Ham pr disasters 38! Ailing king? Or heartless son?

[jeffgoldblum]

Continuing the criticism…still interested, still not bored….

It's not a good look to refuse to obey principles which include Integrity. Especially as there is an ongoing investigation into AMW for potential corruption in public office.

All I can think of which might fit is that Charles is going to Ukraine.

If that's it then I think it is a good omen regarding the state of his health.

KC is doing a ’major public engagement’ which cannot be revealed in advance (presumably for security reasons) but ‘is likely to be of significant global interest’.

Don't we all just know that HAM are thinking "We won, we WON! But he should really have 'consulted with us' first!". I am sorely afraid that they are in for a bit of a disappointment.😢 😆

Did they say they're no longer bound by the Sandringham agreement?!

I'm very surprised they've moved back to the UK and can't really think why they'd do it. In my experience there has to be a pretty big push and pull to move countries when you have young children. Like there must be something making them want to leave California and something making them want to return to the UK. It's just confusing because the image that H&M presented of their closeted idylic lifestyle doesn't chime with them removing their 7 and 5 year old from that life. And that's to say nothing of the dislike they both have for the UK - the security issue, the alleged racism, the beige. To me, the obvious age to move would be when the eldest is 13 and starting senior school. For sure there are advantages to also attending prep school in the UK but there are disadvantages too.

I guess the takeaway message is don't believe everything you see on social media! Clearly California is not the paradise they have presented and the UK is not the hell hole they've described!

It strikes me that the Sussexes and the tabloids think in very similar ways. They both believe column inches are important for status and as a benchmark for success. There is some truth in that for influencers and minor celebrities.

But for working royals? Not so much. The King remains Head of State, the Heir remains the Heir and both have influence, soft power and international status regardless of whether The Daily Mail puts them or some minor royals on its front page.

Press articles bring revenue, social media attention brings revenue, particularly for commentators, but it won't bring what Harry clearly craves, equal status with his brother. It won't bring respect from those who keep the wheels turning. He has learnt nothing in the last 6 years.

The Mail will play this like who is in the paper matters, because it elevates their importance and clicks, but in the grand scheme of things it really really doesn't. Harry may be competing for attention but he is competing against other celebrities not royalty.

Thanks once more, Jeff, you handsome devil!😃

If what Ida says is true (the Sunshine Sachs strategy) I just can’t see how it will work for them. If you split the audience’ into the various UK demographics, then the plan will alienate the monarchists even further. The moderate anti-monarchists probably have no interest in HAM and their antics will just provoke scorn. This leaves only the hardcore supporters, which is a tiny demographic and unlikely now to grow.

if we’re talking worldwide, then it’s probably only the US which has any interest or knowledge of the Toxic Two and I get the impression that things have largely gone sour for them there. Leaving out the monarchy connection, which isn’t relevant in the States, I suspect they’ve just worn out any goodwill and frankly any interest by now.

So if they have a strategy to mess about and make mischief in the UK the only group which is likely to approve is a tiny one and even they might eventually find the cringeworthy antics too much. We’re facing so many political and social problems now that I think most people will run out of patience with them.

And knowing how difficult Hollywood is for women, I don’t see M getting any roles she’d be happy with at the ripe old age of 46 (by then!).

I think the pressure on KC and William be be horrible, though, and maybe that’s all they’re aiming for. It’s inevitably going to be a test as to how they manage things and I hope they just ignore, ignore, ignore.

@TangledUpDown

Apart from all the reasons discussed on here as to their return to Blighty, I’m sure there’s a big element from Harry of “Don’t ignore me! I’m coming back to make sure you CAN’T ignore me - I’m just as important as William!”

Truly pathetic. It’s clear that he and Meghan are nothing without publicity and attention.

Morning, Your Royal Jeffness. Thank you for thread 38 in the continuing saga....

Good morning @PleasantGreenPorcupine, @MrsLeonFarrelland @CoffeeCantata 👋👋👋

I feel very sorry for their children, at some point some little darling at the school is going to start expressing their parent’s (and country’s) opinion of them. Moving a child of 7 to a new school and country is very impactful and friends will have been left behind. I hope they give their children some stability

Quote " If M still has dreams of the Hollywood A List ....."

Funny enough, I was thinking this just the other day. I saw the film "Judy" for the first time, and it got me into a chat with some friends about what the difference is between an A lister and the others. And for sure, opportunity does come into it to an extent, but there is no way on earth Maghan can match Renée Zellweger. And I don't base that on one performance, but her range. I watched the film Judy and missed some of the credits, and I struggled to place who was playing the lead. I had to look it up. And I was like... WOW.

Now Meghan might be a good actress. But there are loads of them. And if I saw Meghan in a film, I suspect I would say, " Oh that's Meghan". There would be no WOW. If Meghan was going to be an A lister, that WOW would have happened already. Or at least the potential for the WOW would have been talked about.

Also - I think they’d be very foolish to use an American company for their UK PR strategy by. The two societies are very different. They need people with an understanding of British attitudes, history and behaviour.

Pushy and (what might be seen as) brazen conduct might go down better in the States - I think the British find that too brash on the whole.

Disclimer: I’m not saying Americans are all brash - just that the culture is more sympathetic to loud, self-promoting, performative celebrities.

I’d be really surprised if she was a good actress. I think she plays a version of herself in everything she’s done. I don’t think she’d be at all versatile.

Yes. I did think about that. As in, what if her whole persona that we see is her acting? But I dismissed that, because it is sort of boring if it is an act. That her persona comes across as flat and vapid, shows no range in her acting ability.

This has been their mistake all along, taking PR advice from people in the US. It must doesn't work when you are trying to fight an institution like the monarchy which is embedded in the cultural and social life of another country. They behave as if this is a PR war of equals whereas in reality it's a gnat fighting a rhino.

Yes, I think that's a good point; they're pursuing an American agenda, which is not applicable to members of the RF.

My observation is that although they still get stuff written about them, people aren't really interested, and it son slips down the top articles. Even the relatively big news of them moving back went pretty quickly from the front page and top 10 on the BBC.
They're getting more and more irrelevant, and the only way they're going to get people reading is by scandals, which is a catch 22 as the more scandalous stuff, the further from the RF and top celebrities they are pushed.

I think they were expecting full interest in things like where the children were going to school. They wanted the press to release it, so have dropped various hints so it can be worked out. And nothing.
They have in their mind how people should act around them, but they expect them to behave as they would - and so they were confident that the press would be delving into their private life and releasing secrets that they could object to.
They haven't, which us why they've needed to put out things like Harry's "schedule". They hoped the press would nosy it out, but people aren't interested enough.

I don’t think they have ever taken the advice of a PR firm. They are volatile and reactive. They seem to be using the media as a way to communicate, one sided, with people who don’t take their calls. All that this does is to continue to entrench their reputation as petty, bitter, ignorant and immature.

Because I'm not on Instagram etc, can I ask what activity there's been on there recently? Is anything happening with As Ever? Have there been any photos on M's own account? It all seems eerily quiet on that score and I can't believe there's the slightest interest in maintaining As Ever if it's as deathly silent as it appears to be?

I was wondering the same, I'm not on those platforms either. The last I saw (on here) were the pictures of her birthday and their summer holidays. I think there was a recent one of her with dogs or chickens.
Nothing major though, which I think is unusual.

A belated thanks to @jeffgoldblum , a lurker always but not often a poster (you're all like greyhounds out of the block!) 👋👋👋

If the children really are here, isn't it strange that absolutely no one has mentioned a motorcade being driven through the Cotswolds every day for the school run, obviously not naming the school? Unless they're being dropped off in an ordinary Audi estate or range rover or some such, but that seems vanishingly unlikely.

I know this will sound crazy and I know it goes gainst all we know about this couple, but a part of me wouldn’t be surprised if Haz is the one who kicks Megs to the curb. Not because he has suddenly seen the light about her character but because she is a spoke in the wheel of his laser focus delusional belief that he can manifest everything back to normal in the UK. Back to his easy life. Back to the public’s good graces. Back to polo. Back to crazy country weekend hangouts with his mates. I mean, this is long out of his grasp but he doesn’t seem to know this. And there’s Megs whinging and carrying on about hating the UK and trying to endlessly thwart him and What. He. Wants.

Im probably totally wrong but if I’m right, I will be able to smugly quote tweet this post!

It's a bit like Trump, in that news about him has to be increasing extreme to be of any interest to anyone. Generally it triggers a disinterested response of "Oh, really what's he done now?" before moving swiftly onto something else.

I feel that H&M are like this now. They are completely oversaturated in the media and no one really seems to care about anything they do unless it's something very dramatic.
It's a world of their own making though and it could have been so different. The opportunities these two have squandered are mind boggling.

Never has the saying "Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" been so apt.

Sorry Mrsleon, 🤣🤣 a gnat fighting a rhino ! 🤣🤣 epic !

I genuinely can't think of anyone else who had so much, and completely trashed it.