Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

The Queen’s statement was a PR masterclass

The Queen’s statement was a PR masterclass

Meghan is fond of referring to the Royal Family as “the Firm”. She appears to regard it as something of an insult. That’s a mistake, one of many she has made lately, critics say. If the institution is House of Windsor Ltd and the Queen is its chief executive, the monarch is as good as any boss of a FTSE 100 company, as the last 48 hours have shown.
The Queen will have been deluged with (mostly bad) advice from PR “experts” on how to respond to the criticism of the firm made by Meghan and Prince Harry in their interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday. Say nothing. Let the already“dead in the water” Prince Andrew carry the can for the alleged racist remarks about the colour of Archie’s skin. Say the palace will investigate any formal complaints of racism, safe in the knowledge that Harry is unlikely to name and shame.

In the end, her statement was a masterclass in how to defuse a very tense situation and get back to business as usual. First, don’t rush it. Going too fast risks errors. Also, a period of radio silence suggests that you do not regard the issue as urgent and, therefore, not too serious. Her statement is very short. If you are trying to take the heat out of a situation, the fewer words you say, the less ammunition you give “the other side” to respond to. It took two hours for Meghan to make her case. The Queen opted for three sentences.

She began, as she should, by acknowledging the couple’s suffering. “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.” The expression of regret is genuine and warm. Note no formal titles: just “Harry” and “Meghan”.

But the addition of the phrase “full extent” raises the question of whether the couple really told the family how bad things had got. The use of the word “challenging” also implies that Harry and Meghan might have been partly responsible for their woes since they were not up to the challenge of royal life.

The question of what was or was not said to Harry, and by whom, about Archie’s skin colour could not go unaddressed or unacknowledged. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning (and) they are taken very seriously,” the Queen said solemnly.

But she seized on the couple’s refusal to name the alleged perpetrator, nor reveal the exact words he or she said, as an opportunity to assert that the issue would be “addressed by the family privately”. She also uses Meghan and Harry’s failure to explain the tone of the alleged remark — blatant racism or dumb question? — to, again, inject a hint of doubt into the claim by noting “some recollections may vary”. The Queen knows the truth will never come out. All she has to do to protect the firm is muddy the waters a bit.

Her Majesty saves the best until last. “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.” What a fantastic sentence. On its face it seems simple and supportive. But there’s a subtle hidden meaning. The use of the world “always”, rather than, say, “will continue to be”, seems to suggest that nothing Harry and Meghan will ever do will bother the Royal Family enough for them to criticise or cast aside Harry and Meghan in the way that the couple have just criticised and cast aside the House of Windsor. Play the victims if you like, the Queen is saying, but don’t expect us to join in.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×