William, Prince of Wales

[featherhat]

Apr 2, 2024 10:21:43 GMT -4 ahah said:

Apr 2, 2024 9:49:30 GMT -4 Ladybug said:

And yet, what she was really doing was caring for her grandsons when they'd just suffered a devastating loss. In that instance, she put her family first and suffered the wrath of the public for it. It wasn't about an expectation of keeping calm and carrying on for the public. The grieving mourners wanted the royal family to publicly perform their grief the way they were and couldn't comprehend why they wanted to process Diana's death privately. Even the Spencer family wanted a private funeral. Both Harry and William have talked about how the public reaction to Diana's death was very difficult for them to comprehend and compounded their grief.

I'm aware of the history. I don't find fault with the Queen for acting as she did. I'm simply pointing out that the ways she responded in that instant was not the norm for her. As a result, the public comes to expect the royals to be super human -- which feeds into the notion that God chose them to serve.

Sinereceriously, NO ONE in the UK believes God chose them to serve. "The Divine Right of Kings" went out hundreds of years ago. Even those that still believe in "something, something royal blood special" don't believe that. Although I guess you're right about people expecting the Queen to be superhuman. That was certainly true in many ways.

However, I don't think this even applies to Charles, let alone William yet. We've seen too main of their foibles.

As a UK taxpayer, I didn't expect William to be at the Easter services. He has a wife having chemo, three young children to get through all this and an emotional few months. I suspect they're going to take the holiday and then try and plan for the next few months (public and private) afterwards. For what it's worth William and Kate don't always go to the Christmas services, sometimes they've spent it with the Middletons and therefore aren't seen in public. And also a lot of other working royals have missed Chistmas/Easter (which hasn't always been public on the day) to do their own thing.

Once Upon a Time the Cambridges could do nothing right (for a LONG time), then they could do nothing wrong. It was inevitable that would end. Although it is particularly, disgustingly, gross that it has ended because Kate announced a planned medical procedure, gave a timeline, gave an update when she was out of hospital never went passed the stated timeline without being seen and then publicly announced a cancer diagnosis. Yet even mainstream publications were acting like Celebitchy long before the Mother's Day photos. So a downswing for a while was inevitable, it just sucks that it happened the way it did.

[royalwave]

Will & Kate got a pass (and a popularity boost) for a few years because of all the drama with the Sussexes. Suddenly the "staid, boring" couple became absolute model royals by comparison. Reasonable, dutiful, sane, and bravely soldiering on as Harry tossed hand grenade after hand grenade in their general direction.

Now that Harry's more fully out of the picture the chattering class is back to making demands, often unreasonably. I definitely wouldn't trade the perks of the job for all the barbs. You really have to have thick skin and an abundance of self control.

[hellsbells]

I think there absolutely are unreasonable expectations place on William and Kate. I also think there were on Harry and Meghan. Nobody is all good or all bad. Nobody is perfect.

I do think W&K unintentionally benefitted from the vitriol aimed at H&M. Now that they’re out of the picture, the press isn’t sure who to direct its ire at.

William comes across as stodgy. I have always said I like Kate and hope she is a well. Having lost a friend to cancer is hard and I don’t relish her family’s pain now.

[americanchai]

I think two truths can co-exist: William and Kate were never super-hard-workers and William in particular isn't all that likeable. In comparison to H&M, both pre- and post-bail, W&K were going to have more responsibilities in general, also being parents to three young kids and probably less inclined to leave them like earlier generations of royals did. Now that there is all the responsibility on him, William has a chance to really shine if he genuinely steps up.

I think he has been seduced by the Middletons in the sense that family comes ahead of his duties. Maybe he and Kate thought wrongly that the Palace comms know what they're doing but clearly we have no captain at the ship right now. The comms people can only do so much with absent royals, right?

[dragonflie]

I just don't get that? I don't see any issue with Will & Kate's "comms". The media blew up in a frenzy for no good reason- and, in fact (imho) the media looks like the assholes now. Barring that- I think William choosing to put his family first isn't a mistake, in fact I think it makes him MORE endearing/likable. If he has been "seduced" by the Middletons all the better for all of them! Family should be first.

He's not king yet. He missed Easter service. Who cares?? Well- I care in one sense- that I respect him more for choosing to spend it in private at this time. The Easter service isn't some charitable foundation looking for royal supports, looking for extra funds and engagement that a royal visit comes with. The only "benefit" is to the general public being able to see him- I guess... and that's a debatable benefit. It's not an element of "duty" that actually means anything important.

In my view: William and Catherine should just keep doing what they're doing. They're fine. Some of the public will hate on them, as always, others won't. That's always been true for the royals.

[americanchai]

I'm not faulting the Waleses for their actions. I just think people who work for the BRF don't seem to be coordinating or handling details (i.e. feeding the media what they need to stay in a zone of respect) before things (and anything involving the royals can be a "thing") blow out of proportion. Every good PR person knows you have to control the narrative at all times. The media exists 24-7 now and are always looking for any bit of content. "So-and-so's stepping out in tiny skirt showing slim pins." It's ridiculous but if you don't feed them content, they go looking for it in the minutest detail or making it up. You send out a picture of the Waleses dying eggs or Charles and Camilla strolling around Highgrove or wherever they are. Just to fill the gaps.

[ahah]

Apr 3, 2024 11:43:12 GMT -4 dragonflie said:

I guess I just don't get that? I don't see any issue with Will & Kate's "comms". The media blew up in a frenzy for no good reason- and, in fact (imho) the media looks like the assholes now. Barring that- I think William choosing to put his family first isn't a mistake, in fact I think it makes him MORE endearing/likable. If he has been "seduced" by the Middletons all the better for all of them! Family should be first.

He's not king yet. He missed Easter service. Who cares?? Well- I care in one sense- that I respect him more for choosing to spend it in private at this time. The Easter service isn't some charitable foundation looking for royal supports, looking for extra funds and engagement that a royal visit comes with. The only "benefit" is to the general public being able to see him- I guess... and that's a debatable benefit. It's not an element of "duty" that actually means anything important.

In my view: William and Catherine should just keep doing what they're doing. They're fine. Some of the public will hate on them, as always, others won't. That's always been true for the royals.

What is the job of the comms team if not managing how the family is portrayed by the media?

[scarlett210]

Apr 3, 2024 13:20:07 GMT -4 americanchai said:

I'm not faulting the Waleses for their actions. I just think people who work for the BRF don't seem to be coordinating or handling details (i.e. feeding the media what they need to stay in a zone of respect) before things (and anything involving the royals can be a "thing") blow out of proportion. Every good PR person knows you have to control the narrative at all times. The media exists 24-7 now and are always looking for any bit of content. "So-and-so's stepping out in tiny skirt showing slim pins." It's ridiculous but if you don't feed them content, they go looking for it in the minutest detail or making it up. You send out a picture of the Waleses dying eggs or Charles and Camilla strolling around Highgrove or wherever they are. Just to fill the gaps.

I'm not sure what content William and Kate could have fed the media. Kate selfies at the hospital? Picture of Kate undergoing chemo? They released the Mother's day photo and got shit for it. And all of this time, there was major surgery and a cancer diagnosis. Things they didn't want to discuss in detail until they were ready. What's kind of staggering is the need to know MORE when KP already released brief information on her surgery, that she was home and recovering and wouldn't be taking up duties until after Easter.

[Ginger]

The British media aren't the ones causing William and Kate's problems. They accepted the palace information about Kate's illness and were not the ones pushing conspiracy theories. The rumors that are causing William and Kate difficulty are being created on social media and taken mainstream by the American media.

1. "Prince of Pegging" - a rumor created by Deux Moi, printed by The Cut and Bustle.

2. Rose Hanbury - originally started as a vague whiff in The Sun (Kate just cut out a female friend from her social circle, hmmm we wonder why....). And that was it. The affair rumor was legitimized by a single post on Twitter by someone who later admitted he doesn't know anyone involved and was just bullshitting. In the years since, the rumor has been given life entirely on social media (specifically the various Meghan booster clubs). When Stephen Colbert talked about it on his show, the legal letter he received from Rose Hanbury said that he had "taken it mainstream" which is accurate.

It's all well and good to say that palace PR should know exactly how to expertly control social media and quash all conspiracy theories. But who, pray tell, knows how to do that? These are pervasive problems that go way beyond William and Kate. Has Harry's Aspen Institute project figured out the solution and just not shared it with the world?

And I said the same thing when internet pundits thought that if the palace just did this or that, it would stop all of the social media hate and conspiracy theories about Meghan. I'm afraid it ain't that easy.

[dragonflie]

Apr 3, 2024 14:56:17 GMT -4 ahah said:

What is the job of the comms team if not managing how the family is portrayed by the media?

I guess what I'm saying is I have no problem with how they are being portrayed (by their own team). A stupid rumor/series of rumors blew up because some ppl and social media can be manic vultures who create a frenzy... that then dies down within a couple days/weeks.

The comms team: told the public she would be away for a bit; told the public she was still away, as per her original announcement for a bit and that wasn't going to change. They also told the public it was due to health reasons. That was all we needed to know. It blew up- for a bunch of stupid reasons- imho none of which were really the comms fault. I assume the family told their team: we don't want to give any more info- we need some time right now.

The palace's general mantra of staying quiet actually generally works pretty well. In the moment it can seem like: omg- look at this frenzy!! Why aren't they doing more?? Well- give it time. In the end these stupid intense rumors go away and people move on. And, the ones who come out looking better for it actually ARE the ones who kept steady, calm, and didn't over explain or jump to give more to the media. I think the general public (could be wrong?) is more on Kate's side (and William's) than ever. Seems ok to me (in terms of "comms"). They are dealing with real life serious shit. Good for them, and their team, for not placating to the stupid demands of more more more.