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 think his mother would be bursting with pride over him - her son, the next king.

I agree, she'd be bursting with pride. But Diana was never one to cede any emotional ground to a woman. If she had lived, I suspect she would have devoted at least some time and energy to trying to fuck up Camilla and Charles's life, and I think she would have been an absolutely appalling MiL for both C and H. Very reluctant to let go of any influence over her sons, very hostile to any attachment to their wives' families (admittedly not an issue with Harry).

Well, Charles Spencer continually failed to be present for his nephews, just as he failed to provide a safe haven for his sister (despite what he said at her funeral ). So no surprise he is making money off that connection.

She was very troubled woman with a messed up family. If she had lived she might have dealt with it and grown into a good parent. She seemed to want to.

Sadly for her and her sons she never got the chance, because of a drunk driver and not wearing a seat belt.

The book and/or 'documentary' will be about making money from her, again...

Spencer has now broken the unspoken barrier of respect.

I think this is interesting. People may not longer feel they need to be silent.

I would be delighted if those too young to remember her in her heyday feel – after reading this – that they "get" who she really was: a one-off, dynamic character, full of love

From Charles in the DM article.

It does open up Diana to a new audience, but it also opens her up to social media, and you can no longer control the narrative.

It will be impossible to show how impactful she was when meeting people with aids, or landmines.
However her relationship with the Al Fayeds, the lengths of time she left W&H, her affairs will be looked at through today's sensibilities.

But then again, do enough people care, those that remember her have grown cynical, and those that don't have much more shocking material in their phones.

How completely sleazy of Charles Spencer. Yet another person monetising Diana's memory.
I'm sure she was a one off, dynamic person, full of love to those she did love. However, I think there are plenty of other people who saw a very different side to her, and I hope he's prepared for that to be discussed all over social media.
There seems to be a social contract that nothing bad can be said about Diana, so i wonder what will happen if that social contract is broken by her brother and her younger son cashing in on her memory. If I were William I'd be disgusted, and if there is any collaboration between Harry and Charles Spencer, that would surely be the nail in the coffin of any reconciliation between H and the RF.

I can't imagine a book would sell to many people. Diana has been gone 30 years next years and most people barely remember her.

It will be interesting to see how Charles paints himself.

Knight and saviour I should imagine.

The book will sell if it is sensational enough and that is what I fear it will be.

Anyway in other news apparently there’s to be a new cooking show with Martha Stewart starting on Netflix in late August. And the first episode is…. making jam!!
Real jam. None of that runny spread. Oh no. Real jam made with real fruit grown on her real farm. 😂

As a UK person I’ve never seen anything of Martha’s tv shows - if they’ve been shown on UK terrestrial channels I’ve missed it. But I’m going to watch this. Looking forward to it.

I think Spencer's book will put the boot into Charles and Camilla. I also think he will put his version of events when Diana asked him for a house on his estate. He has previously sued the media for saying he rejected her.
He must have been writing it for the last year or so if it's about to come out. Wonder what the sisters think?

I don’t know if Charles and Camilla would be married if Diana was still alive.
I like to think she would have found real love, maybe even had another child and settled down somewhere.
Maybe she would have matured and grown out of her jealousys and insecurities and been a support to Catherine.
But, we will never know,
I do think she would be furious at her brother selling her AGAIN though. Hasn’t he made enough coin off her by ensuring she was buried at Althorp - a place he denied her sanctuary while she was alive.
I think she would have utterly cut him off. She stopped speaking to Fergie after Fergies book claimed Diana’s shoes gave her verrucs.
Charles Spencer might be worth £150million but that’s all tied up in house, contents, etc - all those divorces and maintenance payments don’t come cheap and these stately homes always seem to need a new roof!

Charles must be quaking in his boots. If it is very unfavourable to him as it surely will be, it won't play well with the Palace, and what will William think?

But has everything already been said ? Will CS mention his sister's penchant for married men? He should be careful. Plenty around who will clap back

Sadly, that I think he’s going to use her and her name. She’s already ‘liking’ his social media pre-publicity re Diana and swans. Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been editing and rewriting a lot of his stuff since they met a couple of years ago. (We have a joke in academia: ‘and I’d like to thank my wife for typing the manuscript’ = she actually wrote most of it.)

I hope Cat Jarman Spencer is going to come out of this ok. That’s all.

😂

Well if CS has an ounce of common sense, he'll keep HAM well away from this book. No acknowledgments, interviews included, photos of hamlets crying at the grave 😓 but I don't believe it's a coincidence HAM and hamlets were at Althorp recently

I don't know much about how publishing works, but I note that not only the book but also the audiobook is due for release next month. Plus there are already reviews of the book itself. So presumably the visit of HaM and Hamlets was too late to have been included in some way in the book itself. I mean, surely it'll have been printed by then?

And also, I would imagine that there's not much new about C&C that the book could reveal.

I think it's William's reaction that Spencer needs to be concerned about.

Just another sad untalented man suckling at the teat of Diana ! , both should know by now that the world has moved on .

Did anyone know about their new movie?
PR expert gives blunt verdict as Meghan Markle's documentary Cookie Queens flops

I don’t for a minute believe the book was written with Diana’s memory in mind. Instead, it’s the perfect example of Charles Spencer serving up his revenge stone cold. He’s waited a long time to do this and it’s no coincidence he waited till the POW became King.

Yes, I believe it was discussed upthread (or was it the last thread?!), especially how Meghan doesn’t seem to understand what the film was really about, which hasn’t helped with the promotional aspects.

Also, it was released at a time of year that, as ever, doesn’t make business sense.

It also gives a Spencer/Harry collab another chance to have a massive pop at Camilla.

But these are risky games to play. Charles is relatively popular now (although William and Catherine are well ahead), up from 62% to 68% positive rating.

Camilla’s been drumming up sympathy today via the pages of the Mail etc (king’s cancer story) and the Express is running a piece on Harry’s latest delulu royal role expectations.

I know it’s not exactly living through the Tudors, but it is all quite gripping stuff in its way.

https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/charles-iii-approval-rating-yougov-b3025171.html

The Mail article:
https://www.dailymail.com/news/royals/article-16061289/Queen-Camilla-cancer-centre-Maggies-diagnosis-King-Charles-emotional.html

The Express:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/2240393/prince-harry-desperate-see-major-royal-one-reason-he-s-making-moves

Camilla and the King (and their ‘brave cancer anguish’ story) have made a big splash on quite a few front pages this morning, rather eclipsing Charles Spencer’s book announcement.

Check.

https://news.sky.com/story/mondays-newspaper-front-pages-12427754

The palace PR is already in deflect mode. Good for them.
someone posted this on X. Have to agree. I’m sure CS’s biography would be a very interesting read.

He's also estranged from several of his children and has three failed marriages behind him.