"Why now? Have they realized moaning isn't a great strategy?"
How the Palace leaked to the Press in response to the Harry and Meghan's recent briefs
Hello Dear Readers!
Quite a lot happened since my last newsletter. Last week, “sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” briefed their preferred and chosen news organizations that Prince Harry was planning to have - and then did have - a private phone call with his father, King Charles, for his 75th birthday. They also leaked their children recorded a “sweet” video messages for the King singing happy birthday to him. Then, a leak to The Times painted a sympathetic story of the quandary the Sussexes have currently found themselves in: They would “love” to be able to spend Christmas with the King but unfortunately, they haven’t been invited yet. (wink wink, hint hint, nudge nudge).
We have come a long way from two years ago when a Sussex spokesperson stated the communications team at Archewell “will speak on the record or not at all” and cautioned those in their corner to “pay no heed to mystery ‘sources’ claiming to talk for them in the press”. To catch up on the back and forth of this call, read my previous newsletter here:
Leaks, Counter-leaks, Invictus Games in Disarray and "Candid" Pap Shots
The story began innocuously enough. A piece in The Sunday Times on November 5th written by Royal Rota reporter Roya Nikkhah said: The monarch is clearly relishing flexing his diplomatic muscles and restoring to the role an energy absent in the final years of his mother’s reign, due to her age and mobility issues. It will be a mostly contented King who celebrates his 75th birthday on November 14 with a party with his closest family and friends at Clarence House.
I was curious to see when and how Buckingham Palace would respond. Would they release an official statement pushing back on the leaks? Or would they ignore them like they did when Harry and Meghan documentary premiered on Netflix? Initially, Buckingham Palace was disinclined to even to acknowledge that a phone call had taken place, so I believed maybe they had chosen the “ignore” route. (Good for them, bad for me as someone who enjoys discussing them.) How wrong I was. The Firm chose the latter and used their own favored journalists to share their dismay at the turn of events. Let’s look into how they got their message out and discuss whether it was successful.
“It will take a lot more to heal the family rift”
An article by Gordon Rayner and Victoria Ward was the first time Palace sources and those close to the King spoke up regarding the leaks from the Sussex camp concerning his “warm” call with Harry. They were not pleased:
Royal insiders say that when the news of the happy birthday call threatened to overshadow media coverage of the launch of the King’s Coronation Food Project, which had been months in the planning, there was irritation bordering on annoyance.
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