The PR Studio

I wrote this blog post when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex first announced plans to depart the palace. The royal rift continues to dominate the headlines with the latest Netflix series and the resulting PR dilemma for all parties involved. My reflections on the monarch’s PR mess:

It didn’t have to be this way. Recently the Duke and Duchess of Sussex dropped an atomic announcement, bucking centuries of tradition in the most modern ways: via Instagram.

The public relations approach taken by the couple to declare their decision to step back from senior positions within Britain’s royal family plunged all parties involved into a communications crisis of epic proportions. And that’s saying a lot for an institution that is centuries familiar with scandal and controversy. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are likely paying a king’s ransom to the most seasoned communications consultants, who are seemingly no match for the battle-tested palace publicists and the collective experience under its crown.

If the Sussex’s primary goal is to extricate themselves from the relentless scrutiny and palace intrigue that dogs their every royal move, they chose an interesting way to do it. Ironically, their “blaze of glory” departure strategy undermines precisely what they want to accomplish. Indeed, the palace is now ablaze with intrigue, raging like a multiple-alarm fire and scorching everyone in its path. Of all the PR tools and tactics available, they repeatedly employ a sledgehammer when what they really need is a scalpel. The steady stream of flawed communications decisions has resulted in a repetitive storming of their own castle.

In response to the couple’s bombshell announcement, Buckingham Palace issued a thoughtful and clarifying statement that generously struck a collaborative tone but also had an air of “the naive newlyweds don’t quite get how complex this truly is.”

The sharp divergence in public relations styles and strategies between Team Sussex and Team Buckingham Palace has been apparent for some time.

In October 2019, Harry and Meghan embarked on their first official royal tour after the birth of their son. The trip to South Africa and its initial media coverage was a master class in superb public relations, including baby Archie’s darling diplomatic debut: a meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was pure PR gold. Their positive press cup runneth over. And then, inexplicably, cue the sledgehammer. 

Instead of basking in the media glow of the hugely successful tour, Prince Harry announced a lawsuit against a British newspaper regarding the publication of a private letter between Meghan and her father, Thomas Markle. To be clear: the onus in that situation belonged squarely on her dad. Sadly, he betrayed his daughter, not the newspaper; it was a fool’s errand to insist otherwise. (UPDATE: Ms. Markle prevailed in this litigation after a long and drawn-out legal battle.) The announcement of the litigation (and questionable PR move) was only outdone by the astonishingly tone-deaf participation in the ITV documentary. It was staged to promote the burden of their privileged existence and inappropriately filmed against the backdrop of extreme poverty and gender-based violence. How on god’s green earth did that interview get a green light? And speaking of green, the climate-conscious couple was labeled hypocritical for taking multiple trips on private jets. Sorry, but that was fair game. When it comes to advocacy, talking the talk requires walking the walk. 

During that same period, media opportunities for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge included traveling on a budget flight, baking holiday cookies with Britain’s most beloved baker, and sharing a never-before-seen, perfectly staged photo for Kate’s 38th birthday (the picture was even two years old!). Take note: the execution was surgical, deliberate, and goodwill-inducing. When the palace gets its right, they make it look so easy. 

Amid the dizzying flurry of #Megxit news angles, several outlets reported the reason for the hasty, seismic statement was that Harry and Megan were mentally on the brink; however, the announcement was accompanied by a slick new website and the careful licensing of the Sussex brand (for future commercialization), communicating more “sly like a fox” than “brink of a breakdown.”

Prince Harry has every right to prioritize the protection of his family. No reasonable person could begrudge his duty and desire as a loving husband and doting dad to fiercely protect those he holds dear. But there has to be a better way. 

Team Sussex and Team Buckingham have a shared goal: get everyone out from under this mess while helping the monarchy avoid more PR anarchy. It is time for a careful, systematic, and, most importantly, unified approach to achieving their collective and individual objectives. Drop the sledgehammer and discontinue the rash, ill-considered, and catastrophe-inducing declarations. It is in everyone’s best interest to allow cooler crowns to prevail.

The only parties benefiting from an ongoing clumsy strategy are the writers for Netflix’s “The Crown” and the British tabloids. That’s right: the Sussex’s’ current plan plays right into the hands of the sensational tabloid fodder they so desperately (and understandably) are trying to outrun.

My fear for this young couple is that unless they start making smarter PR choices and adopt a healthier mindset about news coverage, their pursuit of a “new normal” and proposed hybrid state of royalty will continue to elude them, no matter where they lay their heads at night.