Will Kate Middleton and Prince William Share a Birthday Photo for Prince Louis Following Controversy?
The People
With the legitimacy of images released by the royal family now called into question, London-based public relations and crisis communications expert Mark Borkowski tells PEOPLE that such distrust is “damning” for the royal brand.
“The difficulty now is because there is so little information about what’s happening to Kate, if they were going to project things are all normal in this way — with a photo that is now deemed to be fake — it is pretty damning about the floundering and the poor decision making that’s going on,” Borkowski said about the Mother’s Day shot.
What Kate video tells us about royal strategy
MSN
Charles Anson, former press secretary to Elizabeth II, told the BBC that “getting the right sort of sequence of information is a very difficult thing to do in the internet age”. But the princess’s video “was absolutely right in terms of telling the public at the same time as creating a bit of an area of protection for the family”.
But there’s no doubt there has been real shock at how virulent and unkind social media and some global media outlets have been over the past months. As several people with an understanding of Palace public relations put it to me, it’s been the worst example of it ever.
PR guru Mark Borkowski says communications for the royals is “the most difficult job in the world… you have good days and bad days”, but that the princess’ statement “settles everything for a moment”.
“They’ve managed to take back control.” The Princess of Wales’s video has prompted a huge outpouring of love and sympathy across the UK and further.
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/health/other/what-kate-video-tells-us-about-royal-strategy/ar-BB1knV9t
Recent reports have claimed Bianca’s family in Australia are concerned that the model is being forced to parade herself in the revealing outfits
The Sun
However it was recently claimed that Bianca is more than on board with Kanye’s plans.
PR Guru Mark Borkowski told Dailymail.com: “Kanye understands outrage and is trying to break the Internet.
“I think a lot of people are starting to feel rather uncomfortable, despite everything he’s said, about that he feels he can do whatever he wants with his partner.
“There is a line here drawn between those who believe this is control and those who believe that this woman is complicit and fully involved with this freak show.”
What Catherine, Princess of Wales, says between the lines in her video
Washington Post
Catherine’s prerecorded video also directly credited its broadcaster and filmer, BBC, perhaps a “visible sign it was done independently,” Hewson said.
The video is a far cry from Buckingham Palace’s brief statement in February announcing King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis. British publicist Mark Borkowski said the grander gesture was necessary: “If it had been a statement, no one would have believed it, and many of the crazy rumors would have carried on percolating.”
Catherine’s video doesn’t mention the online obsession with her whereabouts, and Borkowski believes that’s on purpose: “They don’t want to send any signals out that they were influenced by this noise on social media.”
But she does repeatedly speak about her family and their needs after what she calls “an incredibly tough couple of months.”
What Kate video tells us about royal strategy
BBC News
But there’s no doubt there has been real shock at how virulent and unkind social media and some global media outlets have been over the past months. As several people with an understanding of Palace public relations put it to me, it’s been the worst example of it ever.
PR guru Mark Borkowski says communications for the royals is “the most difficult job in the world… you have good days and bad days”, but that the princess’ statement “settles everything for a moment”.
“They’ve managed to take back control.” The Princess of Wales’s video has prompted a huge outpouring of love and sympathy across the UK and further.
Will Princess Kate video put an end to royal communications mess?
The Washington Post
Mark Borkowski, a public relations and crisis consultant, told The Post that the palace communications team was “struggling with the age of social media where any news vacuum is filled with the most ridiculous theories … like ‘Kate is dead’ or ‘it’s being covered up’ or that she was ‘abducted by aliens.’ That one got a lot of traction.”
“They are trying to be semi-transparent … offering a little bit of vulnerability, a little bit of information,” he said. But by being “only slightly more open, they allowed the vacuum to be filled.”
He predicted that after Catherine is seen at an official engagement, the royal communications teams will be “having the last laugh when all these ridiculous theories are thrown into the dustbin.” Still, he said: “Just like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster as well as flat earth brigade, there will be folk who will believe the future Queen is a double. It’s a sorry mess.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/18/kate-middleton-video-shopping/
The Princess of Wales controversy has only gotten worse
ABC7 New York
At the same time, the palace hasn’t responded to calls for an unedited version of the Mother’s Day photo, or provided more information on Kate’s whereabouts.
Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, told People that the royal family’s long-standing culture of silence is not doing them any favors when it comes to quelling conspiracies about Kate’s absence.
RELATED: Pressure grows for Princess of Wales to speak out
“The difficulty now is because there is so little information about what’s happening to Kate, if they were going to project things are all normal in this way – with a photo that is now deemed to be fake – it is pretty damning about the floundering and the poor decision making that’s going on,” Borkowski said.
https://abc7ny.com/where-is-kate-middleton-today-news-catherine-princess-of-wales/14539414/
Royal Family won’t weigh into ridiculous Kate Middleton speculation as palace sticks to ‘never explain’ policy, William guards privacy
Ska News Australia
And while the royal family has long abided by the public-relations motto “Never complain, never explain,” branding expert Mark Borkowski believes that isn’t holding up so well today.
“They’ve failed to navigate the treacherous waters of social media, sticking to traditional tactics,” he said. “The blunt truth is, in the realm of celebrity, privacy is a myth.
“Even before the recent crisis, [William] has been adamant about keeping royal duties separate from family time. But this ‘half in, half out’ approach has clearly faltered.”
Borkowski added that, had the palace originally been clearer about what exactly Kate’s abdominal surgery was, it might have violated her privacy — but it might also have kept questions from spinning out of control.
“There might be sympathy, maybe even understanding, but secrecy? Forget about it.”
And he believes the family is not being more forthcoming now because “They don’t want to be accused of pandering to the conspiracy mongers
Prince William’s message about Kate: ‘When she is ready she will come back’
The News International
The Prince of Wales has been under scrutiny for his deafening silence towards speculations around the princess’ whereabouts following abdominal surgery in January.
Veteran British crisis manager Mark Borkowski spoke to the Daily Beast about William and Kate’s strategy to tune out the noise in the wake of the current noises.
He also addressed the mom of three’s recent outing at the farmer’s market in Windsor, which was reported by onlookers without substantial evidence.
“I think that a lot of what you are seeing online in reaction to the story about her being out and about at the weekend is people who are disappointed to find out that she has not been abducted by aliens or chained up in a dungeon in Windsor Castle,” he told the outlet.
“She slipped out under the radar this weekend,” Mark affirmed, noting: “William’s message is: I am putting my family first; we said Kate was not available till after Easter, that’s still the case, and when she is ready she will come back.
“Admittedly, my instinct would have been to come out and do something spectacular to throw all the naysayers into a ditch, but William is doing it his way—trying to protect his family’s privacy—and whether that is right or wrong we will soon find out.”
Reason behind Palace’s silence over Kate Middleton’s conspiracy theories, ‘William is worried..’
Hindustan Times
Amid all the claims from various sources and insiders, the Palace and Kate will take things one step at a time, without haste. Traditionally, the royal family has adhered to the old adage “never complain, never explain,” but branding consultant Mark Borkowski says this isn’t as effective as it used to be.
“They’ve failed to navigate the treacherous waters of social media, sticking to traditional tactics,” he said. “The blunt truth is, in the realm of celebrity, privacy is a myth. Borkowski claims. “Even before the recent crisis, [William] has been adamant about keeping royal duties separate from family time. But this ‘half in, half out’ approach has clearly faltered.”
Scrutiny follows Bianca Censori as she wears bold outfits in public
Geo News
Bianca Censori may not be so innocent as reports suggest that she was forced by Kanye West to wear bold outfits — but she might be on board for the shocking fashion choices, a PR guru claimed.
Top PR expert Mark Borkowski believes the Donda hitmaker is borrowing the publicity trick from Kim Kardashian’s playbook that involved being in the news for a variety of reasons — but the Chicago rapper is overdoing it.
“Kanye understands outrage and is trying to break the Internet. I think a lot of people are starting to feel rather uncomfortable, despite everything he’s said, about that he feels he can do whatever he wants with his partner,” the expert shared.
However, the PR strategist claims that Yeezy architecture may not have any qualms about following Ye’s orders on managing her fashion choices.
“There is a line here drawn between those who believe this is control and those who believe that this woman is complicit and fully involved with this freak show.”
“But it is a weird freak show that everybody is engaging with and some are enjoying these quite explicit photos.”
To remain relevant in public, Mark said Kanye is using Bianca’s body, “I think we’ll be looking back at this if a rift appears between them as something that is something exploitative. Some of the dresses are built for craving for publicity.”
https://www.geo.tv/latest/535177-scrutiny-follows-bianca-censori-as-she-wears-bold-outfits-in-public
King Charles and Princess Kate health rumors swirl on social media
KNX News
KNX News Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman goes in depth into all the health and death rumors about King Charles and Princess Kate. Mark Borkowski is a renown publicist and author in London.
https://omny.fm/shows/knxam-on-demand/king-charles-and-princess-kate-health-rumors-swirl
Kate Middleton’s Photo Controversy Is ‘Pretty Damning,’ Says U.K. PR Expert
The People
Over the weekend, photo agencies pulled the Mother’s Day image of the Princess of Wales, 42, who is recovering from abdominal surgery, and her children, citing concerns about manipulation. Princess Kate apologized in a personal statement released on Monday, saying, “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”
Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, tells PEOPLE that in trying to share a new image with the public, the palace hasn’t calmed concerns — “in fact, it’s made it worse.”
“Now some people are asking if it is all generated by AI or is it a Photoshop of a photo taken. It’s not something you’d want the royal brand to be aligned with,” he says.
A palace insider downplayed the PR crisis, telling PEOPLE exclusively that although the situation is a “bump in the road, it’s not an earthquake.”
“[Kate] has apologized and graciously so,” the insider says. “She has done something that 99% of us do — and we don’t have the scrutiny that they do.”
Meghan and Harry ‘seized upon the welcome timing’ of Kate Middleton’s Photoshop scandal and ‘crashed’ the Diana Legacy Awards to launch the American Riviera Orchard lifestyle, say leading PR experts
Daily Mirror
Mark Borkowski, whose celebrity clients have included Sir Cliff Richard, Van Morrison and Graham Norton, said that the Sussexes have taken a leaf out of Kanye West and Bianca Censori’s playbook by ‘causing chaos left, right and centre’.
He said Harry and Meghan’s urgent and over-riding need for money to support their expensive lifestyle coincided with a falling-off of support from super-rich friends in the United States where they have begun to generate ‘negativity’.
Mr Borkowski said: ‘There would be a lot of planning for the launch of Meghan’s lifestyle and baby brand. Meghan and Harry are in the space now where they are looking at a strong commercial business to get them the money they need.
‘Of course they planned to launch it at this time. It was calculated. They understand about creating a noise on the internet. To launch anything you have got to get a huge surge of interest.
‘So timing it with the Diana Legacy Awards, why not? It’s akin to what Kanye West is doing right now, causing chaos left, right and centre.
‘I think the timing of the Photoshop thing is incident is coincidental, it was all about this week I suspect.
‘If they can succeed with this in the way they didn’t with Netflix and Spotify and get a range of products the public like, this could make a mark for them’.
Mr Borkowski has doubted there was very much communication between the PR teams for William and Harry before yesterday’s event.
‘I wouldn’t expect dialogue between the parties given the estrangement,’ he said. ‘Opportunist PR manoeuvres are something that a competitive business would consider in the commercial world.’
He said: ‘The timing was an attempt by Harry and Meghan to plunder the news agenda, and most of all it shows that what they’ve always got to do is generate income,’ he said.
‘There has always been speculation about Meghan returning to her strengths, dumping all the woolly ideological future thinking of their institute or legacy projects.
‘At the end of the day, they have a very expensive lifestyle, and when you look at the flights that they’re taking, many of them have come from donors,’ said Mr Borkowski.
He added that recent news of the couple’s apparent snubbing by Elton John who left them off the guest list for his Oscars Party this week, ‘reflects a certain unease in America, where they don’t like any kind of negativity.
‘It’s always got to be glossy and yummy, and marshmallow, Disneyworld – anything negative is frowned on where people just don’t want to pick up the virus.
‘I suspect there’s been less support from super-rich people who were there for them before, so if that is the case, she in particular aggressively go to her strengths, and their move closer to Hollywood sends a message that she’s available for work.
‘Looking at the poor results they’ve had with their Netflix and Spotify work, people don’t want to be associated with losers, but they haven’t really delivered on content, which was going to be their big play, with all that hype about them being the next Obamas.
‘So they’re returning to something that actually might just might deliver some cash, but they’ve got to engage with a younger audience who are genuinely curious and feel that Meghan has been treated badly. ‘
Princess Beatrice and Zara Tindall Have a Blast at Horse Race as Kate Middleton Photo Controversy Continues
People
Princess Beatrice and Zara Tindall Have a Blast at Horse Race as Kate Middleton Photo Controversy Continues
Mark Borkowski, a London-based public relations and crisis communications expert, tells PEOPLE that the palace didn’t calm concerns by sharing a new image with the public — “in fact, it’s made it worse.”
“Now some people are asking if it is all generated by AI or is it a Photoshop of a photo taken. It’s not something you’d want the royal brand to be aligned with,” he says.
A palace insider downplayed the PR crisis, telling PEOPLE exclusively that the situation is a “bump in the road, it’s not an earthquake.”
“[Kate] has apologized and graciously so,” the insider says. “She has done something that 99% of us do — and we don’t have the scrutiny that they do.”
“Think of the level of scrutiny of pictures of her, as people pore over them,” the insider continues. “You’re always on display and always got to be perfect.”
Kate Middleton in another photo mystery – with even Whoopi Goldberg weighing in – as royal sleuths claim they’ve spotted something strange about car snap with Prince William
Daily Mail
PR experts have described the Mother’s Day photo fiasco as a ‘massive own goal’ and urged royal officials to release the unedited picture in a bid to regain the public’s trust.
Kensington Palace had initially faced calls to reveal the truth behind the photo after the world’s top picture agencies – including the Press Association – ‘killed’ the image over claims it had been digitally manipulated.
While the princess publicly took the blame for altering the photo, Kensington Palace said it would not be reissuing the unedited photograph of Kate and her children.
PR expert Mark Borkowski said: ‘It’s plausible she’s at home playing with the computer and using an AI tool, but if they’re really going to regain any sort of trust they should release the unedited photo, it can’t be that bad if they just made a few tweaks.
‘I find they have risen to the challenge, provided the statement as an explanation – the question is with all the conspiracy theories running around, is whether people believe it and I’m not sure they will.’
Instagram Adds Warning to Kate Middleton’s Mother’s Day Photo: ‘Altered’
Yahoo
The photo, which remains on the Prince and Princess of Wales’ joint pages, shows the Princess of Wales seated with Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, around her. The image was especially significant as the first official picture of Princess Kate released following her abdominal surgery on Jan. 16, driving interest to a new pitch as she has not been seen in public since Christmas and is not expected to return to royal duty until after Easter.
London PR expert Mark Borkowski tells PEOPLE it was “damning” to the royal brand to have the image’s legitimacy called into question,
“The difficulty now is because there is so little information about what’s happening to Kate, if they were going to project things are all normal in this way — with a photo that is now deemed to be fake — it is pretty damning about the floundering and the poor decision making that’s going on,” Borkowski tells PEOPLE about the consequences.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/instagram-adds-warning-kate-middletons-212055602.html
The Kate photo scandal has tested the public’s trust. How do the Royals get it back?
CBC
Whether trust has been damaged will only emerge over time, but in ways it appears to have been tested, at least in the short term.
“A little bit has died,” Mark Borkowski, a U.K. public relations expert, said in an interview.
“But the true answer to regain that respect and trust comes with what their big moment is when Kate comes back into her royal duties.”
When exactly that will be is unknown. When Kensington Palace announced Catherine had undergone surgery in January, it was said she would likely be out of the public eye until after Easter.
“I think once Catherine is back in the public eye and on royal walkabouts and able to answer questions even informally about how she’s feeling, I think that will dampen a lot of the speculation,” Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal author and historian, said in an interview.
Catherine’s public profile — pre-surgery — for the Royal Family also appears to be playing into how the speculation has swirled.
“She was everywhere … every front page, every newspaper carried her looking fabulous every day,” said Borkowski.
For more than two months, however, that’s been gone, leaving a void.
‘William wants to protect her’
“The King’s ill. Camilla’s tired,” said Borkowski. “William wants to protect [Catherine]. He hates the media as well, which is the other point.
“He has no empathy with the media’s demands, so he wants to wrap her up in cotton wool and, you know, family first. Of course, that doesn’t really work.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/princess-of-wales-rumours-recovery-royal-family-public-trust-1.7144240
Princess of Wales pictured leaving Windsor with Prince William hours after apology over edited family photo
The Standard
Despite calls for the original to be published, Kensington Palace later said it would not be reissuing the unedited photograph of Kate and her children.
That decision was criticised by public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski, who said: “It’s plausible she’s at home playing with the computer and using an AI tool, but if they’re really going to regain any sort of trust they should release the unedited photo, it can’t be that bad if they just made a few tweaks.
“I find they have risen to the challenge, provided the statement as an explanation – the question is with all the conspiracy theories running around, is whether people believe it and I’m not sure that they will.”
He said the Mother’s Day photo had exposed a public relations problem for the monarchy: “That’s the issue, there doesn’t seem to be that much joined up strategic thinking at the heart of the royal family at the moment, which leads to these problems where it’s a very difficult organisation to manage in terms of PR.”
He added: “It’s a nightmare, even the softer stories of Edward turning 60 this week haven’t really resonated at all because no one’s interested in them, they’re interested in the stars they’re not interested in the supporting cast and that is a problem at the moment.
“They are under pressure, massively under pressure, this is a massive own goal.”
Prince William and Prince Harry to reunite for London event amid Kate Middleton picture drama
OK!
Prince William and Prince Harry to reunite for London event amid Kate Middleton picture drama
The picture saw Kate smiling alongside the three children she shares with William: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
But, hours later, several photo agencies pulled the image after it was accused of being Photoshopped, in a story that gripped the world.
Kate, who hasn’t been officially seen in public since being admitted to hospital for “planned abdominal surgery” in January, later released a statement which said: “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.”
She added: “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day.”
But the editing blunder has raised questions of trust with the Royal Family. PR and crisis expert Mark Borkowski called the mess a “massive own goal” and suggested that the unedited photo should be shared to rebuild trust.
https://www.ok.co.uk/royal/breaking-prince-william-harry-reunite-32350170