PR and the Palace; are the mists clearing?

[Whentherainsetin101]

For those of us interested in the PR aspects of how the institution of the monarchy presents itself to us, the unsuspecting public, and given that Charles Spencer’s book has prompted a re-examination of events which took place over twenty-nine years ago, I thought this might be a good time to examine what Andrew Lownie calls;

“that gap between the curated narrative and the reality”.

We now know lots of things that weren’t obvious thirty years ago, for example;

We know that BP sometimes issues statements that question the credibility of the “accuser” rather than addressing an accusation directly.

We know that the relationship between the press and the palace is largely self serving on both sides.

We know that the royal rota tow the line in exchange for access.

We know that certain tabloids favour certain royals eg Fergie and The Sun.

We know that BP leaks and briefs certain stories to deflect from other more damaging ones.

We know that BP uses “safe” public figures to broadcast their spin for them eg it used to be Nicolas Soames but now appears to be Rory Stewart.

We know that many things presented to us in one way are in reality very different, eg the late Queen Elizabeth’s marriage, AMW being “banished” to Sandringham.

Given all of the above, do you think the Palace are losing the PR battle, simply because people are now much more switched on about ‘spin’ and because they favour a much more authentic approach?

That’s not how royal visits work. They’re arranged a long time in advance.

Their programme is unconnected to the return of HAM with accompanying word salad.

@iwouldntliketoknowyou123

Well said.

You have no idea who may be reading here - they could be innocently reading a thread about PR to find themselves triggered by the words and phrases you are using.
If it was on the AMW thread - they could avoid it.

Agree with your points, especially this one, @iwouldntliketoknowyou123.

I have tried to engage in a factual manner - apologies if doing so has prolonged things.

Yes, September onwards usually includes regular engagements, and there are autumn state visits as well.

I can't remember which countries are due to visit this year.

Yes, the diaries are planned well in advance. They're not planned around the possible arrival in the UK of two non working royals.

Yes, I agree.

I agree. Perhaps there needs to be a warning added to the title as is the MN norm .

Lucky her that she could afford to have such massive time off with 1st class urgent health care and staff...... unlike the majority of people.....let's think about them

Do you really begrudge the mother of young children time off to recover from cancer ? Really ?
Have you had cancer ? Chemo ? I have and it’s brutal .

Oh come on. This is a woman who had cancer. Can that just be a snark free zone?

Today it was reported that it was last minute visit by them to meet guy who was the marathon runner

Good for them!

I never said that in fact I was concerned more about people who don't have her lifestyle which must have made it easier for her. I know cancer well. I have also worked with people who had to work in between brutal treatment to keep a roof over their kids head, who worried constantly about bills, childcare, etc. in comparison Kate was lucky in the fact that she had so much time off and staff and not huge waiting lists. It's not that I am unsympathetic but her reality and their reality is very different. I am taking a lady to all her appointments just now and looking after her kids to try and ease the burden of her responsibilities. I am sure you will agree these are not something Kate would have faced

But they were at another pre arranged event and decided to go to meet KS .

We don't know.....time will tell

Lovely sentiment.

I have to say - I think it must be the change in society since SM unleashed some of our more horrible instincts…I can’t imagine, a generation ago, people expressing criticism of a woman who’s been through cancer and cancer treatment. It would have been beyond the pale.

Wow.

I know, it's absolutely vile. Unfortunately there were threads on here at the time, in the same vein. I just don't get it.

The problem is that the general public do not want to pay for the RF, but they also do not want them to 'earn' money either.
As Head of State, the monarch is supposed to be above politics, but if they were 'earning' their money in the conventional manner, we would be complaining that they were trading off their RF Title/names, etc.
So this is the real dilemma.

An earlier poster mentioned Charles and / or Catherine who both have / had cancer. Now I have had people at work with cancer, and they DO have regular time off for hospital appointments, and time off to recover from treatment.
If you have chemo therapy, then this makes the recipient very tired, and it would not really be possible to be at work (which is why in my DH's case, the chemo was every 3 weeks, not every week).
In the case of DH, he was seen by the GP same day, and hospital within 3 weeks (supposed to be 2 weeks, but this included xmas). So, I wonder who these people are who do not get treatment.
But we do not know what type of cancer of how advanced Charles and / or Catherine have; only that Catherine is in remission.

That's a good idea.

I read it was a “surprise” visit to Kevin Sinfield. As in it was a surprise to him. Presumably not to the Waleses 🙄

Fair points. My DH was seen by the GP on the same day, and got the hospital appointment within a week. He had surgery then began chemo. He had paid time off work. This was all NHS.

If this post is anything to go by, BP is winning the PR battle.

I say this because it's evident there is a fundamental lack of understanding of the role of the press in perpetuating the mystique of the RF, and the unquestioned assumption that there is a 'job' for the King to be getting on with.

That’s not how royal visits work. They’re arranged a long time in advance.

TBF W&K do seem to have an extensive history of 'surprise' visits.

That's not to say I've followed or connected any very recent history.

Unlike royal principals I don't have extensive time to spare 🙂

I read they don’t publish many of their appearances in advance. It seems a safety measure rather than a gotcha strategy

But the fact that it is a “surprise” to the people they visit doesn’t mean it hasn’t been planned for a while 🤷‍♀️