Prince Harry is said to be "fighting a constant battle" after leaving the Royal Family in 2020, with a PR expert now weighing in o...
Prince Harry is said to be "fighting a constant battle" after leaving the Royal Family in 2020, with a PR expert now weighing in on what the Duke of Sussex should have done differently when stepping down as a senior working Royal.
In 2020, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle announced that they were stepping down as senior Royals. At the time, the couple released a statement where they said that they planned to split their time between the UK and North America, but then permanently moved to California later that year.
The couple have now lived in Montecito for more than three years, with several bombshell claims being made since departing both the UK and the British Royal Family. From their tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey, to their bombshell Netflix six-part docuseries, and then Prince Harry's best-selling memoir, the couple have spoken out on many occasions.
But is their anything that the Duke wishes he could have done differently when departing the Royal Family and moving across the pond? PR expert and Crisis Communications Advisor at 10Yetis.co.uk, Andy Barr, has revealed that although Prince Harry will never publicly say he regrets any element of his leaving the Royal Family, "all parties will know that better communication would have made the move less controversial and removed the tinge of sadness that many across the globe now feel".
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, he said: "Airing your family grievances via a globally best-selling book and ground-breaking documentary was never going to resonate well with the Royal Family let alone their team of advisors.
"The real power play here was between the armies of communications and brand advisors that both sides employ. If the Royal Family and Harry had been more stern in their ruling that neither side should brief negative messages about each other to the press then much of the discussion could have been done behind closed doors, directly and with more dignity."
He added that the Royal Family themselves "are clearly not blameless in this either and possibly took the mantra of 'never complain, never explain' too far". Adding: "Whilst they garnered worldwide respect for not responding to every new sordid revelation, they could have better handled some of the more inflammatory elements such as the accusations of a physical altercation between Harry and William."
Andy also said that Harry should have been given "a clear steer on the commercial aspects of the split, such as the titles and brand that he could and couldn’t use once he had left the family". Noting that instead "it felt like he was sometimes being blocked from developing potential avenues to earn a living on an ad-hoc basis, which again comes down to better communication from both parties from the outset".
He went on to say that there is no doubt that the breakup "damaged the reputation of everyone concerned". Adding: "As the Royal Family have shown time and time again though, this was just a short-term bump in the road for their reputation, whereas it feels like Harry is now having to fight a constant battle to get the global media to accurately reflect the positive and well-intentioned family man that he is."
Concluding his expert analysis of this matter, Andy said: "Could both sides of handled this whole situation better? As with every family dispute, of course they could. Will either side ever admit that, absolutely not."
