Staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

[O-H Anglophile]

Osipi, I think this is an excellent reading of the situation. The BRF make plans and contingency plans but the implementation sometimes takes time. And they are under no obligation to inform the public or the media future plans-they make announcements when they are ready.

[Lady Marlboro]

Osipi, add me to the list - I think you may be on to something.

[Pranter]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Y'know, I had a thought and thought I'd throw it out there and see what you all think. Is it possible that this move to BP and establishing their own household and office has been in the work perhaps since the time of the wedding? One thing makes me think so is that quite a bit of the staff came with words like "on loan from the Queen" and "temporary". They just filled the gap between the idea of their own office and actually implementing it. Has nothing to do with Harry or Meghan or a feud or a split but was always in the works? A total move put in place and implemented by the "Firm"?

Makes sense to me.

Yep...and I've seen this talked about not that long ago. The BRF are planners...my bet is Charles and The Queen had an outline of what would happen after Harry married when it came to just about anything..housing, jobs etc etc.


LaRae

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Y'know, I had a thought and thought I'd throw it out there and see what you all think. Is it possible that this move to BP and establishing their own household and office has been in the work perhaps since the time of the wedding? One thing makes me think so is that quite a bit of the staff came with words like "on loan from the Queen" and "temporary". They just filled the gap between the idea of their own office and actually implementing it. Has nothing to do with Harry or Meghan or a feud or a split but was always in the works? A total move put in place and implemented by the "Firm"?

Makes sense to me.

Quite possibly, Osipi. Though given thier track record, anybody who seems to work for H&M seems pretty temporary these days

[Lumutqueen]

Take this with a pinch of salt it's the discussion about Henry and Meghan breaking completely, the times article from yesterday is behind a paywall. The Daily Mail has also picked it up.....
http://royalcentral.co.uk/uk/harryan...-meghan-117926

[MARG]

Add one cup of salt. I'm with Osipi et al. The BRF are into long term planning and strategy and so far I have seen nothing that would raise an eyebrow. Harry hadn't lived and worked with his brother for any real stretch of time since William went off to Varsity and Harry finally went off to Sandhurst.

There were always the three of them at public events because even if Harry had a longstanding girlfriend she wouldn't have been with him unless they had been engaged. And then only small time. Harry must have been sick to death of being a spare wheel and opting out was not an option.

The notion that either Harry or Meghan would have wanted an office at Windsor that they had to run themselves would have been their biggest nightmare. If the joint office at KP taught them anything it would be get experts and let them do their job.

[loonytick]

A point of clarification re: public attention affecting staffing choices. In my earlier post I didn’t mean that BRF would say “oh, this prince is more popular, and popular folks get more support.” Rather, I’m saying that more public attention creates far more calls from the press that need to be fielded, more fires to put out, more potential “minefields” to identify and avoid, etc. It’s a lot of work, and it wouldn’t be fair to the BP staff to throw it on them and say, “here, you add all of this to what you were already doing with no extra help from anyone who, you know, specializes in this aspect of press relations.”

[MARG]

Perfectly understandable. The way I understood the consolidation was that they each had their office but that press releases had to be vetted by the BP media department. It makes perfect sense and each family is operating in concert with the others and a united face is presented to the world. It doesn't matter if they are all actually chasing each other with frypans or mallets, all the arms of the BRF make like a duck, smoothly gliding across the pond and beneath the waters, those little feet are going like the clappers. It is the epitome of "Optics".

[Cathy-PA USA]

Originally Posted by Osipi

Y'know, I had a thought and thought I'd throw it out there and see what you all think. Is it possible that this move to BP and establishing their own household and office has been in the work perhaps since the time of the wedding? One thing makes me think so is that quite a bit of the staff came with words like "on loan from the Queen" and "temporary". They just filled the gap between the idea of their own office and actually implementing it. Has nothing to do with Harry or Meghan or a feud or a split but was always in the works? A total move put in place and implemented by the "Firm"?

Makes sense to me.

It does make sense, I agree!
Sadly, this probably has been in the works in a formal, slow-moving way - like the Panama canal.

If it is so, i do feel sad that their Royal process has left a media vacuum which has been filled with such horrible stories, speculation and sheer fantasies.

It seems to me that guiding the general public sense of the shifting situation with a bit more transparency and disclosure would be a wiser approach.
Prince William seems to have a well developed sense of how he can can guide media in a better way. He generally allows the media controlled stories and access in return for more privacy - which leaves us, the public, with a natural respect for his wish for safe and healthy boundaries.

A PR person capable of masterminding such an approach, and Sara Lathem seems to have this capacity in abundance, would also have been able to get out in front of and prevent some of the Markle family media stories, or at least reduce the volume and reverberations from those Markle stories.

SO glad to see this manifestation of background planning emerge from the Firm.

... remembering Vanity Fair, Fall 2017 with admiration to whoever planned and implemented Meghan's interview. That was a good idea - throw a cookie to satiate a demand, but on your own terms. I feel hope Harry and Meghan are headed towards better times in terms of treatment by the media.

[Curryong]

I hope that Sarah Latham will be able to stem the flow of negativism against Meghan as well. However, the Vanity Fair feature did not harness a lot of glowing reviews, unfortunately. Social media and several media commentators were not happy.

Reactions ranged from accusations that Meghan was all about self glorification to traditionalists who bleated that would-be Royal fiancees should keep their mouths shut at all times, regardless of their profession. From the beginning it has appeared to be that Meghan has been damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

This is from Janet Street-Porter, commentator on TV show Loose Women.
https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv...ir-Loose-Women

[soapstar]

This thread is not about the media, or Meghan’s past interviews. Let’s keep to the topic, please.

[Cathy-PA USA]

Originally Posted by Marlo

I don't think anyone cares if Harry is on the same level as Andrew, Edward, and Anne.

Andrew, maybe?

H & M are naturally different due to generation, age - will never be quite the same as the Auntie and Uncles. The multiracial quality they bring is also a unique factor, and a big plus for their Queen's Commonwealth Trust roles.

Originally Posted by Marlo

Harry and Meghan will create an entirely new office of communications staff and courtiers at Buckingham Palace. I don't think Andrew, Edward, and Anne have their own communications staff and courtiers. Am I correct?

I don't know the answer to your question. I could only guess.

Having been reared by the Queen, Anne, Andrew and Edward strike me as likely
to be more comfortable and in sync with the Queen's/Buckingham Palace communications staff then anyone who joins the family - they've always been part of the Firm.

The Wessex's are the only working royal couple in the group. Their story and integration is interesting, not without it's own hiccups. Sophie has a natural affinity for her working royal role having been in PR. Everything now seems to be running very smoothly with them.

[Rudolph]

Omid and Emily's new podcast basically confirmed everything we already know. It's a complete split. Harry and Meghan will operate from BP and share staff with Anne and Andrew.

The new communications person won't be independent, she'll answer to the Queen's communications secretary.

They'll eventually go under royal family social media like Anne and Edward, leaving KP strictly for the Cambridges.

Harry and Meghan did want their own 'court' but that was vetoed. Only the Queen, Charles and Camilla and William and Kate will have courts.

One interesting new piece of news is William had to actually go to bat for Harry to get him more money from Charles and the Queen. Finances are tight so they said William had to go to 'bat' for Harry to get him a bit more.

[Curryong]

The issue of staff wasn't what was said at all in that On Heir podcast. Omid said that things are going to be quiet until near the end of the year when Meghan will be returning from maternity leave and then Press Secretaries for Meghan and Harry will be announced. And Omid was repeating gossip about William going in to bat for his brother. (Nothing will be confirmed about office staff, IGs for the couple etc until later this year.)

Those who believe that the Sussexes are somehow going to disappear into the wallpaper next year and in coming years (especially in view of Commonwealth affairs) are going to be mightily surprised.

And personally I'm looking forward to all the excitement of the baby's arrival and the christening, with accompanying photos, to come, rather than worrying about office staff in six/seven months time.

[Rudolph]

This is a thread about Sussex staff so..

They'll be announcing their private secretary in the fall. They won't have a communications secretary. They will have Ms Latham who'll report to the Queen's secretary. And they literally said they will share staff with Anne and Edward

[JuliannaVictoria]

Originally Posted by Rudolph

This is a thread about Sussex staff so..

They'll be announcing their private secretary in the fall. They won't have a communications secretary. They will have Ms Latham who'll report to the Queen's secretary. And they literally said they will share staff with Anne and Edward

You also posted other information in your initial post that was NOT said on the On Heir podcast, and that has not been mentioned officially. The entire thing about them going off and being completely independent and being on their own was pure speculation and was started as a rumour. I have seen no reputable Royal Reporter repeating that.

[Osipi]

I don't really see any royal reporter or the media being actually totally informed of what is going on in the staff offices at BP or how the "Firm" plans on working everything. Its probably still all in the works figuring out the best way to do things going into the future. This is a good time for it too as with the Sussex baby arriving and then heading into the summer months, its not peak royal engagement or foreign tour times and Meghan will be on maternity leave.

One thing I do know is that the Queen's office is informed of everything whether it be Anne, Edward, Andrew, Charles and Camilla or William and Kate. The Queen's staff is the proverbial hub of the wheel. She's the "boss" and CEO of the "Firm" and from what I understand, she keeps informed about everything and anything that has to do with the "Firm".

I'm just going to sit back and watch and see what develops.

[loonytick]

One thing mentioned on On Heir that I don’t think I’ve seen here: evidently it has clear to royal reporters that KP’s press office has had staffing assistance from the larger BP office for a while now. That’s in contrast to CH, which they say operates more independently.

For instance, on a busy day when William is somewhere with a support team entirely made up of KP staff, Harry and Meghan will sometimes be elsewhere with a team that’s a mix of KP and BP workers. In particular, it sounds like they often see staff they recognize as being from BP doing the job of collecting pictures and video for social media posts.

I find that interesting because it suggests this may not as *quite* as big of an overhaul as it may seem to us from the outside. And particularly in terms of social media, the office change may not indicate much of a difference in the nature of the posts we can expect to see, even as H&M are shifted to different accounts.

[Ista]

Originally Posted by loonytick

One thing mentioned on On Heir that I don’t think I’ve seen here: evidently it has clear to royal reporters that KP’s press office has had staffing assistance from the larger BP office for a while now. That’s in contrast to CH, which they say operates more independently.

For instance, on a busy day when William is somewhere with a support team entirely made up of KP staff, Harry and Meghan will sometimes be elsewhere with a team that’s a mix of KP and BP workers. In particular, it sounds like they often see staff they recognize as being from BP doing the job of collecting pictures and video for social media posts.

I find that interesting because it suggests this may not as *quite* as big of an overhaul as it may seem to us from the outside. And particularly in terms of social media, the office change may not indicate much of a difference in the nature of the posts we can expect to see, even as H&M are shifted to different accounts.

That's very interesting, and sheds a very different light on this whole changeover. It sounds as though it truly is not so much a move as it is a consolidation and streamlining of a process that has already been in development.

[Winnie]

I truly believe all these changes have been on drawing board for years and quietly things have been put in position by the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince Philip. The fact that it is now needed for many reasons and a bit of a muddle due to the de-do of Buckingham Palace seemed to be ideal fodder for the media to blow things out of proportion and invent really fake news articles just to stir more garbage.