|

Of Harry, Usain and an Amazing PR Turnaround

Today’s prince Hazza/Usain Bolt story is remarkable in demonstrating just how far the royals- and prince Harry in particular- have come, PR wise, in an infinitesimally small space of time. The pair’s ‘race’ was gleefully picked up by scribblers across the tabloid and broadsheet press- all of whom absolutely fell into line with what must…

|

The Royal Wedding: Rebranding the House of Windsor?

The marriage of Princess Diana’s son struck a new beginning -the British Monarchy. Prince William is the great white hope, a fresh face with his mother’s heart and compassion. He will, in time, lead the Firm into a new age. The question is when?

The relaunch of the brand involved an extraordinary, experiential three ring circus full of pomp and pageantry. Tinged with a bourgeois romance and a certain playfulness, the wedding was sealed with a snog that adorned the front pages from Stockport to Shanghai.

|

Royal Fairy Tales in the Digital Age

The “Fairy Tale” Royal engagement, announced yesterday, prompted an outpouring of joy in this morning’s papers. The red tops in particular are euphoric, filled to the brim with jubilant headlines and rapturous copy. I suspect the coverage arouses hope that the event will provide succour to their declining readership and influence. Past trends suggest papers…

|

Royal wedding? Screw the recession, there's dosh to be made…

And so the day has come! Prince William is to marry Kate Middleton. Be of good cheer, Britain, there’s new blood being drafted into the old firm! It really is fabulous news, in such tough economic times, that the cuts will not affect everything. In 2011 there will be something for the whole nation to…

|

The Best Gift

The Borkowski poet in residence imagines what Prince Charles would like for his birthday… I’d like tea with Lord Mountbatten I’d like a gin with dear old gran I’d like a brand new book by van der Post I’d like poetry to scan I’d like a son who didn’t dress up like Max Moseley just…

|

The re-branding of Prince Charles

What is the best present could Prince Charles hope to be unwrapping on his 60th birthday, today? He will get many, but I suspect that the period of calm that has prevailed at Clarence House over the last five years, interrupted occasionally by the binge drinking bouts and going-to-parties-dressed-in-Nazi-regalia adolescent antics of his 20-something sons,…

|

How playboy royals became tabloid heroesA changing of the PR guard at Clarence House has helped to repair the images of Princes William and Harry

Prince Harry and Prince William arrive to the City Salute sunset pageant on May 7, 2008 in London Photograph: Dan Kitwood It is a compare and contrast case study that will no doubt appear in PR textbooks in years to come. Return to the tabloids of three years ago, and Princes William and Harry were…