Meghan, Harry And Buckingham Palace Are Providing Key Crisis Communication Lessons
As the royal family feud continues to unfold, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Buckingham Palace are providing key crisis communication lessons for all business executives for when their companies or organizations have to respond to a crisis.
The latest crisis communication lessons from the royals played out in the U.S. Sunday night in front of a national television audience—and will air in the U.K. on Monday—when Oprah Winfrey interviewed Harry and Meghan in a recorded two-hour special that was broadcast on CBS.
The interview was must-see TV for many people who have a role in preventing, responding, managing, communicating or trying to recover from corporate crisis situations. No matter what business or profession you are in, it is always possible to learn from the success and mistakes of how others are handling their own crisis situations.
It’s worth remembering that the British monarchy is, according to Forbes, a multi-billion dollar business. Family feud or not, a crisis is a crisis — and any crisis has the potential to damage the brand, image, reputation, and bottom line of an organization.
Tell Your Side Of The Story
A basic rule in crisis communication is to tell your side of story the best and most effective way you can, with as few filters as possible. The more people who can hear your story directly from your lips to their ears or eyes, the better.
The two royals did not appear to be hold anything back in the interview, and did and said what was necessary to tell their side of the crisis.
Harry and Meghan agreed to be interviewed by Oprah, who has a loyal following of millions of people around the world.
They made their points with stories, anecdotes, and occasional humor.
The couple came across as credible, open, and honest, with nothing to hide.
Rather than say “no comment” to two question they did not want to answer, they explained why they did not want to respond to the questions.
Spin Control
It is hardly unusual for both sides in a crisis to do their best to level allegations and counter accusations against each other.
The charges and countercharges were flying in the days leading up to tonight’s broadcast. As reported by The New York Times, “The couple’s lawyers accused the royal family and its staff of malice and deception, telling The Times of London that the newspaper was ‘being used by Buckingham Palace to peddle a wholly false narrative.’
“Through a spokesman, Meghan and Harry decried the stories as ‘distorted several-year-old accusations’ packaged together as part of a ‘smear campaign’ intended to harm their reputations ahead of their interview with Oprah.
“Since the allegations were published, Buckingham Palace has released a statement expressing concern and announcing plans to look into the matter: ‘Accordingly, our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned.’”
Keep Calm And Carry On
Crisis situations have the potential to engulf organizations and distract CEOs from the day-to-day business of running their companies.
For her part, the Queen seemed determined not to let the family drama distract her from her official duties and obligations. As reported by Harper’s Bazaar, hours before the interview with Harry and Megan was scheduled to air, the Queen “…delivered a passionate speech on ‘selfless dedication to duty.’”
According to Insider.com, “The Queen, aged 94, is also set to ramp up her official engagements this week to show the country that she is ‘focusing on the big issues’ rather than the toxic PR battle between the Sussex’s and the palace.
“You will see next week Her Majesty has quite a few things going on. I don’t think anyone should expect Her Majesty to stay up and watch the interview. She won’t,” a source close to the Queen told the Times.”
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Dawn Morton, a U.K.-based consultant, noted the royal family is an institution, bringing in hundreds of millions of pounds into the British economy every year through tourism. “So in a way the royal family is the equivalent of a senior board member on the Corporation of Great Britain. The royals therefore cannot have a ‘bust up’ like normal families, or even celebrities—things that happen within the royal family can cause far reaching implications, including economic issues and the reputation of the whole country.”
Parallels
She observed that, “The parallels to corporations continue in the PR that has to occur if things go wrong. We have seen the issue with Prince Andrew, and apart from that one disastrous interview, it’s all very quiet from Buckingham Palace in relation to the allegations against Andrew.
“We know in business that sometimes the best PR, is to say nothing at all, and the royals have that down to a T—over the years scandal, and potentially damaging news has largely been given the silent treatment. [And] at times as is happening now, a more insignificant story or a success is put to the forefront to take peoples’ minds off their misdemeanors.”
Protecting Their Own
Morton said, “The very fact of the Palace stating that they will be launching an investigation into Meghan Markle’s bullying claims, when the same action did not occur for Prince Andrew, shows how they will, like corporations protect those who are at the very top of the chain in the same way that businesses [may seek to] protect the misdemeanors of their senior members and shareholders.”
Advice For Business Leaders
Donna Burke, co-founder of Spark PR, a digital public relations and marketing agency, said, “We’ve all been watching in fascination as the Palace’s communications team loses sight of its goals and loses control of the news.”
She said business executives can learn the following lessons as the royal family’s drama continues to play out before an international audience.
Know Your Ultimate Outcome
“The royal family seems to want to avoid drama and scandal at all costs. Their extended team lost sight of this ultimate goal and did not fully think through what the most probable outcome of its actions might be.”
Control The News
“Nobody can control all the external forces surrounding them, but corporations and the royal family can and should control their own news. It’s not clear how so much gossip and vitriol escaped the Palace gates, but whether it was from purposeful or accidental leaks sent to the media, they never should have happened.”
“The communications eam is responsible for controlling the news and when the edict comes from the top, employees will fall in line. Employees are required to sign confidentiality agreements no matter what corporation or firm they’re in.”
Don’t Make Things Worse
“Crisis communications requires a team to avoid the ‘fight or flight’ instinct, pause, gather facts and take a measured approach. The ‘inquiry’ into the Duchess’ rumored bullying has been met with endless stories about the lack of investigation into [allegations about] Prince Andrew….Had the Palace thought through the most probable reaction to an ‘inquiry,’ they would have realized that more pressing investigations would be questioned and expected,” Burke said.
By Edward Segal, author of Crisis Ahead — 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies.
