Briefs and Counter-briefs (Plus More Exclusives!)
Entering one year since the Queen death, Sussex sources are briefing to the British press and the Palace is briefing back
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As I touched on yesterday, we are in the midst of a Sussexland PR Media Blitz. Since Wednesday, I’ve counted no less than 10 separate, publicist-approved stories on People Magazine’s website about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The Anatomy of a Sussex PR Blitz
Hello Readers! Happy August! For this column, I had planned to write about August being a slow month for Royal News as the British Royal Family decamps to Balmoral for family time. But it was not to be. After months of near constant cannonade from the press, the
We are receiving sanctioned details of everything. The state of their marriage, their children Archie and Lilibet, and even Meghan’s “soft approach” to Prince Harry’s family. The last one is very interesting in light of an exclusive story on the cover of The Sun. Yes, the same Sun the Prince is suing:
“Harry and Meghan have NOT been invited to mark one-year since the death of Queen Elizabeth II.”
This Sun story gives us a very empathetic story towards the Sussexes:
“Despite being in Europe for Invictus” during the week of her passing, Harry nor Meghan “have not been invited by the Royal Family to any public or private commemorations in their gathering to mark one year since the Queen's death.”
“King Charles and Queen Camilla will commemorate the poignant anniversary on September 8 at Balmoral”
“Sources said there has been no “outreach” from senior royals to the US-based Sussexes, despite their planned appearance in Germany next month — a year since the monarch’s death.” They are “being snubbed”.
If you’re getting a feeling a deja vu, you’re not alone. Many celebrities trying to get their side of the story have specific tells. Feeling shut out and bellyaching (via sources) that they aren’t invited to events is the Sussex Bread and Butter.
Earlier this year, “sources close to the Sussexes” told the Telegraph that their children were not listed on the Coronation invitation:
The children of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are not currently invited to the Coronation, The Telegraph understands. Prince Harry and Meghan were invited in recent weeks, but it is understood that correspondence from Buckingham Palace did not mention Archie or Lilibet.
The couple have had no information about whether the children, who are aged three and one, have been included in the plans.
Regardless of whether the Sussexes do want to bring their children, any preemptive decision to exclude them will cause further friction between the two sides of the family, only serving to fuel the Sussexes’ long-held belief that they have always played second fiddle.
In another instance, “sources close to the Sussexes” were at the ready to tell the Telegraph that they had been “uninvited” from a luncheon filled with world leaders before the funeral of the Queen Elizabeth.
“The couple received an invitation to the grand event for world leaders and foreign royals earlier this week but are thought unlikely to attend after palace officials insisted it was for working members of the Royal family only.
It remained unclear on Friday night why they had received an invitation for an occasion that Royal aides insisted they were not expected to attend.
Sources close to them appeared baffled, while palace aides continued to insist that they were not invited and were not expected to show up.”
A “friend of the Sussexes” later told The Sunday Times:
“It is beyond bonkers if they're not there. Everyone is coming in from around the world to pay their respects to the Queen.'
“The majority of the operation is against you. It's hard — nobody likes to feel like they're being excluded.”
The Sussexes detest feeling like they are being ostracized and they are known to run to the press whenever they feel slighted (imagined or real) by his family. The exclusive in the Sun uses similar language: There’s been no communication, they’re left in the dark, etc. There is a touch of expectancy that the Sussexes should, on principle, be included in anything public or private planned.
The video accompanying the exclusive story, narrated by the Sun’s Matt Wilkinson — who is quite dishy, paints a very sympathetic and detailed picture:
“The Royal Family are preparing to commemorate the anniversary of the Queen’s death…The King and Queen are marking the day in private at Balmoral, but other members of the Royal Family are expected to be out and publicly commemorating the day…..It is significant the Sussexes have not been invited to Balmoral, nor asked to attend any public events as they will be in the Europe the day after the anniversary. They could easily have popped over, attended an event, sat with the family publicly.
When the Queen died, they were in the U.K., and William and Catherine extended an olive branch and asked them to see some flowers, which they accepted, as show of unity for the nation. No such display if unity for this. The Sussexes have been left out of all invitations and all plans.”
If you are an aide to King Charles or Prince William, is this the narrative you want out there in the weeks leading up to the anniversary of the death of the longest reigning monarch in England? An overseas Prince and his wife who’ve spent the last four years accusing the Royal Family of abuse and neglect? No. The aides are tearing their hair out. This is all Team Sussex.
Luckily, we have previous leaks and interviews to fall back on so this is all but confirmed: Harry’s family is not communicating very much with them, if at all. It’s true that the Sussexes likely don’t know what’s “being planned” for the anniversary of the Queen’s death. So Harry and Meghan are reaching out the way the two know best: the Press, and hoping they receive some type of riposte or rejoinder from his family. And if they don’t get that? Well then, it doesn’t hurt if public is made aware that his family is leaving them out of activities. Upon reading the story, I thought “Don’t hold your breath…” But what do you know? The Palace actually pushed back and counter-briefed via sources:
Following claims in The Sun that the Sussexes had been left out of commemorations, a source said it was 'simply untrue' to say that they had been snubbed and there are no plans for any public event or for any private family gathering to mark the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's demise.
While various members of the family will have come and gone from Balmoral for summer holidays in the usual way, Their Majesties will be spending September 8 'quietly and privately', as Queen Elizabeth used to do on anniversary of her father's death, they stressed.
This is the Palace’s way of knocking the “snubbing” narrative currently being pushed by Sussexland. They nipped it directly in the bud. If the original story about planned public events the Royal Family planned to undertake was true, and they were doing it without the inclusion of Harry and Meghan, the Palace would not then brief again denying the existence of what they just said a day later. They aren’t that messy. Which is why the first brief in the Sun could only have come from the Sussexes. They are once again doing the exact same thing they remonstrated his family for allegedly doing. It bears repeating: Their strategy and messaging is in disarray. The Palace having to push back against this will only further estrange and strain relationships. Harry and Meghan’s feelings of being left out isn’t what King Charles and Co should be worried about now heading into the anniversary of the death of a much loved matriarch.
In spite of that, as I mentioned in my post in late July, the Sussexes simply lack the ability to think of anyone but themselves when they feel aggrieved.
They are the center of the universe and this belief system is their Achilles Heel. Remember, when the Queen died they were in UK/Europe for self-promotion. They had up until that point, no intentions to see his family, including the Queen.
When Queen Elizabeth was moments from death and Charles was about to be King, Harry didn’t ask “Are you okay?” Instead he called him “disrespectful” and geared up for a fight because Charles said it was not appropriate to have Meghan at Balmoral. I still don’t understand, months after reading this passage in this book, why Harry/his ghost-writer chose to include this exchange. There isn’t a soul alive who will read that in the years to come and not think “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Air Force One: America or Bust
On September 7th, 2022, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were flown to Düsseldorf in a government plane funded by the German taxpayer. They were visiting the city to “survey venues” for the next Invictus Games. They were collected from RAF Northolt in West London by one of the German Air Force’s fleet of four Bombardier Global 5000 jets, which are usually used to carry Germany’s Chancellors and Political leaders round Europe. The 13-seater aircraft, nicknamed the “Bugatti of the Air” on account of its speed, was helmed by the Bundeswher, German Armed Forces. By Bundeswher’s account, they were “happy to assist with the journey”.
The Sussexes are struggling to regroup after a rough year, which began with the death of the Queen, followed by their Netflix docuseries, Spare and a multitude of head-scratching strategic decisions. On Wednesday, People’s exclusive story was about tempering expectations and how they were left to fend for themselves and their $150 million set of deals (for more details and a deep dive of why this is an offensive white-washing of history, click here). Late yesterday, a new story in People: They were never planning to be Hollywood moguls! Them being royals unfairly “inflated” expectations because money was “thrown at them”!:
“The attention, commotion, and hubbub was wrapped up in the fact that Harry is a royal, and people threw money at them with hopes and dreams that it would translate into success," a Hollywood insider tells PEOPLE exclusively in this week's cover story. "But I think it’s been a rude awakening for everyone — it’s like they built a house with no foundation."
The insider adds, "The royal element, and the in some ways the drama around them, inflated the price, deals and expectations.”
A source close to the Archetypes production says the couple was not set up for success at Spotify: "They were given no formal lay of the land to kick things off, so they were already on unsteady footing even before the ink was dry.”
“People threw money at them in the hope that it would translate into dreams and success”.
What an unenviable position. How dreadful it must have been to be in their mansion in Southern California, minding their own business, when out of the blue, large companies like Netflix and Spotify came banging on their door, throwing heavy bags of cash at them! Before they knew it, they had signed up for huge development deals that paid a lot of money! They never meant to be rich, Hollywood Moguls! And they just couldn’t manage :( Especially Harry, who unlike Meghan, didn’t release anything on Spotify.
“Spotify didn't give them a formal lay of the land to kick things off” is the new “I had to google the national anthem”.
C and D listers have launched podcasts with just a fraction of the resources the Sussexes received. They’re not talented in the content creation space, they’re boring (outside of the increasingly muted Royal shine) and they’re seemingly combative with everyone they work with. That’s a recipe for disaster. Brooke Shields, someone who’s had a very interesting and sometimes tumultuous life, does a podcast from her home that’s just her interviewing a famous person. Each episode is about 30 minutes each and while it’s not groundbreaking work, it’s consistent, interesting and best of all, fulfilling her contract with iHeartRadio. But even something as simple as this was not possible for Meghan because, and this is just my opinion, she has no curiosity about anyone else's life or experiences unless she can bring it back around to herself. It’s been said elsewhere, but every single episode of Archetypes was about Meghan, or included some unnecessary story about Meghan's life that she could tie back to the theme, like her visiting a Korean bathhouse in the episode about Asian women stereotypes. Meanwhile Prince Harry’s insistence upon high concepts that were completely unworkable ruined any chance to release something.
As usual, the Sussexes are more concerned about saving face in the short-term than thinking about the long-term strategy of their future. Do they think blaming Spotify is going to help them land a podcasting deal with another platform? And after Netflix pulls the plug on their deal, what? They are going to tell some other streamer that they want to be paid millions again, but it would be unfair to expect them to actually produce content in exchange for that money because “production companies shouldn’t be judged by what they produce” according to a Sussex source?
This is just sheer stupidity. These excuses will work with their online fans, but it’s not going to get them anywhere in Hollywood, where according to Meghan’s huge press release about joining WME, she really wants to be (jury’s out on what Harry wants):
“Powerhouse agency team will focus on building Meghan's global enterprise”
“Film and television production, brand partnerships, and overall business-building will be explored.”
“The relationship signifies that Meghan is looking to zero in on her enterprise efforts.”
“Meghan is a global icon, topping lists such as TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People, The Financial Times’ 25 Most Influential Women, Variety Power of Women, and British Vogue’s Vogue 25.”
Does that sound like someone who “wasn’t planning” to be a Hollywood mogul? Or perhaps this was a recent career trajectory shift? No one prepared them to produce but she’s “looking to zero in” in on her enterprise efforts? What changed? You cannot plead ignorance in one hand as the reason to why you weren’t able to deliver whilst sign deals to build on a…how did they describe it in People? A “house with no foundation”. The messaging makes absolutely no sense.
The last exclusive to People is a doozy and I struggle to understand what point is being driven home with these two excerpts.
“Meghan does seem to run the household and make the decisions, but it’s not that he bends for her. It’s just a dynamic that works for them, and maybe one that he needs after everything he’s been through,” the insider adds.
If Harry prefers for his wife to call the shots in their marriage, more power to him, but this exclusive will do very little quiet the chatter than she leads him by the nose. While many are quick to paint her as the harlot who stole the Prince away from his family, Harry’s streak of lashing out and hastily, ill-judged decisions existed long before he married her. Though I will admit, it does seem to have increased in intensity since they met. I’m very curious at the “maybe that’s what he needs” line. If the sexes were reversed in this instance, would this line promote any hint of unease with readers?
This exclusive also mentioned Meghan’s deal with WME
Meghan's recent deal with power agency William Morris Endeavor should prove helpful. "They can actually put them in touch with actual filmmakers and creative people and producers and people who actually know how to make a TV show or a film," says the initial Hollywood insider.
Excuse me, could this Hollywood insider repeat themselves?
The WME deal is going to “put them in touch” with “actual filmmakers” and “creative people” who “actually know how to make a TV show or film.” HELP. Archetypes had over two dozen Producers. They have worked with Netflix for going on four years and Netflix is one of the most powerful TV and Movie studios in the world, chock full of producers and filmmakers and creative people…Like say, Liz Garbus who directed and produced their Harry and Meghan docuseries! Is Sussexland saying that institutional knowledge been lacking in the Archewell camp? Are they inadvertently shading their Senior Vice President of Scripted TV, Nishika Kumble whom they hired two years ago? Or Ben Browning who was a big enrollment for their company at the time? Does he not qualify as an “actual filmmaker” or does he not “know how to make a TV show or film”?
The Obamas had no experience with podcasting or producing. They were given the same tools at the same company. Just take a look at the difference in output between the Obamas and the Sussexes:
Being surrounded by talented people was never the problem with Harry and Meghan’s ability to deliver. As the Wall Street Journal put it “a source says the couple "won’t listen to experienced experts" regarding their projects.” If they don’t listen to these new people at WME, what will they do then? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Today is Meghan’s birthday weekend and we have not heard the last of the Sussexes. A video filmed in May was released this week of them calling the recipients of grants. And they were also papped during a cozy date night with the husband of a friend. After dinner, the friend of the husband entered the back of the car with Meghan while Harry rode in the front. Though the photos are slightly blurry, Meghan was not wearing her engagement ring. Very interesting, indeed.
-L.S.