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?

Yes social media meant they lost control of the narrative

The Windsors are floundering now .
It’s inevitable really. They are a medieval remnant. They are lucky they have lasted as long as they have .
Now about those back taxes …

Agree with your post btw, but I am fairly certain that the trigger words involve let's say the husband of QE2 and the aristocratic female name you mentioned.
I posted something completely innocuous about their friendship and shared interest in carriage driving a couple of years ago and it was immediately investigated and deleted! 🤯

@iwouldntliketoknowyou123

Suit yourself .
I don’t know what the great mystery is.

No mystery.

You will have seen it. You are just choosing not to recall it.

Which is fine.

A frenzy greater than frankenphoto?
Keep your secret lol .
I don’t read tabloids or daily mail etc .
None of it matters in comparison to the coverups for Andrew etc anyway

Not here for the lectures thanks.

Carry on with the ever so witty Frankenphotos poke.

And go on to convince me that the Backgrid photo of M in London was untouched and that the photo of Meghan in the car of Nottingham was altered by the big bad press.

Some of us have eyes we are willing to see with.

Interesting lol too. Patterns are a thing.

Yes that is very well known and it is plausible that is why Philips will was sealed to retain his dignity as was said at the time I.e. to hide the truth.

Firstly the messaging around her absence was extremely poor and invited speculation.

The communication around the Princess of Wales' absence was entirely straightforward.

Kensington Palace announced on 17th January 2024 that the Princess of Wales had gone in for planned surgery the day before; that she was expected to say in hospital 10-14 days; that she was not expected to take part in public engagements until after Easter. They also said she wanted to maintain as much normality for the children as possible, and asked for privacy.

On 23rd March (so just before Easter, i.e. within the time period mentioned initially) she made her personal statement saying that cancer had been found in tests after the operation, that she was having chemotherapy, and that they had taken time to break the news to the children in the most appropriate way.

Kensington Palace statement

Nothing complicated; no silence; no lack of transparency.

Sending out attack dogs doesn’t help their case, quite the opposite, Tbe Sussex’s and their fans don’t seem to grasp that.

Sorry for the length of this post but I was interested in the PR aspects of this at the time and I agree with you bluegreygreen that the initial messaging from KP was very clear and transparent and in an ideal world that should have been more than enough. And obviously anyone with any decency felt that the PoW should have been entitled to rest and privacy.

I should say at this stage too, just to be clear, that I abhorred all of the ‘where is Kate?’ speculation on-line and said so on Mumsnet threads at the time. . I also have had a relative going through a similar operation and it takes longer to recover than you might think, and isn’t remotely straightforward, so my sympathies remain with KM for having had to go through that, and suffer really horrible public scrutiny and speculation, in addition to the debilitating impact of the illness itself.

The PR strategy surrounding all of this though was a separate matter as it involved the merciless press, and as such, was really a business matter, and became all about how to handle the press and paps’ misplaced dissatisfaction at not having photos and stories about KM to sell for roughly sixty days or so. And I think it’s fair to say that most people who know about PR thought KP did a so-so job in the end.

The reason being that the circumstances and context weren’t quite as straightforward as you report Bluegreygreen and it all required a bit more expert handling than was applied in reality.

First of all the context was important because both KC3 and KM announced details about their respective medical conditions mid-way through January, which was very unexpected.

Secondly, insider reports agree that KM was forced to bring the announcement of her cancer diagnosis forward, because KP had been contacted by a source who had acquired knowledge about it, and KP obviously didn’t want the story broken by anyone but them.

The threat of this imminent leak came about at the same time as an investigation was allegedly taking place at The London Clinic where it was discovered allegedly that an unauthorised staff member had allegedly attempted to access and sell KM’s confidential medical records, which was obviously highly unethical and horrible in every way.

And as a result of all of the above, KM decided to take control of the narrative, record the message herself ahead of time, which went out in March, to hopefully put an end to the ridiculous conspiracy theories about her absence.

PR is all about fighting fires and all of the above was managed well.

However, where the PR strategy went wrong was in KP’s response to William
pulling out of a memorial service for King Constantine of Greece on 27 February, forty-five minutes before he was due to appear and give a reading. KP responded to press enquiries by saying it was a “personal matter” which of course it was, but it was really that response which offered little new information, which kicked off all of the awful speculation and conspiracy theories on Twitter and elsewhere. And a rather unclear photo of what was said to be KM and her mother in a car, and either a testimony or a photo, I forget which, about KM and W shopping in Windsor, unfortunately exacerbated the ridiculous conspiracy theories.

KP released another statement in early March saying of William that;
"His focus is on his work and not on social media," Again quite right but no other information which would have allowed the press to write something, even if it was just a bland and very general something.

When that didn’t quell speculation, KP was then prompted to release the highly altered image of KM and the dc on Mother's Day, with the hope that the photo would put an end to the nasty rumours. And of course when it was found not to be a true image, it instead fuelled speculation even more, and that incident was viewed as catastrophic in PR terms because it made matters worse not better, especially when Reuters issued a kill notice and KM was forced to take the blame and apologise.

Reading between the lines, at a guess I would say that maybe W had ignored the suggested KP PR strategy, as he very understandably wanted to protect his wife and offer less information than advised, so KM then had to fall on her sword when that tactic failed. That’s just speculation on my part though.

Yes but now that they have had experience with the Sussex Squad and Russian bots they've learned better. To quote Alice Walker "To be sincere with the insincere is dangerous." Because the reaction of normal people to someone missing a funeral service for personal reasons is to assume they are sick rather than the hideous rumors. The reaction to a messed up photo from an ill person is that the person is still sick and should take care of themselves and not worry about photos rather than again the vile rumors that were posted.

I think the lunacy and calculated vicious of the campaign against W &C took all decent people by surprise. The fact that the MN mods let thread that encouraged and fed on such viciousness is something that they try to gloss over.

Meghan releases photoshop photos all the time she has six fingers recently none got quashed people were utterly vile for the pile on accusing William of murder discussing if he could be prosecuted or would daddy protect him when harry and meghan blather on about the brutality of the press and publicity "being hounded" "near catastrophic car chase" and the poor uber eats driver just doing his job i look back at the "where's kate" debacle and the footage of her being chased and verbally abused when she first got with William and think...you have no fucking idea what your talking about and for your sanity i hope you never do

BemusedAmerican and Theunamedcat

I couldn’t have been more clear in my post that I agree wholeheartedly that all of the press speculation and on-line comments were vile, outrageous and cruel. No one is denying that.

And in an ordinary, decent world, in a more deferential PR world that no longer exists btw, KP should have been able to make an announcement about KM’s health and she should have then been left alone in peace to recover for as long as that took, with no one threatening to break stories about her, or violate the privacy of her medical records.

However, the RF are, for better and for worse, locked in to a Faustian pact with the press. The press need the RF for clicks, engagement, and the bottom line, and have done since Murdoch took over Fleet Street and realised that “real” news doesn’t make money any more, and celebrity and royal reporting was the only way to keep afloat.

And the RF need press coverage in order to survive, and to keep receiving taxpayers’ support, which is why they invite the public to follow their work and watch their marriages and funerals. If they carried out their role behind closed doors, their public popularity would plummet, and as the late QE2 understood, visibility is key. So when that visibility is suspended for any amount of time, for whatever reason, it needs careful handling. That is the unpleasant reality. Especially in an unscrupulous news environment where media organisations have absolutely no conscience about exploiting situations like this for financial gain.

I sincerely hope these horrible people will be exposed and shamed eventually. I find I have a physical reaction- a sort of pain in my chest - sometimes when I read what they’ve said or written. They are like a coven of witches brewing up spite in a big cauldron!

I look on Celebitchy occasionally to see what the current ‘script’ is, but end up shocked and disillusioned with people. And the most shocking thing about the SS on there? Several posters are clearly churchgoers!😲😳. How they square their glee and malice with their so-called faith I can’t imagine.

Thank you @Whentherainsetin101. I appreciate the detailed response.

What do you think KP should have done from 27th February onwards, given the desire for medical privacy and for timing telling the children?

I was taken with how many american clebs with same PR firm as the Sussex's at the time seem to be more than happy to fan the flames of where is she.

I think the assumption was it wasn't a health issue at all but marriage problems- and the cancer annoucement made eveyone involved look very bad.

I think Wales were sensible to wait till school hoildays so they weren't bombarded at school and tell them first.

It’s a good question. I’ve already said very clearly that William’s statements, both after he had to cancel his appearance at the memorial, and later on in early March, were inadequate.

Both times he gave nothing for the press to report at all and that is when they tend to fill a vacuum with utter nonsense.

A good PR operative would have insisted on him making a bland, more honest. statement to the effect that yes he cancelled because of KM’s evolving health concerns, which are thought to be serious but non life threatening, that she was in good spirits and thanked everyone for their kind messages etc, and that she would be making a further statement, in a week or so, on the advice of her doctors, once more clarity had been established around her treatment, in the meantime they would appreciate some understanding and privacy, especially for their dc.

And yes, that unfortunately would have involved bringing the dc home early from school and telling them earlier than was ideal.

K & W’s wish for medical privacy was entirely understandable, particularly in a scenario that was ongoing and changing. At the same time, unfortunately or fortunately for them, depending on your viewpoint, they are not ordinary, private citizens.

So they were at odds with the press’s ruthless quest for endless royal content. I am not saying the press behaved properly forcing the issue because they didn’t. Nor did the worker at the London Clinic who lost their job and was cautioned under the data protection act for trying to access KM’s private medical records.

None of this is right but it is the reality of current day media relations.

Charles’s office handled the situation a little better by being a little more open.

I am not saying that K&W should have revealed anything more significant than they did, but trying to shut down all comment didn’t work either. It may have been easier for K&M and their dc in the long run, if they had handled it like KC did from the start. As soon as he knew, he put out a statement.

Obviously as a moderate Republican, the solution I would favour is having one elected head of state, and then legitimate public interest is directed only at this one person’s ability to do their job and the health of other family members isn’t really as relevant in the same way.

Yes Charles pr handled his cancer well. He revealed no real details, but communicated clearly.

Prince Charle's didn't have to consider children at school and keeping things as normal as possible for them - which I think made it much simplier to deal with.

I also think it was more of a shock for the Wales' - cancer is less expected at younger ages.

I do not think anyone expected that media storm though - and I do think there were some deliberate attempts to fan it.

I got the impression the Wales pr did not fully understand social media. What happened could have been predicted.

And you have to tell your children if you are ill, the sooner the better. Children pick up something is wrong. I am sure Catherine with her understanding of early years did tell the children very early on. So I actually doubt that explanation is at all relevant.

I generally think the king and queens pr are better than the waleses. Maybe it makes sense the monarch gets the best.

Given all the coverage at time and many in media deemed it unprecedented I'm not so sure it could have been predcited -- for me it's one of those it obvious in hindsight situations.

I'm also not sure it was clear cut what they were facing medically and no-one knows what the kids knew and when - they may have been told something and allowed nomality of school to continue before media and questions from others started.

I do think they've overhauled how they deal with the media since though.

I also think they've long term come out on top PR wise - it's hard to look good when you attack and make spiteful comments about a mother dealing with cancer and trying to protected her kids. I think it damaged the Sussex camp long term with many stepping back from them.

I do think the King was in an easy position all round though he may well have better PR team as well.

They all got egg on their faces, didn’t they, the bandwagon- jumping idiots?

If it hadn’t been so ugly it would have been funny to see them all squirm and backtrack with virtue-signaling faux concern. It’s another area where the RF just let things run and allow horrible people to trip over themselves whereas some might have made a fuss and demanded apologies.

Maybe people take personal accountability of what they post themselves. Its not a competition who had it worse. People on this forum pile on H&M and the Wales.

Maybe people who say they find it entertaining should seek other entertainment instead of writing vile things as you call it.

At the time, I posted a suggestion on one thread that Stephen Colbert should be slapped with a lawsuit to shut him up and to put the fear of God in the other WME drones. Shortly thereafter, he was indeed served with a lawsuit and had to shut up. The other ones also toned down their comments. Let's hope they all learned something.

It’s a sad world where we all have to worry about how social media reacts to how we decide to conduct ourselves WRT to privacy and medical matters