even more like a first class loser than she currently does.

It sounds a sensible step to me - private meeting on Charles terms, if HAM mess it up again they mess it up again, it's just who they are.

I had a foster daughter i loved (still do!) dearly, but for a time when she was a teenager she was a constant whirl of drama and victimhood. All you can do is maintain your boundaries and respond to their positive choices positively.

I think the mental health card would probably have more impact than seeing the children - no parent wants their child to self destruct. Plus of course the optics of it. But this story has been round the block a few times, and I think KC3 is striking the right balance between being available to his obviously fragile son, but putting strong boundaries in place.

All the rest, the statement about the judge, the pontificating about this, that and the other... H is deeply flawed, and KC3 isn't endorsing any of that with a brief personal meeting.

I guess I wonder - if Charles is so keen on a personal relationship with Harry, why doesn’t he already have one? Harry has been wanging on about reconciliation for ages, he was plainly upset that there was no contact during the state visit. Charles has also just humiliated Harry by saying no to the last minute accommodation request. He very publicly put his employees first and made Harry look like a right tit. Project Thaw this ain’t (I don’t think 😬). Meghan applying pressure for a meeting because of Harry’s poor mental health rings true though. It will be very interesting to see what the Sussexes say about it.

I disagree with those who think that this was an error. I think the RF played a blinder.

Suddenly all the vitriol they got about the BP 'why did you withdraw your invitation' fiasco is out of the window. KCIII is now to the Sussex Squad and the media the busy King who did make time to see his grandkids at a lovely English country house and entertain them. And kept it private as these visits should always always be.

Now if Harry writes about in another book or blabs about it in an interview (there WILL be a leak, I suspect they can't help it), they will look terrible.

This is most of all, Meghan very much having to eat humble pie. She was never going to set foot in the UK. The UK is this weird place where she has to curtsey. Her children would never come back. These people questioned the colour of their skin. She would never come back without security. This is a bad racist country and a bad racist family. And now amidst what is widely understood to be financial difficulties, she's been forced to swallow her pride and make nice because it is clear they need the RF way way more than the RF needs them. And she definitely does.

I think the court case having happened this week was fortuitous. It exposed the hypocrisies of Harry's case, the little tantrum over the judicial system got an eye roll and it REALLY exposed globally how financially vulnerable they are. There is not a soul, even amongst the Sussex squad ardent supporters who think that they are doing okay for money or that their commercial ventures are successful.

So this is H&M, just a few years after their freedom flight, having trashed the family, coming back begging, and getting an hour without cameras at best and no security guarantee or a stay at Buckingham Palace. NOW if they trash the RF again, they will be despised. And they frankly in financial terms can't afford that.

That's a very measured article isn't it. Harry is good at Invictus, and they do seem to value him as Patron, but the fact that his visit to promote it has been totally overshadowed by his personal drama and media briefing is the focus. It will be interesting to see what happens now.

Rebecca English has an article about the meeting today. It is very neutral but ends with this:

"He gave an 'interview' to This Morning's Alison Hammond, which consisted mainly of her telling him how wonderful he was, as well as a speech in which he urged people to learn from the 'Invictus community'."

No matter how good Harry is at playing wheel chair games and interacting with Invictus competitors, and he is good at it, he is never going to get the acclaim he craves whilst he continues to give media easy targets with all the drama. The hypocrisy and desperation for personal applause and approval are a dramatic contrast to actual royal visits which keep the focus on the people they are visiting.

Excellent summary, @PotolKimchi.
I think you're absolutely spot on.

I’m with @PotolKimchi i think this was a great move for all the reasons in the previous post.

And importantly on a human level Charles has seen his son and grandkids. I would readily believe Charles effectively said “WTF Harry!” In light of recent events.

Sadly I don’t think KC will do this (not courageous enough) he should though and then PW (as king) won’t have to do it.