By Kate Holton and Michael Holden
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – For decades Buckingham Palace has faced a series of crises from the death of Princess Diana, to her son Prince Harry’s memoir and scandals around Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, but each time the British monarchy has bounced back, bruised but unbowed.
As it deals with the latest drama in the form of a book by Charles Spencer, the brother of King Charles’ first wife Diana, the historic institution, as it has many times before, is seeking to emerge without lasting damage to its standing.
“The 90s were very much worse. I would argue Harry’s book ‘Spare’ was very much worse. It was a huge noise at the time and the opinion polls didn’t move one jot and I don’t think they will this time either,” said veteran royal author Robert Hardman.
“As the late queen (Elizabeth) always used to say, ‘this storm, too, shall pass’.”
Turmoil and uproar are nothing new for the British royals, whose lives, loves and squabbles continue to enthral people across the world, not least US President Donald Trump.
Be it the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, the marital woes of the queen’s children in the 1990s to the more recent events involving Harry and his wife Meghan, the family has faced perceived potential existential threats and survived.
For decades Diana – the so-called “people’s princess” who married Charles in a fairytale wedding in 1981, divorced the then-heir in 1996 and was killed in a car crash the following year – has been the cut that has never fully healed.
Now, her brother’s book “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister”, has once again reopened the wound, reminding the world of her pointed criticism of both the institution and specifically her ex-husband.
It was notable that, within hours of Spencer’s book being serialised in the Daily Mail, Buckingham Palace had released a statement to say his grief could impact reason, judgment and memory.
Royal commentator Afua Hagan told Reuters the blunt approach was not without risk. “I do think it was quite cold, quite aloof, and that kind of harks back to what people said about the royal family in those days after Princess Diana died,” she said.
But Hardman, and those close to the monarch, say it will pass.
“It dents the bonnet but doesn’t crack the chassis,” an unnamed friend of the king told the Sunday Times.
NEVER COMPLAIN, NEVER EXPLAIN
Diana’s death in 1997, and the public opprobrium levelled at a monarchy perceived to be out-of-touch that followed, led the royal family to rethink and professionalise its communications, and adapt its policy of “never complain, never explain”.
If there is a danger for the royals now, it is that the book comes on the back of the never-ending drama surrounding the king’s younger son, Harry, and the ongoing police investigation into his younger brother, Mountbatten-Windsor.
The stream of negative publicity drowns out the work they want people to know about and, more importantly, which helps justify the millions of taxpayer dollars they receive every year.
Last week, Prince William, the king’s eldest son and heir, and his wife Kate’s trip to Scotland, which might usually feature on newspaper front pages, barely got a look in.
“All they can do is keep calm and carry on. But unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the news and what people want to hear about,” Hagan said.
“The working royals are being overshadowed, essentially, by all the other things that are happening.”
While Spencer’s book makes very uncomfortable reading for Charles and some of those around him, it is less critical of the monarchy as an institution, perhaps unsurprising given his nephew William, who has made it clear he will do things differently, will one day be king.
“I find some of the flummery around the monarchy quite jarring,” Spencer told the BBC. “I don’t think it’s healthy for a human being to be seen in such archaic, servile terms. I’m all for a monarchy but I’d like a modern monarchy.”
(Reporting by Kate Holton and Michael Holden; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Comments