HAS THE ROYAL FAMILY LOST ITS CHARM?

Recent events have raised additional concerns about the royal family’s perceived inadequate response to Diana’s death, which started a gradual and mainly effective transformation in its image management. 

The death of the Princess of Wales on August 31, 1997, sparked a nationwide outpouring of sadness that senior royals, such as Queen Elizabeth II and her son Prince Charles, at first appeared out of step with.

At some point, it was acknowledged that mistakes had been made and that the family needed to move past a terrible decade of divorces, domestic strife, and scandals that had damaged their reputation. 

Twenty-five years later, the monarchy today has a much more nimble PR organization, skilled in social media and rapid-response while still being able to successfully produce large-scale events like June’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The monarchy’s transformation, however, has been called into question by recent issues, including Prince Andrew’s connections to millionaire child molester Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s resignation from active royal activities.

The queen and Charles, whose divorce from Diana had been finalized the year before, spent days at their secluded Scottish home, Balmoral Castle, in the immediate wake of Diana’s passing without saying a word in public.

A media-driven narrative that the family was out of touch at a time of national significance took hold, fueled by subsequent mistakes.

Royal observers differ on the fairness of this criticism, pointing out that the family’s top priorities were supporting William and Harry after their mother passed away unexpectedly and planning a lavish funeral ceremony.

Nevertheless, more PR-savvy personnel were hired and the press office at Buckingham Palace gradually underwent a makeover.

Robert Hardman, author of this year’s “Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II”, who had earlier cautioned that a monarchy does not rebrand like a brand of cereal but changes slowly and imperceptibly, added that the shift of the Royal family to being more responsive offered a more “human” image of the queen, who had been reported as being more concerned about her dogs and horses than her subjects. 

Today, according to Hardman, the palace normally reacts immediately — and assertively — to developing scandals, as opposed to the former royal practice of “sticking our heads down and seeing how this works out,” he added.

He cited its skilful use of the phrase “recollections may differ” last year in response to spectacular accusations made by Meghan and Harry that she experienced prejudice within the family.

Other royal watchers, however, believe that the couple’s impending “Megxit” to the United States in 2020 calls for more than damage control PR, as Harry will leave “a massive hole” in the institution, according to royal historian Owens.

“Meghan also embodied some of the virtues that Diana had sought to project as well, in terms of emotion and being in touch with the lives of people in the developing world,” he noted.

The 96-year-old monarch’s attitude to the incident involving Andrew, who is rumoured to be her favourite son, has been compared to mistakes made during the Diana era, according to Owens.

Andrew and an Epstein victim reached a settlement in their sexual assault lawsuit in the US in February. A month later, the queen came under fire for allowing him to join her to a highly visible memorial ceremony for her late husband, Prince Philip.

“The Andrew debacle would suggest that the queen possibly hasn’t learned from the late 1990s as well as she might have done,” said Owens. “She should’ve been more responsive to public opinion in keeping Andrew out.”

The upcoming reign of Charles, who has dealt with numerous scandals involving the raising of money for his charities in addition to long-standing worries about political intrusions, is expected to be filled with lots of similar “pitfalls,” according to the royal historian.

Charles, in contrast to the queen, lacks “subtlety,” according to Owens.

Source: AFP