The curious case of William & Kate: PR and the royal family

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It’s only a royal wedding, and it’s only “A Royal Wedding”.

Last week’s announcement from Prince William and Kate Middleton about their engagement and upcoming wedding has thrown the international media into a feeding frenzy, while keeping the royal family’s PR on their toes.

As if the daunting task of planning a wedding - any wedding - isn’t stressful enough, when your family also happens to be a national business, there’s the added challenge of everything you do being scrutinized and rated for its effect on the entire clan’s reputation.

The initial word from the media, suggested that with the royal’s decrease in popularity of late, William & Kate’s engagement is actually a big PR move designed to boost public support.

Maybe it is, and maybe (hopefully) it isn’t - either way the whole event had the potential for some damaging moments, but for the most part, was handled quite well.

First, there was the announcement itself. Rumours had been swirling for weeks about the engagement, but William and Kate didn’t let media speculation bully them into making the announcement before they were ready, and in doing so, demonstrated that they had control over the news, the message, and its delivery, a crucial part of any big announcement - especially when it involves British paparazzi.

Then there was the issue of the ring, which again wasn’t only a ring but “A Ring” - “Diana’s Ring”.

Even I cringed at hearing that bit of gossip, wondering why the couple would want to open that particularly nasty can of worms and further fuel comparisons between Kate and William’s late, beloved mother Princess Diana.

While Kate seemed rather unprepared for how to answer questions related to Diana, William handled the sticky situation with skill worthy of an media relations person:

“There's no pressure because, like Kate said, you know it's about carving your own future. No one is trying to fill my mother's shoes. What she did is fantastic. It's about making your own future and your own destiny, and Kate will do a very good job of that.”

Start watching at 12:50 to see Prince William's smooth issues managment

It seems a lot of people agree with William’s statement - so much so that recent polls (which, to be fair, should always be read with a truckload of salt) show the majority of Britons want to skip Charles and Camilla and have the title of king and queen go straight to William and Kate.

That opinion seems to be the big PR issue at the moment, and I’m interested to see how the royal family will handle it.

The key, of course, will be consistent messaging with the media, and to “avoid any game playing... this should be used as an opportunity to remind the public and the world of the value the royal family brings to the country” (James Herring, Taylor Herring Public Relations).

Time to stick together - at least until after the wedding!