#charles is always expected to have the perfect pr image

[lestappenwdc]

I find it interesting how when Ferrari got a bit of backlash for not including Sainz on YouTube thumbnail (ridiculous) they could go back and fix the situation right away, but when their driver is called a liar with a full chest while he is selling "happy family" story for them, there's radio silence.

Ferrari need to own up or its going to get worse.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Meghan is still protected by the palace via being married to Harry.

No one will call her out as long as that protection is in place.

I don't think this is the reason why. If it was Catherine the media had dirt on they would be all over it, everything would be written about and everyone would have an opinion. Catherine as a senior member of the royal family couldn't just disappear in this hypothetical scenario of the media having dirt on her so the media wouldn't have to worry about loosing money they regularly make off her simply existing in the public space. (Look at the desperation for Catherine to return as her absence due to illness has put a dent in revenue otherwise expected) Meghan can only dream of having that kind of influence but she still makes the media money and if the truth about her was exposed she'd actually have to properly disappear and probably for a considerable period. The media want their cake and to eat it too, to have this situation they'll continue to not point out any contradictions, changing stories and the obvious lies told by Meghan and if they have any real damaging information that would destroy Meghan's reputation completely it will never be revealed.

This comparison doesn't work. Kate doesn't have that kind of dirt in her closet. The comparison is apples and filet mignon. That's why the press would be all over it if Kate did have this dirt - because her reputation and her image is so squeaky clean otherwise. It validates one of the biggest pieces of criticism about her, "no one's this perfect."

For the comparison to work, it has to be apples and apples. You have to assume that either Kate has the same/similar skeletons in her closet or that Meghan has a squeaky clean reputation and image.

And if Kate has the skeletons in her closet, she absolutely would be protected by the BRF. If the BRF wouldn't have done it, then William would have. He's shown us that he'd protect Kate (when he dealt with the phone hacking, when he sued over the topless photos, when The Tatler insulted the Middletons in their 'Kate the Great' article when he dealt with the medical privacy invasion, when he supported her convalescence instead of working through it), so it's safe to assume that he'd protect her in some way.

But if Meghan did have the squeaky clean reputation and image, the BRF wouldn't be protecting her as much, because there wouldn't be anything to protect. Just like they do with Kate currently.

Second, the BRF will always protect their own. Even if Harry is PNG'd and no one talks to him, they'll still throw down for him if he gets into serious trouble (and speculation is that they do - Charles sends money in some way, BP still takes Harry's calls, he can still arrange a meeting with Charles). I mean, Harry's not getting all these second, third, fourth chances with his lawsuits because he has the best lawyer in the world.

And because Meghan is married to Harry, that protection extends to her. Because why else haven't the things the media discovered in 2016 been published (like her debts, her addictions, her real connections to Soho House, her Flim Flam business and all her trademark/copyright applications)? After all, if they were hinting about those stories in 2016 and then got slapped down by the palace and Harry's love shield, that doesn't mean those things they discovered went away. It just means they didn't publish them. So why haven't they published them any time in, say, the last 3 years since the Oprah interview, if they really loathe Meghan as much as they claim to?

Because she's still protected by the BRF through her marriage. Once Harry says he's done with her, all bets are off and the dirt is going to fly. And we know this is going to happen because we see it happen. Any time there's PR about Harry and Meghan leading distant or separate lives, the press starts to drip and tease stories about Meghan, but before anything serious leaks out, there's a whole new wave of "Meghan and Harry are stronger than ever" PR.

[slythereen]

I agree, if Charles went to RBR it would actually be the best, PR-wise, for RB and him.

If anyone starts talking about Charles betraying Ferrari? The absolute shade Christian would throw out into the media about how Ferrari didn't treat him right.

People hating on him once he starts winning? Red Bull would bask in the media attention for being the villain team and having two drivers destroy the competition. They would post videos of getting booed and see it as a sign of superiority. You're right, they would definitely eat that shit up and throw it in everyone's faces.

And Charles in Ferrari media always gives PR-media-trained-perfect-angel-boy, but we all know Charles is actually unhinged and insane and can be snarky as hell. RB would allow him to not be a robotic PR boy for once in his life.

Honestly, it would be best for everyone, and most importantly, entertaining for us.

you know, i actually am not sure how demonic charles would be on main about it all. on one hand, yes, ferrari absolutely has a hand in how buttoned up his media persona is — but, he's been with them for so long (is ferrari the team that sent him to media training with sky? or was that earlier?) that it's definitely influenced his natural approach, i think. careful and deliberate is ingrained in him.

don't get me wrong: he has his moments. he's not afraid to get a little sassy, he will toss shade, but significantly less than other drivers (and half the time he gets kidnapped by silvia and returns suddenly happy with ferrari again). i can see the sudden shift in pr management from transitioning from ferrari to rbr going two ways.

first, charles doesn't really shift much. his personal brand is very polished and serene. it may have originated with ferrari, but it's part of the image that he has also helped to craft for himself. he may just me more relaxed and freer with his cheeky commentary, less likely to get scolded behind closed doors (but everyone knows so it may as well be in the paddock), generally be a slightly spicier form of charles... but he'd still be gentle about it. playful about it. not abandon his main persona very much, because a) i think a lot of it is genuine but b) a switch up would make it look not genuine. so non-robotic but not the fullblown rbr villainy that would entertain me greatly.

or: rbr as a brand encourages it. they will tell him he can do it, likely (within reason/without it blowing back on the team, naturally). they may even craft scenarios where he can be "real" on main. red bull gives you wings, after all, and charles' have been clipped for years. and charles, if he moves to rbr, knows what he is signing up for. if he wants to cohesively integrate into the rbr image and marketing (which he would want/need to) he would need to embrace a shift in his pr approach. that's something he would need to be committed to in advance. he might full-send it, or at least send it harder than expected. it might be part of the new marketing angle he's taking.

a combination thereof may be closer to the how the brand book would be put together. a happy middle ground, maybe. if you think about it, charles' shift in messaging supports it, too: "i don't care for pole, i want to win" "max may have the best car but that doesnt excuse his talent. the driver winning is still extremely talented even with the best car, btw. (pls remember that when i have the best car and suddenly am winning again)". it's little but it's noticeable; he's repeated it a lot.

[houseofbrat]

If Kate was adamant she didn’t want this information out there before Easter, what strategies could’ve been deployed by their PR to prevent this mess? Hyperactive information environment or not, if she didn’t change that position, all the PR can do is follow the strategy and brief editors that there’s a very good reason for the radio silence and promise an update after Easter. The only thing I can think of is releasing regular ‘doctors are pleased with Kate’s progress and expect her to be back to Royal duties after Easter’ statements to manage expectations. Also presuming she didn’t want to take part in any ‘at home recovering’ style images or videos for social which given the circumstances is understandable. The big mistake was bowing to pressure and releasing an image on Mother’s Day that ended up blowing up in their faces. If they felt compelled to release something, an older picture with the caveat that it was taken last year as the Princess is still recovering and not posing for photos at this time would’ve been better.

If their hands were truly tied, then yeah, there's not a lot they can do. I think an important take-away is that we always need to be able to not only articulate what's going to happen in a given situation, but also explain why. In this particular case, by leaving an information vacuum, they created a much worse outcome. I hope someone explained that clearly to "The Firm". Of course we saw much worse with Andrew and his disastrous live interview where he wasn't able to answer basic questions, or even pivot to key messages. There is clearly a lot wrong with how the family handles the media - it's nothing new, but it is definitely broken.

Original statement should have given less detail. “Abdominal surgery”+10-14 day hospital stay+3 month recovery timeframe is just enough info to invite people to try to solve the puzzle. 

 2) Royal watchers twigged something was off early on because of KP’s unusual silence when they are known for being leaky as a sieve. Their usual MO is a constant drip of vacuous puff pieces by the Royal Rota. A good PR strategy would have been to continue feeding the Wales and Middleton happy perfect family stories (the kids have made their mum get well cards! Carole’s been by her daughter’s side! William is making breakfasts by hand!) This could have been done with no involvement on Kate’s part and a minimal burden on William to approve the briefs. Instead the absence of the usual drip drip drip got the public’s attention, especially in contrast to Buckingham Palace’s steady-on strategy for Charles’s procedure and cancer. 

 3) PR can only do so much about their principal’s demeanor and I can’t get too much on William’s case for his noticeably weird behavior while he’s been dealing with his wife’s cancer diagnosis. But at minimum someone should be empowered enough to look the man in the eye and had him practice saying “She’s recovering from her procedure, thank you for your concern” so that he could reel off that line when people or press asked him about Kate during his engagements. His pretending not to hear thing did NOT help.  

 4) I agree they should have never released the Mother’s Day photo. Nor the two car pap photos, which were obviously not candid but clumsy attempts to address speculation. Each one was fuel to the fire. The effort would have been better spent on a simple statement signed by Kate saying the PoW thanks the public for their concern, she appreciates the cards, and she reiterates her desire for privacy at this time. 

This woman was failed at every conceivable point.

Silence during a crisis breeds suspicion and speculation. Social media provides a broad, uncontrollable platform and rewards those who amplify the nonsense.

Mother’s Day presented a prime opportunity. An IG story with a carousel of past photos of Kate & the kids and a 15 sec voiceover of Kate saying:

”Thank you so much for all your well wishes. I’m looking forward to returning to my duties when I’m cleared to do so. I’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day quietly with my husband and children this year but I hope you all have a lovely day.”

There were any number of ways that Kate could have been briefly engaged without being intrusive or needing to show her face.

It should never have come to this.

Or a picture of her as a child with HER mom. Isn’t the point of Mother’s Day to honor your own mother, not tout your role as a mom? A nice post about her mom with some pictures of her would have been lovely.

My sense through this is that the PR people (who are professionals and handle sticky situations all the time) had their hands tied by what William and Kate did and did not want to do. Given the circumstances it is understandable that they would back down and follow the couple's script - even as they watched fires pop up all over that they were not allowed to address.

A lot of people on here who don’t understand there is a family of people who are “royals” and The Royal Family which is a public institution and has responsibility for public service and some constitutional duties, aka The Firm.

Does Kate deserve privacy? Sure.

Does, “The Princess of Wales” get to take 4 months away from her public duties without explaining why? No. It’s not how The Firm works. Does Kate get to approve PR about The Princess of Wales? Maybe, maybe not. That title belongs to the institution.

So these are two separate things. And this has been a great example of how digital and social media means carrying on with two distinct entities, is likely no longer viable.

The information that she was having surgery was already out. However, announcing that Charles had cancer as well while he was still being seen out was what led people to come up with wild theories. If the king can walk around with cancer then Kate can go out for a quick I'm ok wave was the thinking. And let's be real here, there is soooooo much more going on than they'll say. There was absolutely NO reason for a photo collage of a moment that never existed. She was already seen in the car with her mom -allegedly her because puffy faces don't go away that quickly - yet they felt the need to not say a darn thing. Either disappear until Easter with vague updates or quit with the pranks. I believe her when she said they weren't expecting cancer, and I'm sure there were already other high stake activities in occurrence, which led to them scrambling for cover. She's not the first public figure to get a life-threatening illness either. We all wish them the best as we would any mom with kids, but they're also living on public acceptance and dollars. They also threw her under the bus a couple times and it got RIDICULOUS.

They didn’t need to prove to the public that she was well. I know the monarchy has a history of hiding illness and I get that, but photoshopping a photo to prove that she is well went too far. The public isn’t dumb. She had major surgery she isn’t going to look herself. They should have posted a more simple statement for surgery, they should’ve posted a statement from her saying “thank you for your well wishes, I look forward to getting back to my duties when able” and then maybe a post on Mother’s Day of her children or her mother and sister.

VERY simple things would’ve prevented the fiasco and maybe given them more time to deal with this in private. They may have still made the announcement on Friday but all of this abuse could’ve been avoided. They made it seem like she was dead and The Firm was pulling a Weekend at Bernie’s.

Pull a classroom full of any PR majors from ANY school ANYWHERE and they all could’ve protected her and her family more than their freaking comms team. It’s an absolute abomination and embarrassment. I really hope they fire all the people involved. They brought so much shame and embarrassment to the crown.

I'm sure a lot of non PR professionals who have an understanding of the standard playbook for public figures and basic competence in business/personal communication could have done better than the "professionals" they hired. Some of it is ... not that hard. I mean, I'd have to think about Mother's Day - just the kids? W or C as kidlets with their moms or what? But thank early, thank often. Charles isn't spilling all his tea but he and his team have hit their marks and there is far less crazy chatter about him. If this is William's notion of "modernizing the monarchy" it's going to be a bumpy ride. As we used to say "don't throw the baby out with the bath water".

Why does a cancer patient need PR? There is nothing shameful about cancer. I get she needed time to process. There is still so much ambiguity around this. “Abdominal Surgery” “Cancer” but not specifying what type of cancer.

I don't understand why so many people are blaming their PR team or William ("he made her take the blame for the photoshopped picture!")

Kate is married to the future King of England. She has enormous power. She isn't Meghan Markle trying to adjust to life in the palace while married to "the spare." She isn't a mid level Royal. She isn't Andrew, Edward, Eugenie, Beatrice etc. People act like she has no power and influence over her team.

The reality is according to a post on X from a person who broke the news about her condition before the media did so apparently has some sort of inside information Kate has known she has cancer since January and started chemo after the surgery. She most likely did that at the hospital since it might be traumatizing for the younger children to do it at home and she didn't want to travel back and forth every day.

Kate didn't want to admit to the public she had cancer. In the initial statement they denied it was cancer. They had to admit it yesterday because unfortunately people got access to her records and it was being shopped around to media publications so she had no choice. According to "sources close to Kate" who spoke to US and People (they're not tabloids and usually have legit sources) she didn't want to tell even people close to her and decided to keep it private. She had no plans to tell the public that they knew about. Unfortunately Kate was being unrealistic. One of the most famous women in the world can't hide for several months without generating conspiracy theories. Kate has photoshopped pictures before. I don't know why so many people think it was Palace officials who forced her to photoshop the mother's day picture. It doesn't take much physical exertion to use photoshop. I believe she did and she apologized for it. She couldn't blame other employees when they didn't have anything to do with it. Nobody "forced her to take the blame" for the picture.

The point is her PR people can't divulge confidential medical information. The only way to handle this was to be honest from the beginning back in January. "The Princess of Wales had surgery and is undergoing treatment for cancer. Please respect her privacy." That's it. (Assuming the insider's belief that she knew it was cancer back in January is true but she seemed to be wearing a wig in the photo in the car so don't believe she is only now beginning treatment)

It's a horrible sad situation. But Kate is known to be stubborn and probably isn't the passive easily intimidated person people are portraying her to be. There is no way her PR team could have done anything differently when she wanted the public to believe it was simply "recovery from abdominal surgery" and nothing else.

Thank you! So glad other people are saying this!!! Can’t believe how many people have missed the point that she is literally one of the most powerful visible women in the world and you can’t just disappear without generating a frenzy. I agree if they’d been very simple and honest from day 1 they would have avoided this whole fiasco. They could have revealed even less as you note - not even mentioned “abdominal”!!

The problem started with the first statement that said her surgery was planned. The public already knew they had scheduled overseas travel/work during that time. Meaning this wasn’t planned in the typical sense and they were wordsmithing things. This set off people’s spidy senses. It was also proof that KP and Buckingham Palace aren’t coordinating between press offices. To have both health statements come out the same day was terrible practice. They should’ve coordinated both messaging, tone and timing.

Then it came out that someone was rushed to the hospital over the holidays.

Also, Will has been tied to Rose for years and there have long been rumors of his poor attitude as well as the family’s poor treatment of the women who have married into it. There were stories years ago that they used to throw pillows at each other during fights. It was natural rumors would start about her leaving him. For the past year they’ve been showing up to events separately- as if they live apart. The rumors have long been there. All the Harry and Meghan stuff confirmed some of the long-thought beliefs about Will’s handling of things.

When the AI photo came out, it was odd. But throwing Kate under the bus was wild. You know who approved that? Will. That made the public even more suspicious something was off about what was being shared.

Overall I would’ve handled this so differently. The balance of privacy and transparency is possible. I would’ve shared that Kate was taken to hospital over the holidays and underwent surgery, will be in recovery for timeline. Share flashback photos on holidays. Coordinate with Buckingham Palace on message timing. If she had been up to it, have her do Zoom calls with her charities and have the charity go on record about their interactions with Kate.

I think you're missing a step: the media went bonkers because social media lost its collective mind and MSM felt it had to respond to that hoopla, which was a palpable thing. I'm very much a student of PR, but I worked in journalism and I understand the impulse to have a line - any line at all! - on this thing people are apparently talking about. As somebody trying to learn the ropes, I'm very keen to know what a PR practitioner should do if the client says, "I pay your wages, and what's going on in my life is my business - I won't be adding to my previous statement until I'm ready."

[carewyncromwell]

Lineage Challenge Day 4: Character Spotlight

Hosted by @kathrynalicemc​

~~~

“So much in my life I took for granted, Like tucking my children into bed... My world was always spinning fast, And in an instant, years have passed, And here I sit with so much left unsaid... I've always lived a world apart, But through it all, you were my heart... That's one of many things...oh, so many things... I never said...”

~“Things I Never Said” from First Date 

~~~

For my character spotlight, I decided to put some focus on a member of the Cromwell Clan I’ve done almost no content for...Charles’s wife, Lane’s mother, and Carewyn and Jacob’s maternal grandmother, Marilyn Cromwell! 

Marilyn is partially based off of stories my mum told me about her mother, when she was growing up. My maternal grandmother was a very stylish and image-conscious person -- the sort of woman who had impeccably chosen outfits for every occasion and who always had very high expectations both for herself and her family -- to the point that sometimes she came across as emotionally distant and impossible to please. My grandmother was much less of a piece of work than Marilyn, though -- for unlike Marilyn, she wasn’t married to a toxic, abusive sociopath like Charles Cromwell, and she most certainly wouldn’t have played as his accomplice by letting him gaslight, manipulate, and even physically punish their children as much as he wanted, so long as they could still tidy themselves up after the fact. 

Marilyn Cromwell was a very conservative woman who like Charles believed in strict gender roles, making her a very dutiful wife who took pristine care of the Cromwell estate and pushed her children academically rather than chasing her own career, even if truthfully, she was a talented enough witch that she could’ve easily earned just as high of a position at the Ministry as Charles did, had she put herself out there. Although her children often considered Claire their parents’ “favorite” because she most blindly obeyed their direction and put a happy face on everything, Marilyn was just as overbearing in her upbringing of Blaise as Charles was, since he -- as Charles’s heir -- would have to represent and mind the Cromwell Clan after his father’s retirement or death (though let’s be honest, Blaise knew full well his father would never retire complete control of the Cromwell family willingly). It’s really due to Marilyn’s influence that Blaise learned how to “take care” of people, though of course in a way that kept a certain power dynamic between the caregiver and the subject -- namely, “Mother knows best, and only I will decide when you are well enough to leave your bed and go outside and play again.” The child Marilyn had the most difficulty molding to her satisfaction was always her third eldest and family black sheep, Lane, who was always so painfully soft-spoken and reluctant to play the part of a poised, perfect family in public. One of the few things Marilyn was able to bond with all of her children over -- which ironically was what also first earned Charles’s attention, when they met -- was her love of and talent for music. She played multiple instruments, including the flute, violin, and piano, and she always loved forcing her children to stand in front of the piano forte and sing for their father or guests. It always entertained Charles greatly, and it made Marilyn proud, to show off her children and their talents. 

Marilyn and Lane’s relationship, however, was shattered beyond repair when Lane ran away from home and eloped with a Muggle. Marilyn shared Charles’s contempt for the Muggle world, and she resented her daughter not only turning her back on her family after everything they’d -- and by extension she’d -- done for her, but also for forever shattering that perfect family image Marilyn had fought so hard to maintain for so many years. Sure, there were plenty of people who thought the Cromwell Clan was way more dysfunctional than outward appearances would suggest, but Lane’s departure was pretty solid confirmation of that presumption, which reflected badly on the whole family and their reputation. And that was simply unforgivable, for Marilyn. When Marilyn learned in 1964 that Lane and her new Muggle husband had given birth to a son, she expressed nothing but bitterness around her husband and adult children, solely referring to Jacob as nothing but “Lane’s bastard son.”

The following year, however, Marilyn’s heath took a very abrupt turn for the worse. After going on holiday to visit her family’s old vacation home in Greece, she came down with a very bad case of dragonpox. Although the disease isn’t normally deadly in young people, Marilyn’s frequent smoking had made her more vulnerable. This combined with her stoically trying to soldier through it at home rather than going to St. Mungo’s, so as to “save face” and not let anyone outside her family see her without her usual makeup and hair care regiments, proved to make things worse. Soon the eternally glamorous and flawless Marilyn Cromwell was reduced to a shell of her former self. Her hair had gone white, she vomitted so frequently that she could hold down almost no food at all, and she was so weak and emaciated that she couldn’t even stand, let alone walk. The most she was ever able to do was sit up, but even then, the pain and nausea she felt, coupled with the lack of restful sleep and the terror and anxiety she felt both about how unpolished she looked and her own looming mortality, began to affect Marilyn’s mental state. She started becoming more delusional and disoriented, babbling random things to her remaining family members as they sat at her bedside. The thing she brought up most was Lane’s son -- but surprisingly, her words were far more fretful, rather than cruel: 

“Laney’s baby. He’ll be a year soon.”

“It’ll be his first birthday soon.”

“We can’t forget about Laney’s baby. We must get something for the baby.”

A week later, Marilyn Cromwell was dead. Her last words were ascribed to delusion by her husband and children, rather than any kind of “last wish” or expression of regret. 

Visually Marilyn most resembled her eldest child, Pearl, though many years later, her granddaughter Carewyn occasionally heard members of established Ministry families like the Crouchs and the Fudges compare her to Marilyn, largely because of their similarly classy fashion sense and make-up. Marilyn’s face claim is Ingrid Bergman, an actress most famous for her role in Casablanca. 

Bonus AU where Marilyn had been able to send along a proper gift -- 

“The baby can have this owl until he gets a proper one, in time for school.” 💔

[fortheheavenssake]

MM Anon 6

Jan 1, 2020

MM ANON ……… “ I don’t want to go back!!!”…… “ get him a title”………… “ a monthly periodical” ……… “mental health and well-being” ……… A brief synopsis LG……… “ I’ve prepared a small dossier ma’am”…… “One has no choice”……… “I’ll contemplate it”………… “ Somewhere warm Catherine”……… keep a low profile ………… he’ll do what he’s told!!!! ………… perhaps a state visit??………… “springtime with Boris in harmony” ……… “Mmmmmm, god help us”

————-

Jan 2

MM ANON ……… Drip, drip drip……… Drop ,drop drop……… back to school soon 🏫 ……… a successful 🌍 ……… Sophie steps up…… a stable stable ………a tad overconfident ……… “ sooner she falls off the better!!” ……… “ Mmmmm, quite the young man!!”…… “resuming play” ……… it’s the open!! ……… “a bit of an obsession!!” …………”it’s another course Catherine” ……… “be careful!!”…… “ we’ll have to send an envoy ma’am”. ……… “yes, it’s a disaster “.

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Jan 3

MM ANON …… “They will return… eventually!!”…… “mummy, it’s school Monday!!”……… cry-sis, 😭😭what cry-sis…… “from our house to Bauhaus”……” there together sir”………… “ one needs the quiet time “……… take the pulse of the populace ……… “ overwhelming support ma’am” ……… “football George,football!!”…… “O god!! He’s on another planet”………… “ A quiet few weeks would be welcomed” ……… I received the memo. ………” poison chalice old boy, poison chalice”

—————-

Jan 3

MM ANON, The Suck-sexses are said to be contemplating a return to the UK, I don’t think so, they have made it quite clear that they have nothing but contempt for the BRF and its citizens. They probably will visit LA and try to get some free PR via OW. Nutmeg will begin to blab more word salad about her “Snoozpaper” and how she’s living this perfect life with archificial and himself. WHO PAID FOR HER SIX WEEK VACATION???? THE BRITISH TAXPAYERS

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Jan 3

MM ANON , Mmmmm ,RA has a point, no recipes from Harry except (photoshopped images) ? My own gut instinct is that all the misinformation has muddied the waters of confusion. As you say this site is for “ entertainment purposes” and your unique in that respect. No body posts the amount of information that crosses your blog from anonymous sources to real time situations, even the national press visit “Skippy” to fuel its veracity for copy. As they say “A diabolo,qui semia dei”

A diabolo, qui est simia dei. Where god has a church the devil will have his chapel.

Thank you MM Anon😊❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Jan 4

MM ANON ……… a list of all her discrepancies!! ……… sex, lies and video tapes, my god!!……… metoo Monday …… “actually darling it’s now the safest local”…… “I’d love to play in a tournament” …… “ great backhand!! “ ……… Duty calls…… first things first!! ……… “an environmental tour??” ……” eventually,with the children” ……… no chance to cry racism ……… no protocol left ……… maybe frog cott?? ……… we start building in the spring ………” it won’t last long”.

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Jan 5

MM ANON, ……… 🎼I’m ready, ready ready ready,I’m ready🎼…… “No your not”………… vinegar and brown paper ……… activate the broken record ……… same old, same old ………” from my window I can see Frogmore House” ……… A short reflection on residency ……… home delivery …… another Sunday service , beautiful!! ……… she’s got this one in the bag. ………”The children aren’t participating!!”……A REASON, A SEASON A LIFETIME. ………

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Jan 6

MM ANON … RICKY , RICKY ,RICKY!! …… respect!! …… A HANK-kerchief full of platitudes …… 🎼a speech full of sugar helps the Meganson go down🎼……… 🎼Oh happy days 🎼………… “SHE CAME, SHE SAW, SHE CONNED-CURD…… …”………… “ this must end soon !! very soon”…… We have the technology ……… “Ahhh , The elusive tape”……… Timing is everything!! ……… DM loading it’s guns……… print and be dammed!!

—————-

Jan 6

MM ANON, Ok , a sycophantic visit to Canada 🇨🇦 House tomorrow in a packed London, they’ll be met by the Ambassador and no doubt Harry will be the customary three steps behind his 43 year old companion who will smile on queue and fake waves to nobody watching. After the same old same old they’ll disappear into the same car and return to the elusive residence somewhere in England. Don’t expect a rush towards the crowd.

—————

Jan 7

MM ANON, ……… she’s the (arm) pits……… go home Yank…… he’s a stone lighter ……… get off my f#@£%land ……… “ come to my birthday, never!!” ……… A state of emergency …… who dares bins ………… 🎼return to lender🎼……… “ it’s a struggle old thing”……… “ stop swearing at the tourists”…………… “ bloody tourists” …… Sydney!!……… “ I’m looking forward to next series” ……… “new stamps??”

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Jan 8

MM ANON ……… 🎼”And she must face the final curtain 🎼 The problem with NOT WEARING your wedding ring opens all conversation towards conjecture ………… 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 the firm always wins. Numerous whores and courtesans have tried to put a dent in the Monarchy over the past 2000 years most were decapitated. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Jan 10

MM ANON. .…… GSTQAOBC …… don’t rock the bloat. …… pain-t stripper …… past, present and future ……… hide-a-Weymouth ……… W&K rule……… make a list ……… common- wealth……… nutmegs strange grandiosity ……… feed the handbitten …… king baby ………… love in a cold climate ……… NO MORE MONEY ……… a fall from race ……… Harry has left the building

—————

Jan 10

MM ANON, BP has just denied that M&H were frozen out. And where did she accumulate £500 million. Something really really stinks. All her life she’s grifted and whored. TPTB should take her down before the BRF are involved in her elaborate deception. DM poll on side of RF and PH, want MM to leave Britain and never return.

—————

Jan 11

MM ANON ……… blowing up a GAIL……… “ it’s like de-programming sir” ……” better have them inside the tent pissing out……… “it’s her pattern of behaviour” ………… back in the day ……… W&K step up……… William refuses to play ball……… that’s weak Charles …………” it’s all about money with her”……… “ all I’m saying is,you’re powerful family “ ………” another snifter LG”……… “ hold the calls Sydney”. 

————-

Jan 12

MM ANON ……… 🎼I don’t like Mondays🎼………” turn her bloody ugly face orf”. …… “ your call William!!” ……… bad advice ……… A military absence ……… “ yes,Pontcius Pilate” ……… Charles, The weakest link ……… “ your over generous ma’am”. ……… “ let them go, f**** em” ……… The taxpayers won’t like it ……… Canada caves……… RCMP……… BO offers a net- flick……… 🎼money,money,money 🎼…………… royal dis-appointments. ………… a tabloid tornado looms.

—————

Jan 13

MM ANON …………… take it or , take it!!……… no negotiation ………… Harry walks out ……… threats and lies ……… no comment…… tabloid carnage ……… more talk,talk. ……… commonwealth ambassador??? ……… no loss of financial support ……… MM gives up title ……… Harry keeps HRH. ……… archificial tells all……… W&K hold a huge party 🥳 🧣🤣🥳🥳🥳👀……… PP gives Sydney a knighthood ……… PP& Sydney get drunk. …………George bakes a cake. ……… Lottie has another sleepover. ……… Nanny gets a surprise

—————

jan 14

MM ANON ……… para-sight……… “ O ma’am, cunning very cunning”………… “ William is made of sterner metal”……… ( behind every great man) ……… spring offensive, the children!! …………” Lotties the key”……… the holy trinity ……… “freeze them out”………… “it’s all a smokescreen sir”…… “ yes, full steam ahead, ask Camilla “ ………… “ circle the wagons LG” …………” Burn that f**** olive branch, once bitten”………” a Canadian tour , with the children, OMG! Touché!!……… inde redire eruditionis Habes

--------------

Jan 14

MM ANON … She new well in advance of Markle V Markle, that’s why she ran , doesn’t want the dirty laundry washed in view of a few hundred yards of BP. HARRY, You married trash. Trash whose father is going to testify against her. Goodness sake Harry, didn’t you see this , or weren’t You briefed by the intelligence service about her family and sordid history.

————-

Jan 15

MM ANON …………… OUR BEAUTIFUL DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE …………… ONE DAY OUR GLORIOUS QUEEN ……………WELL DONE KATE , YOU ASTOUNDED THE CRITICS ……… ONLY ONE CLASSY DUCHESS. 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

—————

Jan 15

MM ANON, MARKLE V MARKLE, won’t get to court, she will not Dare. She won’t bring the firm into disrepute. Unless she really wishes to harm the royal family and that’s a possibility. Will she permit her resentment for her father to drag her dirty washing through the royal courts of justice in the Stand. Is she that psychotic. Yes , I think she is, will Harry approve, I don’t think so.

—————-

Jan 16

MM ANON,……… sea-plane PR. ……… where’s Harry?………… “ leaves 15million mansion visits poor shelter 🤣🤣🤣………… so broke,(woke)……… Paternal hurricane ……… Royal courts of Justice ……… “ write me a roll”………… “what Megan wants, Megan forgets”:……… Calipornia politics? ………… “she can be the new AOC” ……… she’ll campaign for Dems……… “OW ,tell all coming”. ……… negotiations,negotiations!!! …… W&K kill it !!!

——————

Jan 16

MM ANON,……… laugh and carry on……… isolation desperation ……… W&K leapfrog ……… not jaw jaw …… pseudo Trudeau ……… re-distribution …………” just scrapping by ,sausage” ……… LA NA. ……… gizza job……… ahhhhh’ the ubiquitous tape……… brotherly shove ………… “ the tour will proceed” ………… Diamond Dogs……… 🦂🦂🦂………… twice shy

————-

[viralhottopics]

The Walking Dead guide to surviving as a new business

Image: Gene Page/AMC

[Editor’s note: Spoilers for The Walking dead throughout.]

Its bleak and we both know it the kind of soul-crushing downer that goes way beyond horror and into something more existential and emotionally haunting.

The twists are exciting, sure, but its not so much the unexpected that scares us; its the stuff we saw coming or (in retrospect) the stuff we should have seen coming. Theres happiness from time to time bright triumphs of human spirit and social ingenuity but if were honest, those moments, just like everything else, are short lived.

According to the Startup Genome Report, the survival rate for startups is a mere 10%. Put more starkly: 90% of all startups die within their first three years. (Oh, did you think we were talking about something else?)

As Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar and Veniam told Foundr Magazine: Startups are really hard. Every successful one had terrible hurdles and setbacks that they had to overcome. These challenges are the norm and not unique to you and your startup.

Its bloody, sweaty, tear-filled work but once youre hooked, good luck turning away.

The question is: What do startups have to do with a pop-culture phenomenon like The Walking Dead?

Turns out, everything.

In fact, there are at least four lessons everybodys favorite post-apocalyptic horror-scape can teach you about surviving as a startup. Here they are in all their unsettling glory.

Never fall into a coma (or get caught sleepin)

Image: AMC

Rick Grimes nightmare like most zombieland protagonists begins with a wake up. Hes alone, disoriented, and (as usual) oily. The world has changed, and not for the good.

The lesson here is obvious, but many startup founders still ignore it. Whether your niche is B2C, B2B, SaaS, or old-fashioned ecommerce doesnt really matter the world changes fast. Everyday a new technological evolution emerges: Drones, self-driving cars, holograms, dynamic online personalization, VR, AR, AI, and a host of other acronyms. And that doesnt even factor in trends in the wider culture.

Daniel Marlin from Entrepreneur and the Huffington Post puts it like this: The same rings true for the changing landscape of start-ups. Consumers evolve, corporate hierarchies adjust and sometimes cease to exist altogether in favour of a more dynamic structure.

The best way to stay awake is to combine two approaches. First, take advantage of social-listening and online alert tools to systematize paying attention, both to your industry and pop-culture trends. Barring this automated approach, new developments will inevitably fall through the cracks.

Second, regardless of your niche, service, or product, do whatever you can to move towards an agile workflow. First used in car manufacturing and then applied to technological development, agile prioritizes iterative testing, runs on tight feedback loops that include real users, and puts decision making in the hands of the people who are closest to the problem being solved.

In truth, these two steps are the only way to ensure you dont wake up to a future thats passed you by or one thats stalking your death.

Never hesitate to murder your darlings (even if its your mom)

Image: AMC

In a show full of heart-wrenching scenes, few stand out like the death of Lori Grimes. Matricide is a bold move for any plot, but immediately after giving birth well, brutal doesnt really do it justice.

And yet, however brutal it may have been, one of the keys to surviving The Walking Dead is to do whatevers necessary, when its necessary, sometimes to even those we hold most dear.

The same is true for startups.

Part of what fuels startups is the belief in an idea. Such belief is crucial when it comes to enduring the inevitable ups and downs that confront all founders. The trouble is that belief especially dogmatic, hard-headed, despite what everyone says I know its brilliant has a darkside you might not expect: Love.

When we come to love our ideas themselves, not the solutions they aim to offer, we become blind. We lost sight of what really matters: not products, not promotions, not methods outcomes. In his 1913-1914 Cambridge lectures, On the Art of Writing, Arthur Quiller-Couch was the first to coin the phrase murder your darlings, and Stephen King took it one step further, Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.

As hard as it is to watch on the small screen, following that advice is even more difficult in the real world. Brittany Berger head of content and PR at Mention offers this advice as an antidote: You need to remember that you do not matter. Separating myself from my work has been key in helping me make decisions based on business instead of emotion.

Case in point, one of Brittanys darlings was Mentions weekly Twitter chat. As a social media startup, that makes perfect sense. The only problem was, it didnt deliver any bottomline results. Popularity can fuel our egos and certainly has a role to play in marketing and PR but if it doesnt deliver, its time to break out the machete.

37Signals founder Jason Fried nails this fundamental principle: Start getting into the habit of saying noeven to many of your best ideas. Use the power of no to get your priorities straight. You rarely regret saying no. But you often wind up regretting saying yes.

In other words, be ruthless with the ideas you love. The more you love them, the more dangerous they can become.

Never make a bad situation worse (and it can always get worse)

Image: AMC

As disturbing as Carl Grimes’s matricide was, Season 7s premiere The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be took it to a whole new level. After the long-awaited arrival of Negan, Abrahams folksie, profanity-laced wisdom was the first to fall victim to Lucielle.

Bad situation? Yes. But does it gets worse? Indeed.

In a fit of justified outrage, everybodys favorite unfortunate son, Daryl Dixon, rises up. He cant help himself, and we get it. Unfortunately all the righteous indignation in the world wont help when youre outnumbered and outgunned. Driven back to the gravel, we wait for the hammer or, more accurately, the bat to drop.

However, in lieu of Daryl, Glenn is the second to go (complete with some serious eye-bulging and character-breaking guilt for Daryl).

The lesson? No matter how bad a situation is, our tempers, resentments, fears, and especially our mouths can always make it far worse. Whats more, the stress levels inherent to startups makes this an even more pressing concern.

Lively discussion is one thing. And fostering a culture of disagreement is essential. But those two ingredients only take shape in the shadow of another: Safety. Combining two unlikely sources the first cast of Saturday Night Live and Google Charles Duhigg calls attention to the crying need of safety in successful organizations: [M]ost important, teams need psychological safety. To create psychological safety team leaders needed to model the right behaviors.

These behaviors include deceptively subtle habits like not interrupting team members, ensuring everyone has equal time to participate, and especially calling out intergroup conflicts and resolving them through open discussion. Notice that each is about what leaders dont say, biting their tongues and pushing back against their own knee-jerk reactions.

Its obvious you dont want to be a Negan-style leader, but the Daryls inside all of us are far more likely to make things go from bad to worse within a startup.

Never go in alone (ever)

Image: AMC

While the previous lessons all come from some specific high points in The Walking Dead, we could easily locate this one in every episode ever. Dodging zombies might get you out a sticky situation now and then, but finding food, fire, shelter, weapons, medicine, and transportation is not a single player sport. And that doesnt even include the threat that comes from other people.

Simply put: If you go in alone youre not coming out.

As with zombies, so with startups. Launching a successful product or service is just the first fight. You also have to develop sales, marketing, and public relations as well as run bookkeeping, accounting and finance. Theres funding, operations, hiring and firing, building and then maintaining QA on a website, customer service, and most daunting scaling. The list goes on and on and on.

In the words of Leonard Kim, one of Inc. Magazines top digital and youth marketers: If you’re thinking of doing a startup yourself, then you have absolutely no clue what you’re in store for. I’ve spent most my adult life doing startups and and if I can admit I don’t know how to do so many of these things, then it’s okay for you to do the same.

Admitting our ignorance doesnt just apply to teams, it also applies to partners. After getting burnt early on in his career by a bad choice, Mashable contributor Josh Steimle took a hardline and decided to go it alone in his own agency. As he explains: I struggled for the next 10 years, never really getting anywhere. Finally, in 2013 I relented and brought in a partner. A year later revenue was three times larger than it had ever been before because I invested in the right person that excelled where I couldnt.

More than just surviving

Of course, at the end of the day, you want your startup to do more than just outlast the 90% who dont make it. You also want to thrive.

How? By paying close attention to what might at first appear to be an unlikely source: The Walking Dead. First, stay awake to trends and innovations. Second, say no even to your most-loved ideas. Third, cultivate safety instead of making bad situations worse. And fourth, surround yourself with people who can address your own weakness.

Theres no denying its bloody, sweaty, tear-filled work. Robin Chase was right: Challenges are the norm. But if Maggie Rhee can bring new life into an all but dead world so can you.

Aaron Orendorff is the founder of iconiContent and a regular contributor at Entrepreneur, Lifehacker, Fast Company, Business Insider and more. Connect with him about content marketing (and bunnies) on Facebook or Twitter.

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from The Walking Dead guide to surviving as a new business