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Queen Elizabeth II schooled the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (aka Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) in the ways of crisis PR, according to Forbes contributor Chet Wade.
Failing to give the 93-year-old monarch a heads-up, the duo dropped their “Megxit” bombshell on Instagram.
While Harry and Meghan expected sympathy for their desire for privacy and personal freedom, the British tabs went berserk over the fact they didn’t have the decency to tell QEII and the rest of the royal cast beforehand.
Wade notes that good communications planning calls for alerting key stakeholders at the right time and in the right way.
For her part, the queen remained cool, calm and collected, saying early in the game that discussions with the royal rebels were “at an early stage.”
Her following statements maintained the same conciliatory tone, supporting Harry and Meghan’s “desire to create a new life as a young family” while “remaining a valued part of my family.”
But when it came to hammer time, the queen stood tall. Wade wrote she made it clear that the exit would be settled quickly but on her terms, which included Harry and Meghan stepping back from royal duties, including military appointments, losing royal funding and “royal highness titles” and repaying the cost of refurbishing Frogmore Cottage.
The former VP-corporate communications at Dominion Energy and principal at AftonRock Communications in Richmond, wrote that QEII doesn’t always get crisis PR right, E.g., Princess Diana’s death and Prince Andrew’s alleged sex-trafficking scandal and association with Jeffrey Epstein.
“But in this instance, the queen showed she is still in charge and knows how to respond. Maybe there is something to be said for nearly 68 years of on-the-job training,” concluded Wade.
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