The Royal Family was in the middle of a royal PR mess. As far as reputational crises go, it was largely avoidable. It was tempting for observers to judge the situation from the outside; speculation reached a frenzy as the information vacuum remained for a few weeks. Yet once Princess Catherine went to hospital for unspecified abdominal surgery, there was some PR preparation that might have been done in advance to quell the situation.
Social media drove the news about the Princess of Wales, her health and disappearance from public view, much more than traditional media and newspapers. There did not seem to be a plan for managing social media, so the speculation and bubbling conspiracy theories were ignored.
When these conspiracy theories spilled over into mainstream media, Kensington Palace on UK Mother’s Day attempted to end the speculation with a photo of the Princess with her and Prince William’s three children. A badly Photoshopped image did not settle the issue and ended up making the crisis worse. Why was it edited? What were they trying to hide? If the hasty response to the controversy signed ‘C’ was meant to be reassuring, it wasn’t. It backfired and damaged their credibility.
When the photo response went south, a brief and transparent statement could have been issued with some more information about the Princess’s health to settle the matter. That’s where Prince William’s wish to protect his wife and family from the media intrusion that his mother suffered from likely informed the decision for a minimal approach. But social media didn’t exist when Princess Diana was alive, so the strategy should have changed.
Here are some takeaways:
1. Social media is influential and is not going away. No matter how much you dislike it, you need to plan for and manage it.
2. If a communications advisor and high-profile client want to manage a situation by creating and issuing their own content, make sure the content is believable.
3. If a communications plan has gone south, rectify it quickly. In an absence of real news, conspiracy theories and made-up information will fill the void.
The Royal Household did eventually issue a statement about Princess Catherine’s health, which reframed the speculation. The video of the Princess of Wales was very well done – personal, informative, emotional. Here’s the video.