PR disasters thread 32

[BigWillyLittleTodger]

Yet another new thread for more Sussex shenanigans!

Given a bit of leeway , she did do some very positive work with the Hubb Community Kitchen set up with women displaced after the Grenfell fire.

Meghan championed the project and a cookery book and later on she launched an initiative during the pandemic with the group to prepare and deliver meals to vulnerable low-income families across London.

And H&M forged great links to "Himmah” which is a grassroots charity and food bank operating in Nottingham and are still working with them I believe.

MM made a personal donation to upgrade the Salam Shalom kitchen which is an inspiring joint Muslim-Jewish initiative; the message of which incidentally is highly pertinent today.

And H subsequently made a substantial personal donation to the charity to fund more than 650 emergency food parcels for vulnerable families facing poverty and social exclusion.

And MM became Patron of Smart Works, a UK charity that provides high-quality interview clothes and coaching to help unemployed women return to the workforce. If I recall, she teamed up with high street brands to launch a capsule wardrobe and for every piece purchased, a donation went to the charity.

In addition to the Smart Works patronage she was patron of Mathew which promotes animal welfare and community veterinary services, patron of the National Theatre , and patron of the Association of Commonwealth universities which champions accessible higher education in commonwealth countries.

So seeing that she only worked for the RF for twenty months, and she was pregnant and a new mother for a large part of that, and she did four foreign tours during that time too:
-Ireland, July 2018
~the Pacific October 2018 (Fiji, Tonga, NZ and Sydney)
~Morocco February 2019
~South Africa September and October 2919 (Angola, Malawi, Botswana)

Given the above, I think it’s incorrect to say that she didn’t take on a JOB to use your capitals MaturingCheeseball.

Oprah: So when I ask the question, ‘Why did you leave?’ the simplest answer is . . ?

Harry: Lack of support and lack of understanding.

Oprah: So, I want clarity. Was the move about getting away from the UK Press? Because the Press, as you know, is everywhere. Or was the move because you weren’t getting enough support from The Firm?

Harry: It was both.

Oprah: Both.

Harry: Yeah.

This is from the Oprah interview ^^ if it's of any use.

I remember Harry in another interview saying that he wanted a 'more peaceful' life.

Anyway, the recent news of the Sussex WhatsApp press group, involving journalists from most press and media outlets in the UK (exposed by Tom Sykes and Charlotte Griffith), came as something of a surpise given what Harry is definitely on the record as saying. His desire for reconciliation with the Firm also comes as something of a surprise, along with his continuing demand for an apology for something-or-other.

@MaturingCheeseball said that she was taking on a job

But in marrying Harry she was also taking on a JOB.

Her point was that you don't normally walk into a job and decide to ignore advice about how that company runs.

Mmm I don’t blame them for having a WhatsApp group to attempt put out their own stories or even contradicting stories, given the media onslaught they are facing at the moment. It may be a naive wish, but I don’t blame them for wanting to try and control the narrative a bit. It must be awful seeing so many ridiculous stories and incorrect assumptions made about you and your dc every day.

Meghan didn’t say a word or appear once during her last UK visit and there was still an onslaught of negative stories which must be unavoidable even if you try and avoid them.

Love them or loathe them, H and M are actual people not caricatures, parents of young children, and just for basic human decency now I think enough is enough, and it’s time to lay off them.

When will the public and press be satisfied with taking them down? When one of them has a mental breakdown or worse?

Speaking of which the half sister and brother have both been very quiet lately, along with their father. Anyone know why?

I suspect Meg pays them off. They are all a very shady bunch

I agree with you about the need for historical accuracy. I can help out with an accurate copy of the transcript. The link is to the Sun webpage but other transcript copies exist online.

Some of things that Meghan and Harry said are quite extraordinary, looking back at the engagement interview, and knowing what we know now, and being able to compare this transcript with what they have said and written elsewhere.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14277841/meghan-markle-oprah-interview-full-transcript/

I think if it was all one-way I’d agree with you. They helped create that circus with their endless briefings to the press. If they’d put out one statement saying what was happening and stuck to it everyone would move on. It’s the flip-flopping and planting stories and misdirection that feeds the media machine.

Some of the recent posts here make me wonder if Markle hasn't somehow found this thread.

Love them or loathe them, H and M are actual people not caricatures, parents of young children, and just for basic human decency now I think enough is enough, and it’s time to lay off them.
When will the public and press be satisfied with taking them down? When one of them has a mental breakdown or worse?

Their return to the UK has been a big surprise to most people - maybe even the RF! I think, in those circumstances, you have to cut people a bit of slack in getting interested in what on earth is going on. It's sensational - I mean, they left, badmouthing the UK, the press and the RF for being racist etc etc, calling William 'trapped' in his role...and now they're voluntarily back to stay. What's going on? I've not given them much thought for some time, but I'm honestly intrigued. What are they planning...because I'm sure they're up to something.

Meghan doesn't like this country, she didn't get on with H's old friends (because of their huntin; and shootin' so , er, the Cotswolds is going to be fun for her!) neither of them have any kind of discernible job, yet have somehow found an expensive home in an expensive part of the country. They've dragged those poor children out of their comfort zone, away from the only grandparent they're allowed to have contact with...it's bizarre behaviour, like them or loathe them.

Even their super-fans, the Sussex Squad, are baffled on Celebitchy, and largely blaming Harry for bringing M back into the lion's den, as they see it.

We are only a load of randoms on MN. Our comments on here aren't going to bother, or even reach, H and M. So I'm not apologising for that. I do agree that the press will have a feeding frenzy, but quite honestly, H & M should have realised that. They court publicity but want to control it, and you can't do that.

I'm honestly intrigued by their return to the land and culture they dislike so much and I do admit I want to know what's going on.

Why on earth should Meghan pretend to seem over-awed if she wasn’t?

This says it all, really. The fact she wasn’t ‘over-awed’ is a clear indicator that she didn’t understand (or didn’t care to learn) about the situation she was in.

Her ridiculous bathrobe-coat, too big shoes, messy appearance and fawning in the engagement photo call also showed that she was completely clueless. The subsequently released photos of her draping herself everywhere in a £60,000 frock also indicated she had no idea how the RF like to be seen, which surely is Chapter 1 in the Royal Bride To BE Guide. (Which I hear she refused to read anyway.)

She’s insufferable. They deserve each other, but I do feel sorry for those little ones. Hopefully school and a nice nanny will give them the care they need.

Indeed. You’d think she’d be too busy settling her kids in, but I suppose that can be delegated to someone else.

I think the whole family, Doria included, are a dodgy clan.

I agree, certainly her father has been paid to keep quiet, there hasn’t been a peep out of him since she sent her letter to him in hospital.

I think he moved back to the US after living elsewhere for many years to save money. Perhaps he did get paid off.

Yes and my reply included a long list of things to demonstrate that take on advice or not, she did work hard and achieved quite a bit during 20 months of her time working for the RF. In fact given that she was pregnant the RF piled quite a bit on them. Saying she was new to it all she did well imho, and if she ignored advice she considered outdated or simply superfluous, so what? I’m sure the Commonwealth wouldn’t have been brought down by MM refusing to wear tights or the correct shade of nail varnish.

Besides wasn’t Lady Susan Hussey originally assigned to give advice to MM when she first arrived? Lady Hussey who had to resign from her role at BP for touching the hair univited of Dr Ngozi Fulani, the CEO of Sista Space and repeatedly asking her where she was from, even though she was born and raised in England?

Now H&M were very magnanimous about this incident and said they loved Susan Hussey and hated the roasting she got in the press aged 84, but it does demonstrate that the sort of advice MM was receiving may not have been entirely up to date or appropriate?

If you go back to the title of these threads (ie PR disasters) . I think there are two things. Firstly what H&M put out and which lands badly. But secondly and perhaps more importantly is "Der rote Faden" ( get me with my German literary terms 😂) which is a common thread running throughout. & I think that thread is H&M think they can control the narrative. They clearly have favoured publications eg People and they use them to get their message out. Less happily they seem to use friends and sources to get their message out. Where I don't think this works is , eg in the ANL case it was shown that they leaked the "summit on the balcony " to the DM. They clap back at some things (Martha Stewart FFS? ) but not on others. So I think to some extent their credibility is shot. Why have they not clapped back at Closer magazine who reported close sources say people will realise it is W&C who are the problem ? I just think they think they are much better at manipulating the media than they are. & that is a very big PR failing.

Negative about HaM? Add in Australia, India, Canada and the Caribbean Commonwealth to that, too! It's extraordinary. The main theme could be summarised as, 'who the fuck do they think they are?'

I agree, certainly her father has been paid to keep quiet, there hasn’t been a peep out of him since she sent her letter to him in hospital. -@HoldMyWine

If only there was an easy way for people to fact check before making absolute statements...

https://www.dailymail.com/news/royals/article-16072847/Thomas-Markle-grandchildren-Archie-Lilibet-Meghan-UK.html

Yes the Sussexes were very magnanimous as you put it about Lady Susan, aged 84, but they didn’t seem to think it mattered that they themselves wanged around generalised accusations of racism towards a family while’s head was a woman in her 90’s and who’s husband was on the verge of passing away. Nor did they think it seemed to matter when it was “inadvertently” revealed that the alleged racists were a man in his 70’s and a woman recovering from cancer. Their magnanimousness overwhelms me

Wow. What a nasty comment. And snobbish and insular too.

How extraordinary that a 36 year old divorced American actress brought up in California with a successful career behind her shouldn’t have stood trembling for her engagement photo in a Cordings suit and look demurely down at her sensible Home Counties footwear forgetting to put her shoulders squarely back like nanny had taught her?

What a shame she isn’t what you expected and wasn’t a white upper middle class gal from the shires is what you really mean I think?

@AutumnCrowOnTheMold

“Meanwhile, the RF continues with Operation Grey Rock? (Hopefully.)”

Which gives me the impression that he really is cocking horrible (could be ‘they’) because lovely people are usually welcomed back with open arms and a bit of a fanfare.

Grey rock is for folk who have done you wrong. And for folk who are horrible self serving holes.

Basic human decency is for folk who also show it to others and carry themselves with a bit of class and decorum.

Not a nipple tweaking hedonist and his bob on a job partner.

I dare not. 😳😳😳
That is the sanitised version - you should hear what my mother says!

Norland College now takes males so it would be epic if the Sussex Nanny was actually a Manny. Take that Kate. Ha!

Many belated thanks for the new thread @BigWillyLittleTodger👋