PR disasters thread 25

[BigWillyLittleTodger]

The Montecito diaries continue……..will it be Balmoral or bust?

But again, as ever, they are seemingly unable to monetise this. Most other celebrities sell / do other stuff so their appearance / participation in such events raises their profile and directs new customers to what they sell / do …. but what does this high profile achieve for PH? All it does is open him up to more ridicule and this content makes $$$$ for the hated press. Similarly with MM - she does have a destination point in As Ever but given the absolute massive amount of PR she generates it’s not translating into sales. Maybe she is selling the wrong stuff to the wrong people? I always thought if she had a skincare or makeup brand she would clean up - as I think it’s the only thing she does well.

Harry has made his Army career a central point of his personality. Strutting around at military events wearing his participation medals and writing about his kills as though it was a video game.

But Harry's Army career was very unspectacular (some would say poor) that even as a Sandhurst Trained Officer he only made Captain (2 promotions) after 10 years. Another reason Harry is jealous of William who joined later but got promoted earlier! It took Harry 5 years to make Captain whereas William took only 2!

Prince Harry (Duke of Sussex)
Prince Harry served in the British Army for 10 years (2005 to 2015), undertaking two operational tours of Afghanistan.

• May 2005 - started at Sandhurst
• April 12 2006 - completed training - Commissioned Second Lieutenant.
• April 13 2008 - promoted Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment (2 years post graduation).
• April 14 2011 promoted to Captain prior to his second deployment, serving as an Apache helicopter pilot until he left Army in June 2015. (5-6 years post graduation)

Prince William (Prince of Wales)
Prince William completed seven and a half years of full-time military service across the British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy.

• January 8th 2006 - Started at Sandhurst
• December 16 2006 completed training - commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Blues and Royals
• December 2007 - promoted to First Lieutenant (1 year post graduation)
• Jan 1 2009 promoted to Captain. (2 years post graduation)
• 2008-2009 - various secondments -graduated RAF College at Cranwell and served onboard a Navy frigate conducting anti drug operations in Barbados, plus special services.
• 2010 Transferred to RAF and trained to fly Sea King search and rescue operations.

I don't think they can make a living anymore tbh. Their brand is now toxic. The only way is not the RF connection. I saw some chatter about them moving to Australia and representing KC there

Harry is jealous of William who joined later but got promoted earlier! It took Harry 5 years to make Captain whereas William took only 2!

Out of interest was that anything to do with W being a graduate?

In at least one of the services at one time promotion to the equivalent of army Captain (the highest of the junior officer ranks) was pretty much automatic but the timescale differed, depending on whether you were a graduate or not.

Oh dear

I should have made clear in my previous comment by "graduate" I meant graduating from Uni with a degree.

You can certainly graduate as a junior officer from the likes of Cranwell, Sandhurst or Dartmouth but they don't award degrees.

William also trained at Dartmouth, so qualified from all 3 service colleges.

Who said it was a competition apart from some of the posters on here?

It’s a shame that some posters have to resort to childish nicknames for Archie and Lili.

Yes, more on the Travalyst story here

https://archive.is/ALXXE

They've appointed 4 people to the board, including the new director. I find it interesting that they refer to both incoming and outgoing board members by their roles in other organisations, not by their role in Travalyst.

(I think we discussed when both the chairman and CEO stood down in September.)

Well Harry keeps talking about A & L being working royals and Archie "inheriting" Invictus ... despite saying he hated royal life

I don't understand what the current HAM strategy is - outside of merching for money. Most people were fine with their original plan of no titles and visibility for the kids to grown up away from royal life with occasional family events - like the Tindall kids. But now they are influencer kids which seems strange.

I doubt if there is any prospect of a future royal role as distant cousins to George,

Both military and civilian Aviation has been our family thing for almost 50 years and as much as I have no respect/ liking for Harry I don’t think even for a few seconds that he can’t fly a helicopter and fly it very well.

There’s threads now on MN about four year olds ‘graduating’ from nursery, @notimagain. It’s probably best to specify

Couple that with the twerking video and yes that’s their level, how they monetise twerking and boorish banter though remains to be seen.

It’s a term of endearment just as the Wales’s is for George, Charlotte and Louis.

You need to try harder to find something to pick on.

I seem to recall ‘passing out’ from the likes of Cranwell.

Good point...there was certainly a passing out parade , not a graduation ceremony, at the end of Officer Training...

I would caution against assuming that all online engagement is from real people. In fact, more than half of all online engagement is from bots. The entertainment industry is notorious for purchasing social media likes with big celebrities losing millions of "followers" in May 2026 when instagram purged social media bots.

Brands and Celebs Lost Millions of Followers Thanks to This Instagram Update

It is very easy to buy bots to simulate online engagement. Companies such as Socialwick, Buzzoid, Poprey, Stormlikes and more advertise rates from $0.99 to $1.99 to buy a unit of 1,000 views. Most celebrities have a marketing budget that includes buying bots to maintain social media visibility.

IMHO, this explains the gap between the online "engagement" and HaM's lack of in-person crowds / inability to monetise the alleged engagement. Bots can't show up to events or buy merch.

Fantastic post by @ShamedBySiri re HAM’s lack of interests outside of their own narrow existence.
I’m horse mad like you, Siri, and I follow people who rescue from the kill pens and rehabilitate after even worse cases of cruelty. There are unbeliable abuses in équine sports, especially in the US. Have you ever seen the Texas Walking Horses and learned about the barbaric practice of « soring » ? The point is there is so much Harry could do for animal welfare…. Princess Anne has been a very long standing and valued patron of ILPH, now rechristened World Horse Welfare, an organisation I once worked for. But when you see how Harry views his mount as essentially sports véhicles, one shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s so sad!!!

I don't think so - I think graduates get a higher starting salary but I think it is fairly equal at the start. Having looked online it seems that once you graduate from Sandhurst Officer Training College the early progression is fairly automatic through the junior officer ranks - but it seems that Harry was on the slow track

Promotion to first Lieutenant around 1 year and up to 2 - dependent on completion of courses and disciplinary record. Officers need to show they are capable of leading a troop/platoon of 30 soldiers (although it's not clear that Harry ever had leadership responsibility).

Promotion to Captain is usually after around 2-3 years depending on successful completion of Junior Officer Training courses showing the ability to command a company of 120 and significant planning and decision-making ability, with responsibility for operations on the ground as well as equipment maintenance, logistic support, and management of people.

Where it gets tough is promotion to Major which would have been Harry's next step up. Promotion to Major highly competitive and merit-based selection board, and requires passing courses, excellent on-the-job performance, annual reports, and staff assessments. It perhaps became clear to Harry in 2015 that he wasn't going to be promoted any time soon and he quit - although the Queen quietly promoted Harry to (honorary??) major when he married Meghan.

Legends of Farting Award
Ripple of Shart Award

here we come … his mother would be so proud

I don't think so - I think graduates get a higher starting salary but I think it is fairly equal at the start.

Ok if that's defo the current system fair enough.

I only raised the query because the system I experienced a long time back in the RAF could have a Graduate promoted to Flight Lieutenant, army captain equivalent, within two years or so of starting basic training (done in part to attract graduates with the cash that went with the rank)

OTOH A and equivalent level joiners could easily take 5 years plus to reach the same rank, because they had to plod through Pilot Officer and Flying Officer, despite performing absolutely fine, maybe even in supervisory roles .maybe even supervising.new Flight Lieutenants

..It only got competitive and largely based on annual assessments after that.

Don't you mean Prince Archieson and Princess Lilibet? You don't know them, so best to be formal.

Exactly what I meant childish say no more.

Make sure you curtsey, your manners are slipping 😁