Prince Harry’s bombshell book has been torn to shreds after a PR expert warned it has “broken some of the cardinal rules of reputation management”. The Duke of Sussex’s hotly-anticipated memoir, Spare, has broken sales records around the world after it hit bookshelves nearly two weeks ago. But it has also received furious criticism as it sees the prince launch scathing accusations against the Royal Family, taking particular aim at Prince William, Kate Middleton the Princess of Wales and Camilla Queen Consort.
Edward Coram-James, a PR, reputation and crisis management expert, has launched a scathing attack against the book, telling Express.co.uk: “How has the story been presented? Poorly. It has broken some of the cardinal rules of reputation management.
“Half of the battle with reputation management is to make sure that your actions meet your words. This is all about perception.
“Ultimately Harry may well be being sincere when he says that he wishes for reconciliation with his family. But, by saying this while continuing to throw punches against them, he risks appearing insincere.
“And, if you appear insincere on one major thing, you often reduce your credibility in all things that you say.”
The CEO of Go Up also explained why there are “other issues with credibility” over the way he has presented his claims against the Royal Family.
He warned if someone appears “hypocritical”, they have lost the battle “in that very instance” when it comes to the “roll out of a reputation management campaign”.
The expert continued: “There are other issues with credibility along similar lines. The Duke of Sussex criticises the Royal Family for not ‘correcting’ the apparently incorrect story about Meghan making the Princess of Wales cry.
“However, it took him the better part of a year, until the ITV interview in January 2023, to correct the press on their interpretation that Harry was calling some senior royals racist.
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Separately, the PR expert said the Royal Family have “pulled a blinder” by not publicly responding to the recent bombshell claims from Harry and Meghan Markle, while destroying the Sussex’s “ill-conceived game plan”.
It’s been nearly two weeks since the official release of the prince’s book, but both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace have yet to make any comment on the claims made by him.
Mr Coram-James told this website: “What should the Royal Family do in response to these claims? In a word: nothing. They have pulled a blinder.
“The biggest mistake that they could make would be to respond to any of the allegations. They are simply not serious enough allegations to warrant them breaching their long held code of silence.
“Breaching that silence will imply guilt. Remaining silent gives an air of maturity and remaining above the fray.
“The Royal family have had a game plan and, unlike the Sussexes, whose game plan has appeared ill-conceived and often strayed from, the royals have toed the line throughout.”
Pauline Maclaran, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Research at Royal Holloway University of London, also praised the Royal Family for staying silent on Harry’s claims and not getting mixed up in a messy battle with the Sussexes.
She told Express.co.uk: “The Royal Family are taking the right stance because the way it is going, Harry will burn himself out.
“If they make any reply, it risks exasperating the whole thing and we end up in a ‘he said, she said, they said’ battle. They would be horrified to start that and are probably scared to set anything else off.”
