PR disasters thread 33

[BigWillyLittleTodger]

A shiny new thread for September Sussex shenanigans!

Also the heir to the Spanish throne.

Because I was getting a lot of posts at me, and there's been some disingenuousness on this thread. Sorry for the confusion.

I think she does want a "Where's Meghan?" hoo ha.

RTFT.

I 'realised' that and explained it. So you don't need to wait any more.

Yet oddly William and Catherine manage to do exactly that - stand on touchlines, swimming competitions, trampolining etc and are left completely alone - no drama

They even go out cycling alone in Norfolk without any security at all

She can damn well leave my name out of it or I'll have to send her a stiff warning from my family seat.

Here she is!!!!!

That is sad!

... and the then heir but current King of the Netherlands

Atlantic College seems to be quite the royal hub!

Doesn't it! All very secure, very private.
Funny that.

On reading some of the posts, it is quite the marvel when you see how other people in the spotlight manage to live quiet and unassuming lives.

Yes, they pop up at awards or do the odd interview, star in a film but manage to seamlessly slide back out of the gaze of the press and most everyone else.

It can be done, it would do them (H&M) and quite likely their reputation good but yet…

My granny , who had many sayings which I have related here had this one. "Proper people do not appear in the newspapers except when they are born , marry or die , and preferably not even that ". How she squared this away with Churchill ( her era ) HLMTQ various famous sportspeople etc was never made clear to us 😂Anyway my only extrapolation from this is there will be parents at A&L's school who , like many , prefer to live under the radar, and so are more concerned about the publicity HAM may bring to them than about them sharing photos / gossip etc. I can see that.

I do agree with @bluegreygreen , there are safeguarding policies in place for all children. further , If the school makes a big deal out of HAM specifically , that may or may not endear the family to other parents at the school. My view is , as long as HAM keep a low profile and do nothing to try to get special treatment they'll be fine. But I do think , given the actual school guidelines , IPSO guidelines already in place , at the moment I were a parent I'd be thinking , hang on - you're the ones who stick your children on Instagram knowing this will be published internationally - keep your own house in order before you come and criticise mine. ( I realise that attitude may reflect more badly on me than H&M 😊- apologies)

Absolutely ~ My SIL was brought up in a very pretty Home Counties village where someone famous (everyone in the UK would know his name) lived in 'The Big House'. The famous person didn't take part in village life other than to send generous cheques for various good causes but his wife and children got on with their lives and were well integrated in the social life of the village.

I had known my SIL for some time before she mentioned this ~ it had become part of her normal life and she didn't (& still doesn't) think it's particularly noteworthy

@BasiliskStare

I’d bloody love your granny. She sounds like mine.

No, the chap I'm on about (I really, really rate him as an actor) is....er...does Wolfie Smith mean anything to you? I don't want to say his name!

I've read that he thinks quite a lot of himself in real life.

When I lived in Dubai, two of the Sheiks kids joined the international school our kids went to (Princess Haya’s kids, the one who made her kids a ward of court in the UK). Princess Haya went into the class before the kids started, explained who she was told the kids to ask any questions they had about the RF, explained why they had bodyguards, she really wanted the class kids to be comfortable and to treat her kids as normal, she didn’t use titles, it was really appreciated by the parents. Their dad is like god in Dubai, it was unheard of to send Royal kids to a normal school. I don’t remember anyone getting a reminder about not photographing the kids, although it was .

I often wonder if they went to school in the UK or were homeschooled, she was fearful for her kids safety, but she did seem to want them to have as normal an upbringing as possible. She was very prominent and respected in the Middle East, Oxford educated, and did loads of amazing charity work, but doesn’t seem to do any public work now, I guess to keep her family safe.

@BasiliskStare
That's a good point - far from HAM being able to call the shots and send a list of demands to the school, the school will be very mindful of how other parents will feel if unreasonable or troublesome restrictions and protocols are imposed on them - after all, they'll be paying the same fees, somewhat increased due to the VAT issue.

At least, I hope this is the case. Having chosen the school, HAM should step back and let them get on with what they do. If M or H are too scaredy for the school run then a nanny (and security guard if they really must) can do it.

Catching up with this thread and wow, there's been a lot of deletions!

In response to the above, funnily enough I said on a previous thread that I do know what school Keir Starmer's children go/went to (one is 18 and has left). Many of us in London in certain areas or school networks know. As does the media.

He's given information publicly that if people wanted to work it out, they probably could.

Some of us have guessed where Harry's children are likely to be going to school only because Tom Sykes more or less spelt it out in a blog post. It was some of the same type of info that is publicly known about Starmer re his children's schools, but then went further.

I know that Harry briefed the press on when he was coming home and where to. But the Sykes blog as well as Palace Confidential last week made it clear that the media know the village where they are and the school because of local people, not the HAMs.

So a lot of this discussion here about HAM making it public and a whole song and dance about the school just isn't true.

I'm reserving judgment and waiting to see what happens next. It's quite possible that their children will be able to lead a quiet and private life at the school. But I'm betting that unfortunately (for the children) there will be some false rumours on social media from alleged school parents who are not school parents there at all.

It's a shame. I remember someone who'd worked in TV/film telling me once that you'd be very surprised at which celebrities are nice/nasty in real life. It's very often the opposite to what you'd think.

(I apologise for this derail, but to make it relevant....when I read that edifying site, Celebitchy, it's fascinating to see that the posters there are totally, totally taken in by Meghan's nicey/kind/caring/girl next door persona. It just doesn't cross their minds it's all a performance.)

No problem @LemonDash

I don’t have time to read full threads so I missed what was going on.

As I said, it was about H&M and their return but it has seemingly been deleted anyway. I am sorry that you thought it was about you.

That is twice I’ve been deleted and I’m taking it to mean that a comment on a thread on H&M has to specifically say it is about H&M now and it isn’t done to mention that M might want H to have more hair.

So there we are.

Disappointing.

No. The names of Keir Starmer's children are private.
Where they go to school or went to school, they still enjoyed privacy. They were never photographed for public consumption, their parents never shared details.
Of course some people know! They have classmates and teachers!
Our point is that some parents value and guard their children's privacy (Starmers, Clooneys)-
Others do not.

Nor sure why you’re saying no 😁 Knowing where Kier’s children went to school based on the details he gave about their schooling (and with educated guesses) isn’t dependent on knowing their names. But yes he’s protected his children’s privacy.

There is no way that Harry, who was a working royal when Archie was born (IIRC) could have prevented the publication of his children’s names. Even the names of children of royals less near to the throne are publicly known. It’s part of being part of the RF, which he and his children and his wife by marriage are.

I'm reserving judgment and waiting to see what happens next. It's quite possible that their children will be able to lead a quiet and private life at the school. But I'm betting that unfortunately (for the children) there will be some false rumours on social media from alleged school parents who are not school parents there at all.

Oh there will be false rumours, leaking and then denials. It’s unfortunate for any child when peoples desire for relevance and clicks takes precedent over what’s best for them.

I’m reserving judgement as to who has the most to gain from such activity. Time will tell.

I'm not sure why you think the Sussexes children's names could have been kept private? Perhaps I missed that post.
Keir Starmer has kept his children's lives very private, and I respect him for that. Same with Liz Truss, the Clooneys and many other high profile, important people.
H&M choose to share details of their children's lives in the promotion of themselves. That's their choice, but the children deserve privacy and I think they ought to be more cautious

Agree about the names being impossible to keep secret. But a whole lot else can certainly be kept private, as the Clooneys and others show.

Trying to imagine the Starmer family endorsing candles based on their children's personalities 😮 Actually, it's hard to imagine many more attention seeking public figures - eg the Beckhams - doing it. Gwynneth P has done it on her own behalf but not involved her kids.