Heart on sleeve
The British Royals have been all over the news in Pakistan, and not to be left behind, Prince William’s younger brother Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have also been hogging the headlines. According to pundits the junior royals’ recent highly emotional TV interview about their treatment at the hands of the press could open them up to further damaging headlines.
In the ITV documentary, “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey”, Harry appeared to give credence to rumours of a rift with William when he admitted the brothers had “good days and bad days” and that they were following different paths. The documentary was made while the couple was on a six-week tour of South Africa.
As fallout over the extraordinary interviews continued, PR experts said the couple’s heart-on-sleeve program had broken all the royal family rules about discretion and was a “complete and utter disaster”.
The decision by Harry and Meghan to speak out openly about their struggles had a hint of the A-list celebrity Hollywood PR strategy, it’s being said. But the rules are totally different for celebrities and royals. “The royal family are a publicly-funded heritage business” with strict dos and don’ts. Some commentators say the film has raised concerns over the mental wellbeing of the couple. Meghan welled up with tears when asked if she was ok, following the birth of her son Archie. She also revealed that her friends had warned her not to marry Harry, because they’d said, “the British tabloids will destroy your life.”
A best-selling royal biographer claims, “this kind of interview just feeds the media machine, and that is the one thing that Harry really hates. This documentary has exposed him. It is the reverse of what he says he wants for him and his family, namely, privacy”. All this is sadly reminiscent of the Princes’ mother, Princess Diana, who courted the media and then couldn’t control its pursuit of her.