PR disasters thread 28

[BigWillyLittleTodger]

Are the bets on or off for an invite to Balmoral?
Will Meghan bake a humble pie for Catherine?
Let’s discuss……!

I agree.

KC3 and sponsors are keeping away because of the murky financial situation and very sensitive political issues that IG are balls deep in.

IG 27 could be like this - where H&M get their blue flashing lights, motorcade, outriders and bring the city to a standstill:

https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/european-athletics-championships-thrown-chaos-074625000.html

Agree.

Like others here I'm a veteran (fortunately not in need of Invictus's help) and for some time have had grave misgivings about how the funding is spent.

Sadly I've yet to be convinced there's anyone with enough of a backbone at the top of IG to do a Chanduaka on the charities affairs.

H’s patronages cannot be given preferential treatment over other deserving causes as part of a mediation strategy to bring him back into the fold. I’m sure the Palace is well aware that this would be seen as an abuse of power.

I doubt the King will have time in his busy schedule to attend the IG. I expect he will send a message of support and H will have to settle for that.

The trustees need to have a good look at their budget and scale back the Games accordingly, it’s not the Olympics, despite H’s ambitions.

This is a problem that the board is stuffed with HAM supporters

I believe that there were a couple of Canadian dissenters involved with the recent Vancouver 2025 games and they were unceremoniously sacked about a year before the games. It was strongly rumoured they were unhappy about the spiralling costs and in particular the costs of HAM and their entourage who required several floors of a 5* hotel.

The games seems like a crazy waste of money...and it's shocking to think that charity funds were used for things like five star accommodation for HaM. I am surprised that no journalist seems to have done a deep dive into it.

It’s utterly obscene that charitable funds are used on anyone other than the intended recipients.
The fact that the grifters expect this just further demonstrates how greedy and selfish they are.

The budget could be a major issue for IG with the lack of sponsorship.

I was originally critical of the Sunak government guaranteeing up to £26 million for IG27. However I have read (and I wish I could remember where) that the contract only gives matched funding. So IG can't claim £26 million unless they raise £26+ million in private donations/sponsorship.

So if it's true that IG has only raised approx £4 million then they will only get the same from the government ... if it's true the projected costs are £50-60 million then there is a huge funding gap.

It will be interesting to see if it can go ahead.

Sadly I've yet to be convinced there's anyone with enough of a backbone at the top of IG to do a Chandauka

Yes you’re right. I gather from what Chandauka said that it’s in H’s nature to make sure that if he doesn’t get his own way all the time, the tantrum is spectacular.

When anyone stands up to him, what follows is a bitter boardroom battle, harassment, bullying, and trying to force the charity to fail (with consequent loss of jobs and livelihoods for staff and failure of services to recipients).

And this is the issue: H won’t participate in planned, orderly transition and succession. It’s scorched earth only.

Which actually makes him a toxic liability who should be forced to resign.

I'm pretty sure Harry has done this ever since his younger days. Everyone - even the RF - has tiptoed around Harry's tantrums, which only made him more entitled.

The combination with Meghan's own tantrums is truly toxic

I always wondered his flounce from the Army was to manipulate them into giving him the jobs/ranks he wanted - but the Army refused to budge. However it was noticeable when he returned to the RF he was enabled and only seemed to get roles that interested him (military, Africa, polo, Diana charities) and not the dull stuff at factories

And the Queen knighted him.

Quite Trumpian in behaviour. Hasn’t the world had enough of being driven by these personality disordered lunatics. UK Government and KC3 had the measure of Trump and how to ‘manage’ him (let him think he’s winning) - normal rules don’t apply - so they should be able to ‘manage’ these two fools who hold no credibility or power. I do think KC3 is doing it v well. The summer shenanigans showed him cool, calm, collected - whilst showing H&M to be histrionic, unhinged and volatile. It was all on KC3’s terms - that’s why MM is throwing a hissy fit because they have got one over on her - PH just hasn’t realised this yet because he is the thicker of these two donkeys. What a circus, what a pantomime.

Yes this is how I understood the funding. When the Düsseldorf games were held most of the tickets for the sports events, not ceremonies, were given away free via Amazon and I understand many school children were brought in too. If they use a similar method for Birmingham that means that ticket sales won’t boost the coffers either. When you consider that Australia dropped the Commonwealth games because of costs and the viewing figures for the UK funded event were considerably down it is going to be very difficult to justify the games at all.

I love that M was made to wait outside while H saw his father first. Compare H agreeing to his wife being made to wait outside, which is a bit humiliating, to the huge tantrum he had over M coming to Balmoral when HMLQ was dying.

The section in Betrayal on what SC found at Sentebale is absolutely jawdropping. The two most senior people on staff were both based in London and had hardly ever visited any of the projects; at least one of them was on over £200k/year, plus the private school fees of his children were paid and there was some form of accommodation provided for him. That's an awful lot of polo matches to play before you even start to be able to do what the charity was set up for.

I gather from what Chandauka said that it’s in H’s nature to make sure that if he doesn’t get his own way all the time, the tantrum is spectacular

While this is perfectly true, @AutumnCrowsMusings, it's something we've seen so often that we hardly needed more confirmation

It's also why her accusations of him launching a damaging media campaign against Sentebale seem so credible, consider it's so absolutely in line with his MO elsewhere, and I really hope we get to learn the details she has

QC’s 80th birthday celebrations would be a good excuse . The Wales will be busy with end of term stuff .
Also let’s not forget that KC is still receiving treatment for cancer.

They would indeed have been rejected, jeff, and they'd be less than human if they didn't resent the change

However if it's a matter of the funding I could quite see the idiot pretending there'll be a royal turnout, and who knows what'll then happen if they don't show

If KC gives into H and attends Ingruftus, what next ? He'll hold Ingriftus 2029 in UK and accept same. And on and on etc. Tantrum after tantrum until he gets his way

I don’t think anyone should attend or will. They all have their own charities and don’t need their hands holding. Perhaps Charles could FaceTime H on the podium and ask if he’s up interrupting anything (joke). Didn’t H say some nonsense about Meghan being better at this stuff than the RF anyway - and she’s definitely one for holding hands so all sorted.

Couple of thoughts (as ever!). Someone on the Invictus board at high level must be in touch directly and frequently with HM Government over the £26m underwriting funding and discussing progress on financial planning and implementation of match funding from sponsorship.

There is no way that HM Government would mislead the Invictus board about the planned presence or otherwise of HM or a ‘HRH’ representative at the games, particularly in regard to the ‘unlocking’ of sponsorship.

If the Invictus board of trustees - the chairman of which is a parliamentarian, Lord Allen - attempt to mislead prospective sponsors, then that would be a very serious business indeed.

Lord Allen needs to rein in his loose-lipped founding patron.

Lots of relatively new trustees, btw:
https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/about-the-register-of-charities/-/charity-details/5054988/trustees

I've been looking, @Lunde.

The original announcement called it 'funding of up to £26m'
MOD TwiX

The government Veteran's page talks about backing 'Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 with an underwrite of up to £26 million' (halfway down the page under Celebrate)
Gov.uk Veterans Strategy

Yes the original press release called it ‘an underwrite’. It’s on the BBC website.

But HOW can it cost that much? The US-based Veterans' Games costs a fraction of that. And the fact that the accounts are so opaque is shameful. I mean, it can't all be HaM, but several floors of a 5* hotel, plus either private jet or first class tickets for them and their extensive, ridiculous entourage, is not going to be a negligible sum.

School fees??? That's what huge organisations do to allow employee mobility. Not what small charities do for employees living in London.
Outrageous.