The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

Friday 12 March 2004

William and Harry: Their P.R.oblems and a Word that Starts with "D"

It’s no secret that William and Harry have a slight PR problem.  When one reads various columns it is clear the tide has turned.  At one time, they received the warmest wishes of practically everyone.  But today, it seems that they are struggling to define themselves as something more than idle yobs surrounded by other idle yobs and so-called “aristobrats.”  Yes, they try to improve their image by doing as Prince Harry did last week and arrange to be photographed working to better the lives of the ultra-poor.  But somewhat ironically, these types of photo-ops can sometimes operate to have the exact opposite effect of what is intended, namely to reinforce the distinction between the life of the prince and the life of the pauper.  When this happens, ultimately the PR move fails to win much in terms of public sway, and their image quickly reverts to that of the spoilt prince who lives a lifestyle incomprehensible to almost anyone.  But why is this so, and why does it fail?   Ask the columnists and reporters and they will place the blame squarely on the Palace, and somewhat on “the boys” themselves.  The Palace on the other hand places the blame on “ill-informed” columnists who do not have the first understanding of the real princes.  Like most things in life, the reality lies somewhere in the middle.  

First off, let’s be frank.  Ninety-nine percent of the columnists and reporters out there are poseurs. You just can’t read Whitaker and not walk away realizing that this guy is somewhat self-important.  They all seem eager to ingratiate themselves with the palace, and when that fails (always does) then retribution results.  What better example of this than Jenny Bond, the erstwhile BBC “royal reporter” who eagerly jumped at the chance for any quick one-on-one with members of the family.  Her reports were almost always glowing, and she seemed to become “one of them.”  Well, guess what Jen? You’re not, aw’right?  Once she seemed to make peace with the reality, Bond jumped ship, resigned her post as “royal reporter”, and announced that she was “moving on.”  But, not too long after that, it was revealed that she would be doling out some candid gossip about the family over the coming months…so stay tuned everybody!  Now I thought you said you were moving on, Jen?   

We might presume that those on the side of the Palace are feeling fairly vindicated right about now.  So in this time of reading about summer jobs as “buckaroos”, allow me to say: Easy there, Cowboy.   There is a very obvious reason why the P.R. efforts are not working quite as well as they otherwise might: We just don’t get it.  We don’t get elaborate 500,000 pound birthday parties, and we don’t get the antithesis of narcissistic excess: depraved poverty.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely that they fit in time from their lives to work with the very poor, and try to lend a helping hand by, if nothing else, (and usually there isn’t much else), publicly drawing attention to the depraved conditions under which some people live.  But you just can’t help but realize that fundamentally there are two groups with which Will and Harry associate, and the middle class isn’t one of them.  

So what about those of us poor slogs that are stuck somewhere in the “middle”?  Aren’t most of us living somewhere between depravity and luxury?  In point of fact, although it may not be politically correct to say so, we in the middle can no more relate to abject poverty in Africa than we can to extraordinary wealth in the UK.  We just can’t. If you want to speak to us (and we do comprise the vast majority of society) then speak in a language that we understand. Date a girl who doesn’t have three last names.  Throw a birthday party that doesn’t make the public’s skin crawl as a result of its excess.  Live in the same town in which you attend university during the school year.  Hobnob with friends whose parents have one home,--located in East Finchley not Tetbury. Maybe you already do these things, but we don’t know about it, so tell Paddy Harverson that the next time he wants to write a letter to the Express, he might want to say something about you that we can relate to.   

But I’m being unfair to Mr. Harverson.  His letter did in fact tell the world that they had got Prince Harry all wrong.  Trouble was, he didn’t tell us why. Yes you should do a lot for the extremely poor. You have a debt to pay to them by virtue of your privileged life.  But don’t forget about us.--Because we can only analyze you within the paradigm you create.  And if you don’t connect with me, I can’t connect with you.  So here’s my wish list: I want to see William spend consecutive weekends hanging out at St Andrews with normal students, not as part of a photo-op but rather as part of his life.  I want to see Harry take just one gap year, and spend the remainder of it working his butt off in England.  I’d like to see them both pay a meaningful tribute to their mother when that fountain opens next summer.  And yeah, I’d like to see them both move into Kensington Palace, because even though that ‘aint middle class living, it sure as hell is drawing a bright line in the sand illustrating great fealty towards their amazing mother.  

I like William and Harry. They seem to me to know their own minds and they have the courage to stand for what they think.  Sometimes they get shot down by those in the Palace, but you have to give credit to two young men who have the courage to at least voice their convictions.  I think we can expect that voice to grow louder, even though there have been times they refuse to speak out on matters that we in the public were chomping at the bit for them to address.  But they aren’t our puppets, and their deafening silence on certain issues really only illustrates the point.  I kind of like the fact that they don’t jump into the fray just because we want them to.  Yeah, I have a “wish list”, but some of it’s negotiable.     

At a very young age William and Harry have shown themselves to know loyalty and to know courage.  They could try harder to connect with the rest of us. —They could. And they should.  We are after all in the majority.  And they could work harder at being a little more transparent in their thoughts, and not so scripted in their public interviews.  People really connect with others who are sincere, and sincerity cannot be faked.  It’s all so simple and direct; it reminds me of one member of their family who is no longer with us.  And that brings me to the title of this piece and how their challenge can only be met by working hard within the context framed by a single word starting with “D”. What is this word?  Determination.--Of course.  What did you think it was?

- Elizabeth W. King