Have you ever watched Broadcast News? The James L. Brooks film came out in 1987 and largely predicted the decline in quality of broadcast journalism in America. It starred Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks and William Hurt. Hurt played Tom, the handsome newscaster who was not intelligent enough to really be the anchor of a national news broadcast, but he looks the part and he’s good at playing to the cameras. Holly plays Jane, the hard-edged news producer who falls in love with Tom. Part of the plot hinges on Tom doing a one-on-one interview with a rape survivor, which airs as a segment on the nightly news. During the interview, as the rape survivor describes the ordeal, there’s a cutaway to Tom as his eyes well up with tears. Jane thinks the segment is good, but Albert Brooks’ Aaron realizes what happened – Tom was only given one camera for the interview, and he made himself cry and then spliced in the reaction, which is extremely unethical journalism.
I bring up one of my favorite Holly Hunter movies because Prince William went to speak to a Welsh widow whose husband died by suicide. William brought a camera crew with him, and I definitely want to know how many cameras were there, because William was also caught on camera, tearing up as he spoke to Rhian Mannings. The video of William’s interview was published on KensingtonRoyal’s social media and William & Kate’s YouTube channel:
It was possibly a three-camera set-up. One camera for the wide shot of William and Rhian at the table, one camera on Rhian’s closeup and one camera on William’s closeup. Or it could be something else entirely. If KP has the money and personnel for a three-camera set up, just to make their in-house YouTube videos, that’s a stand-alone scandal in my book. What I do know is that William’s tears, however sincere or not, do not make up for his actual words and deeds in the past decade. From calling his mother paranoid, to assaulting his brother, to bullying, smearing and abusing his sister-in-law until she was suicidal, William has zero authenticity or credibility here. It reads as performative because of everything we already know about William. It also reads as performative because royalists are gleefully using the video as evidence for William’s preparations for his reign. From the NY Times:
At a time when the British royal family has been convulsed by drama, infighting and a tendency by some royals to over-share, Prince William has remained largely aloof — loath to reveal the kinds of details found in “Spare,” the memoir by his estranged brother, Prince Harry.
Yet William, too, has lifted the veil in recent weeks, in his own carefully managed way. Appearing with the Canadian comic actor Eugene Levy on an episode of his travel series, and later with a woman who lost her husband to suicide, William has shown a more personal side, speaking about his desire to change the monarchy after he becomes king and tearing up over another family’s tragedy.
The exercise in image making has taken on more urgency since his father was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in early 2024. While Buckingham Palace insists that Charles, 76, is on the mend, the prospect of William having to step up to the throne no longer seems so distant.
“He’s on fast forward,” said Tina Brown, the British American journalist who has written two books about the royal family. “His father had 50 years to tell the world who he was before becoming king. It’s essential for William to show the human side of himself before his image gets set in stone as the stoic foil to Harry.”
In a video released Friday to coincide with World Mental Health Day, William met with Rhian Mannings, who lost a baby to illness and her husband to suicide. As the two sat at Ms. Mannings’s kitchen table in Cardiff, Wales, William asked her what she would say to her husband, if she could.
“I would just like to sit him down like this and say, ‘Why didn’t you come to me?’” she replied. “Because he’s missed out on just so much joy.”
William looked away, his eyes brimming with tears.
“Are you OK?” Ms. Mannings asked.
Struggling to compose himself, William said, “I’m sorry; it’s hard to ask you the questions.”
It was a startling display of emotion — not least in contrast to the stiff-upper-lip stoicism of older-generation royals like Queen Elizabeth II — though it recalled the emotional encounters his mother, Princess Diana, had with people with AIDS in the 1990s. William’s focus on suicide prevention echoed his mother’s desire to destigmatize AIDS.
“The exercise in image making” – Jesus. Am I alone in finding this incredibly exploitative? I’m sure Rhian Mannings simply wants her story out there, with the hope that more people will be willing to talk to loved ones and reach out to people when they’re at their lowest point. But for William to rather ruthlessly exploit her family’s tragedy as part of his really obvious and plodding image rebrand is pretty ghoulish, even for William.
Photos courtesy of YouTube video. Cover courtesy of the Daily Express.
GTFO. The fact that he had the nerve to use this poor woman’s grief to improve his own image after trying to silence his mother in death by claiming that she was manipulated or exploited should cause any intelligent person to question his sincerity.
Ok. Controversial take. Maybe he teared up because he or Kate have suffered from suicidal ideation? I don’t think that would have made either of them actually care about Megan’s claims. Too self involved for that. If it was him or Kate though?
I don’t think it was for Kate. Peggs is very self centered plus this was a pr stunt and very shameless
@Bromptonviewer A few people seem to be advancing this theory lately. It’s very WanK friendly. I don’t buy it given how obsessed they are about their privacy and portraying themselves as perfect human specimens.
But, similar to Kate’s glomming on to the heart wrenching story of a young woman dying of cancer to keep her name twinned in the public mind with the concept of “cancer victim” or wandering about the Sarah Everard vigil and then swanning off back to the palace while other women attending got arrested (and then swapped Meghan’s name for hers in the police record after), similar to the frequent gambit of the British Media routinely swapping out WanK’s names with H&M’s when they slyly report on the Waleses, William is using this woman’s story to try to make himself seem ‘soooooo emotional’ without disclosing any of his own personal information and trading on his mother’s reputation for genuine candor and emotions in a cynical manner.
Both he and Catherine keep insisting their lives are so hard, that they are so plagued with difficulties and that the public needs to be sympathetic towards them while seeming increasingly greedy, secretive, bitter towards each other, unwilling to attend public facing duties of their station or step up in those duties to support CIII during his illness. William is repeatedly crowing to the BM about how he’ll reign differently instead. He should have a REAL interview facing and answering REAL questions about all the Waleses’ ridiculousness of these last few years not crying tears over someone’s else’s disclosure.
Yes, I think so. Even horrible people have emotions. And I think W&K are delusional. They’re not laughing all the way to the bank; they really believe their lives are difficult. William couldn’t keep up this level of rage and resentment for so many years without believing it; he’s not that good of an actor.
He met her for the third time. Did he tear up the first 2 times before, too? When no cameras were around to show his “vulnerable emphatic” side? The side he found after Harry teared up in Kiev?
I suppose it’s possible he had a moment of real emotion (I don’t plan on watching the clip). It’s been clear for a long time Will has things going on and could benefit from therapy. That doesn’t change the fact this event, and Kate’s “co-authored” essay, were both set up specifically to ride the coattails of/compete with H&M’s award and activities the last few days. That’s pathetic in itself, but particularly revolting to involve this woman given her experiences, and deeply cynical, if it’s true this is actually the second or third time Will’s talked to her. I wonder if W&K have new advisors; all this seems a notch above the hamfisted PR we’ve seen from KP in the past. And I’m very curious what they would have come up with if they knew in advance, as they did with this award, that Meghan would be at PFW. You know there would have been something…
Funny how they must invoke Harry to describe Willy’s ‘attributes’.
And yes it’s highly exploitative but at the end of the day, a lot (most?) of media is as well and the YouTube /zoom king is simply copying his masters.
Doesn’t hurt that Harry and Meghan (and archwell) got that award. Obviously scooter King had to do some performative piece to camera. He’s so like Trump, it’s uncanny.
He’ll do anything to change his image but his actual damn job.
This is too sensitive a subject to make it about William.
Absolutely this 👆🏼… I find it truly disgusting that Peggy is exploiting this woman’s grief and he comes across as insincere and I find his tears fake and insulting.
Disgusting, was my one and only thought too when I watched it.
Wonder what the widow thought of him, his tearing up, and his visit with camera crew in tow……
William met that woman years ago, she appeared in a video and he didn’t seem to be moved by her story then. He had children, it was at the height of Heads Together which he abandoned and yet no emotion. To use her and her story is so KP PR coded.
Wow. He already knew her story and had met her already? Then this is truly him using her for his own PR! It’s look at me I can be as compassionate as Harry!! What a schmuck.
Bulliam met Rhian Mannings in 2017 for the BBC’s Mind Over Marathon Documentary for Heads Together.
There were no tears then. But of course Meghan wasn’t part of the family either, and the Spare was still being treated with the kind of disdain only the heir can muster.
A Squaddie explained this earlier today.
https://x.com/Rimmesfk/status/1977285586856636479
Naaaaah, I believe this was all staged, yes, including involvement of the widow herself. These were carefully curated and well thought out lines delivered by actor William and his team. The fact that Rhian the widow knew when William will “well up with tears” and then she ask “are you alright”? shows they both knew what to say and when to it. They had already met years previously, twice, and the widow already knew that William had already heard her story before on more than one occasion. The fake tears were part of the story. These people all have absolutely no shame. And it’s already all over social media that William already knew this woman and her story. Just wait for the upcoming cleanup that will most definitely throw the Sussexes under the bus just to deflect. Shameless, shameless people the whole lot of them.
What? Really?! That’s even worse!
Now that’s thug behaviour. He should be so ashamed of himself. I wonder who’s giving him advise these days?
Hey Willie, can you hear your brother’s disgusted laughter?
Peg knows no shame.
You think it’s incredibly exploitative because it is incredibly exploitative. Rhian Mannings has had a terrible, unimaginable journey, but she’s been very public about it for several years now and runs a charity devoted to the issue. And yes, William met Rhian before. Harry was doing something meaningful, so William called up a woman who wasn’t bothered by his three-camera team (thanks for that explanation), and he performed for the cameras.
Compare this to the Sussexes’ years-long effort to build The Parents’ Network to bring actual relief, not just crocodile tears, to bereaved survivors. I can’t even.
Yes, it does seem exploitive and inauthentic, not authentic at all. My husband died by suicide not even six months ago, and during September I finally shared that truth publicly. My toxic MIL sent a group text telling me I shouldn’t have posted it and to leave it alone. I didn’t respond because she’s always been that way.
But I believe awareness matters. When a friend sent me the People article about this, what struck a chord was the prince’s response: “The best way to prevent suicide is to talk about it. Talk about it early, talk about it with your loved ones, those you trust, your friends. So thank you for talking about it.”
If awareness can stop even one person from dying by suicide or stop one family from living this trauma, then we have to keep talking. And if this widow is using her platform and the Scooter King to get people talking, then good. My children now have an increased risk of suicide because of what’s happened, and if more open conversation can help prevent that, for them or for anyone, then it’s worth it.
I’m so sorry for your experience. Yes, we could look at it as this woman using Scooter King to get her very important message out.
Ripley, I’m so sorry for your loss. That is unimaginable. I didn’t know that raises the risk for your children, that’s so important to get people to understand that. Hugs to you.
Thank you for sharing your painful story, Ripley. My condolences to you and your children.
🎯
I’m so sorry for your loss.
The way the rota and KP are using this is despicable. But my first thought was, why is he so triggered by this?? Why did he not tear up when talking to the Southport parents? He has kids of similar age! Why this? Somehow I don’t think it was premeditated. He can’t even act out some pda with his own wife who is more than willing to play along. I feel like we saw the elephant in the room about William, that this topic really hit home. He was also around rock bottom when Kingston died.
You give him too much credit. It’s hard not to apply a normal person’s response to him but you just can’t, he is a narcissist.
See nanea’s link to twitter above. Harry teared up in September, less than a month later William is tearing up on a story he has already been exposed to and didn’t cry the first time.
@Smart&Messy – My thoughts exactly.
Im really shocked by this PR roll out even though I know I shouldn’t be. From Kate ‘writing’ (lol) the report about screens to this exploitative garbage I just can’t even. This woman had to ask William if he was ok my lord! The way these people try to colonize everything is really revolting. They really are vile people. It does seem like Charles is not long for this world based on the Wales’’ recent PR campaign and Harry writing to the home office about security. King William here we come.
It is incredibly shocking and cynical. Shockingly staged given that he brought 3 cameras and has met this poor woman before but didn’t cry then. Shockingly timed for Harry’s award. Shocking given he helped drive his sister-in-law to consider suicide and shows zero empathy to her or even to his own mother. Also shockingly devoid of content: look, here’s William crying as he talks to a woman he’s already met at least once, and here’s Kate wagging her finger about cellphones at tables, which we’ve all known about for 10 years–but neither of them rolling up their sleeves to support actual initiatives.
You have to wonder what he was really thinking about to bring out these emotions. I might be biased but this didn’t move me. It does seem very performative and the way William is being praised for this when 5 years ago when Harry showed geniune emotion he was attacked and called fragile. As Kaiser said this is really about William building his image for when he takes over as King. William has no credibility in this space because of what he’s said about therapy, what he did to Harry and Meghan and what he said about his mother.
If William had real compassion he would be doing more to help his father who is slowly dying.
I wonder if rota members and BRF sycophants who criticised H for getting emotional at the WC awards in 2019 (?) knew the reason ie. M’s suicidal ideation. If my assumption is correct then it’s disgraceful that they’re now praising W when they criticised H for making the event about himself by indulging in a a few tears instead of focusing on the WC community.
Peggs could have improved his image by not driving out his brother and sister in law. His spin now is embarrassing. He is supported by Tina Brown who gaslit Diana and is no friend of the sussexes.
This the same man who said nothing when his sister in law revealed she was feeling suicidal.
Hypocrite,
The narcissism in making the suicide of that woman’s husband about himself is just gross. The UK media coverage emphasizing that is even worse.
I really wonder if Brits see this cynical abuse of a camera crew and a woman’s pain for what it really is.
Unfortunately most of them don’t.
Peggs needed counseling badly and apparently did not get it. He should go in for it now instead of fake photo ops and interviews.
Driving his own sister-in-law to contemplate suicide, and showing no support or compassion, makes this all feel very cynical and insincere
You Ever Hear Mike Tyson talking about Anthony Joshusa on why he isn’t a good boxer or maybe he said it about Frank Bruno but the Metaphor is still the same “They weren’t hungry enough” William and the rest of his family are performative because there is no reward for effort, their work is to justfiy the money they are given, They are rich no matter what they get paid to keep the status quo the Heir gets everything and the rest get whatever he dains to give them, the queen gave them houses where they pay nominal rent from what ever monies they are given, they are never really at risk of being kicked out because they didnt get paid or couldn’t work. hence the lack of hunger. William has the world at his feet, the only thing lacking now is the adoration of the public that has gone to his brother is out is the world fighting to keep a roof over his head like the rest of us
He could have been more credible if he did not have cameras on his crying. He made it about himself and it was inappropriate for him to be asked if he was ok. It was not about him.
What a self centered, narcissistic, manipulative jerk to make someone else’s tragedy all about him.
William had knauf with the fake bullying investigation for Meghan which was vile. Compassion begins at home and his treatment of Meghan was inexcusable. He drove out his own brother and sister in law.
Suicide prevention is important. Talking about it is important. And yet the NYT’s article is far more about William’s image-making than about prevention. Why was the nyt even writing about this? Why even include that detail that he “opened up” with Eugene Levy? What does that have to do with the subject of suicide? It doesn’t. Bc the primary subject is bigging up William.
Rhian Mannings was interviewed on BBC breakfast TV about this on Friday and I was awed by her grace and commitment to suicide prevention. The presenter at first asked questions about William’s visit and Rhian replied about her sister helping her clean the house and prepare Welsh cakes for him( which he took away complete with her tupperware!) The focus should have been on Rhian and how she coped with bringing up two toddlers without daddy and their brother not William. They prefaced her interview with film clips of William, Harry and Kate doing a photo call for Heads together which was an interesting acknowledgement rather than erasure of Harry. Rhian is genuinely committed to mental health. Will can do a lot more to help if he has been genuinely affected by Rhian’s family tragedy ,both publicly and privately.
Meghan was not included on the photo ops. Only harry was included and Meghan was a,part of heads together.
Yes, that very important part—a more detailed discussion of how we went about raising her two remaining children, in the face of all of that—was missing from William’s interview.
Correction: how “she” went about…
And the award goes to…
I thought of the Broadcast News (excellent movie, BTW) scene with William Hurt faking the tears just reading the thumbnail header on the main page. William is fake fake fake fake. And as you say, Kaiser – he bullied his own sister-in-law to the brink of suicide. This man has NO PLACE to be talking about this issue or acting as if he’s moved by this poor family’s story.
Just when you think William won’t sink any lower, he – and Kate, for other reasons – do. And the fact that they are openly stating he is only doing this to create a (false) image of who he is, says everything. He is inauthentic and self-centered. If he cared about this issue he’s had decades to do something…but he hasn’t.
While I am cynical with these 2 – watching the clip his reaction does seem genuine, I sometimes wonder if he’s had suicidal thoughts as he’s trapped in a life that he does not want and feels he cannot escape. There seems to be a history of this in that family going back decades probably longer.
I wondered that as well, crying for himself as he remembers when he was really down.
I am loathe to attribute any genuine human emotion to William. Otoh, crying on cue is not easy to do. I’ve never been able to do it. I think we have to acknowledge that something she said may have triggered a bad memory from his own life. It’s been obvious for a while that he has mental health issues of his own that he thinks he must cover up because he’s “royal” and above that sort of thing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Digital Unicorn – You are too kind. Bulliam was probably thinking about Thomas Kingston.
There’s a technique we use in therapy called “the silent movie” technique, when we are helping someone decipher if a person in their lives is trustworthy. So if you’re super young and don’t know, a silent movie is a movie where there is no audio. The actors act and, based on their actions, they tell the story. Every once in awhile, words come on screen after the scene with what would have been the dialogue. This is how movies were done in the “olden days”. We ask folks to take a moment and think of situations or events with this person as well as things they have said like they are acting in a silent movie. Do the person’s actions and words align? If there was no dialogue, would you reasonably be able to guess what they meant to say with their actions? Or are their words and actions a mismatch for the most part? So now, do William.
I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Whatever his faults and shortcomings, William has had a miserable time lately and his coping skills seem weak to non-existent. Yes, “carefully managed…exercise in image-making,” that’s what we expect coming from the RF, but it’s possible this woman’s story hit home in a way that it hadn’t in the past.
We need to stop applying normal healthy emotional responses to a narcissist. There is no there there.
William has said several times that the past couple of years have been difficult for him and we can see outward signs that both he and Kate are not happy people. Three cameras notwithstanding, unless he had his minions chopping onions around him, something made him tear up, some memory or connection. I’m not saying he was unselfishly empathizing with this woman, just that mortality, depression and suicide are issues he might have been facing lately. I don’t know about healthy (or even admirable, the way the press is spinning it), but it’s actually a very normal response to feel sorry for oneself.
Actors use eye drops to bring on tears just saying. He is capable of hitting his brother and wanting harry to divorce
We’ve said it before and it still holds true. William would benefit from therapy and a therapist who could really talk to him for real and not like a future king to be held in reverence.
@Eurydice, I can see that as one of many possibilities — exploited to center William. There are details about Thomas Kingston’s death and William abruptly missing his godfather King Constantine’s memorial service that we the public will probably never know. We do know that William and Harry didn’t get the supports that they needed after the traumas they experienced following their mother’s sudden death.
It’s possible that his interaction with Rhian Mannings at this particular moment in time shook something loose for William. It’s also highly likely that William’s uncharacteristic moment of apparent humanity is being exploited to center William. So, we’ll see what happens next. William now has the opportunity to use this moment to support suicide prevention programs and mental health programs of all kinds. Let’s see if he and his handlers are capable of using this current burst of attention wisely and well — to benefit someone other than William himself.
For any credibility will needs to stop going on about removing titles of the sussexes and apologize to the sussexes. I know this won’t happen but I consider him fake. Will to me is as cold as ice.
Yes, we’ll see. The cynic in me says this will go the way of the war on homelessness. I don’t think he can genuinely help others unless he helps himself first.
I wasn’t in the room with William and the three cameras. It’s possible he was moved. I don’t rule that out at all. But at the end of the day, the headlines being pushed so far by William and KP in the BM and the NYT is about William crying and being vulnerable and how he’s going to be king sooner than he thought and oh yeah he just opened up to Eugene Levy of all people. The majority of the nyt story was about William and not suicide prevention. But that’s pretty par for the course. Agree with what @Blithe says above about let’s see if they can use this attention to benefit someone other than themselves.
Will does not seem miserable whay with getting more properties . Sports as work. Yacht vacations. Doing very little work. And he is self righteous too.
“It’s hard to ask you the questions.”?!?!?! Is he effing kidding? If you needed anymore proof that he makes everything about himself.
Right?!?! You aren’t sad because of the story or what this family went through you’re tearing up because it’s hard for YOU
Anything what highlights the issue of suicide should be seen as positive and if Willi saves just one life or one family from going through this ordeal it is worthwhile.
However “The exercise in image making….” says it all. This is all performative and this NYT article is all about Willi. KP really putting it on very thick, trying to show Willi off as more relatable, first the Eugene Levy and now this interview. I cannot avoid the feeling that Willi is competing with Harry again. Harry got emotional in interviews and events, just recently in Ukraine and it looks like that KP thinks they need to show that Willi is also vulnerable and emotional relatable. But it does not work like this. This is not a competition and it just does not come across as authentic.
The NYT making it all about William doesn’t say much for the journalist writing the piece.
It definitely doesn’t. But it also tells you the narrative that KP was pushing while their comms person spoke to the writer.
I agree. However the writer probably reflected the KP’s talking points and narrative in her article.
@Monika. Performative is the word here, you are right. It is easy for some people to tear up; I have a male relative that can fake cry, tears and all, as a response to any criticism. Faux victim tears. Feel sorry for me tears. I am beyond being moved and manipulated.
@Libra “Manipulation” is the right word. KP tries to manipulate public opinion, to deflect from all the criticism Willi received over the summer, the endless holidays, the little work they actually do to the now controversial move to Forest Lodge. KP also tries to recreate a new public persona for Willi.
William is a horrible human being. This is par for the course with this man. He needs to sit down and shut the F up. He has no right or reason to speak about this subject given his horrible deeds over the past 6-7 years.
6-7 years? Longer than that. Recall his lack of empathy and brotherhood in his treatment of Harry at Eton. He’s been lacking in empathy and awareness his entire life.
here’s the thing: you don’t need to *feel* anything to be of use. Show up, help out, be respectful of other people. Empathy is not *feeling* other people’s experiences so much as acknowledging what *they* feel about their experiences. There’s a legitimate psychological phenomenon called narcissistic empathy, where you *imagine* what someone else must be feeling, in order to trigger feelings of your own. As if to prove you have them. It’s another reason why sociopaths occasionally make use of therapy, as it were, to learn the tricks of the trade — how to convince people to trust them, how to sharpen their skills to practice on other, normal people. The thing is — the late Queen, Princess Anne, the Duchess of Kent, Harry, Meghan, even Charles, and I will give him credit, even Philip, did an immense amount of good for other people. Without emoting. Diana was the one who emoted, but, credit to her, she also did the bread-and-butter, ribbon-cutting, routine engagements. She was emotional, but she was also a working princess. She kept to a schedule, she never let her patronages go by the wayside, she was a lot more reliable than WanK. Between the Prince’s Trust, the Duke of Edinburgh awards, Save the Children, teaching music, …all these people managed to make a contribution without going wobbly. This is just another sick publicity stunt because WanK won’t or can’t put in the real effort. Weirdo.
Diana showed emotions but was also savvy and smart and has the compassionate gene that William lacks. She did not gawk at cameras like Kate but focused on people she was meeting and talking to. She spent time and listened. The keens make appearances all about themselves
Gee, I hope Peg will be okay after that interview. Thank goodness the widow was there to comfort him.
Peg is in desperation mode. He’s not ready to be king, that’s clear. And watching him stumble about, perhaps being the WFH king is best for everyone.
I look at this from a different angle. Perhaps the woman’s story reminded William of Thomas Kingston’s death by suicide. It has always seemed very odd to me that he should suddenly pull out of his godfather’s (ex-King Constantine of Greece) memorial service, where he was due to give a reading, due to a “personal matter”, immediately after Thomas Kingston’s death. The press at the time tried to insinuate that it was due to Kate’s cancer diagnosis but I’m not sure I believe it.
As another poster has said, this is the “elephant in the room” in my view.
Brave lady. It’s a powerful message she’s sending.
@Kaiser, I think you’re misreading William, here. His emotional moment is real—he’s just not a good enough actor to stage it. And why wouldn’t it be real? There’s been plenty of loss, in his life. It wouldn’t be baseless to think that the thought of suicide struck too close to home.
Yes, his treatment of Meghan and her suicidality absolutely diminishes his moral standing and reduces his credibility in speaking out against suicide. But people can be contradictory. And, fwiw, I don’t know how effective such “awareness” campaigns are at reducing suicide rates, on a macro scale, compared to, say, effective social safety nets. (In that regard, I find it interesting that they picked a family whose suicide does not have any immediate political implications and, so, doesn’t put HRH in an uncomfortable position.) But, still, it’s better than nothing. If it saves even one life, we may safely say it has been worth it. And if William does much more of this kind of stuff, he might save his own reign.
I’m not going to watch the video because I detest him and to see his face is bad enough, sorry hearing his voice or him trying to use someone else’s pain to get attention would only make me despise him more, if that is possible. To now know that he met her previously and has known her story all this time without any tears, concern or push to help, doesn’t make him genuine or deserving of any empathy. The person who deserves the compassion is being ignored in order to uplift him and his image, which is what he and Kate always do. They always make things about themselves and the media ignore the real person or people who deserve the attention. They miss the plot because Will and Kate are so mediocre that they have to devote more attention and energy on them instead of a woman who lost a child and husband within a week and still had to be strong enough to care for her other children and herself. He had years of knowing her story to have this type of interview and to show emotion but he never did because this is all about him needing to outdo his brother, which will never happen. He had the opportunity to help his SIL who was pregnant with his nephew and having suicidal ideations because of the lie that his wife spread about Meghan making Kate cry. He had an opportunity to say something about suicide after the Oprah interview but instead decided to invite himself to Kate’s engagement to stage a journalist asking him if the royal family is racist or not. He’s the one who leaked to the media that he was concerned about his brothers mental state when Harry understandably broke down in a room of parents who care for their sick children at the WellChild event when Meghan was, unbeknownst to us, pregnant with Archie. He doesn’t deserve any grace for this stunt to upstage his brother and SIL for the actual work they put in to help parents and children with this subject matter.
💯!!!!
William punched harry when harry defended Meghan against the fake bullying charges. He wanted his own brother to divorce his wife. Will is so hypocritical with the crying. Will is shameless
@Nerd
Ditto everything you said!
“Are you OK?” Ms. Mannings asked.
When the person going through a tragedy has to stop to ask if you are okay, oftentimes that is a failure of care.
F no . Wank does not get to do this . He gleefully stood by and also helped to contribute to the abuse his sister in law and his own brother and Their children are subjected t on a daily basis . Meghan and Harry both lost a child because willy green lit the bulling and abuse of them . He took money , cut a deal to spare him and kitty and give the green light to destroy Harry and Meghan at all costs. He doesn’t now get the sit there and act like he gives a f about anyone who commited the big s and the effects it has on the family that they left behind. He has zero credibility in this . He should be ashamed of this disgraceful piece of image rehab at the expense of a grieving family. He truly is beyond redemption
@Overit 🎯👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Regardless of this woman’s very sad story, the press is not interested in her at any point, but rather in the “heir to the throne” brand. Nothing is too low to strengthen it.
Tears of guilt and remorse are appropriate for this man. In his own family, he had his brother’s wife, who was very close to suicide due to constant brutal attacks by the press, racist and misogynistic attacks on her and her child. Neither he nor anyone else in the family protected her. More than a few tears of remorse are appropriate. The Windsors will never be forgiven for this, nor for their terrible treatment of Diana.
Perhaps one more comment on the subject of suicide: in many cases, obvious, socially unresolved problems precede suicidal intentions – loss of job and home, separation, divorce, bullying, experiences of violence, trauma, etc. And then, due to the massive feelings of guilt and shame that arise in a competitive and emotion-despising society, it is easier to leave than to talk. Suicidal intentions or suicides are often also the result of social and political injustices; it does not help to ignore this.
Whether it’s genuine or not, upon re-reading, there is something really off-putting about Tina Brown telling the nyt that “It’s essential for William to show the human side of himself before his image gets set in stone as the stoic foil to Harry.” She’s saying it’s essential for his pr and here he is doing exactly that and getting emotional in front of 3 cameras. I’m not gonna say it’s not genuine because I have no way of knowing. It’s possible that it’s both genuine and also very convenient. And his comms team is running with it. Bc their is a goal to show his human side.
Unfortunately his human side is being lazy and shirking. He seems petty and small minded and thinks himself above reproach
Tina is so wrong. Will is so not stoic. If he were the releases about taking Sussex titles would not have happened. As far as his image will had years to build up a good image and messed up. He didn’t shirking duties and making life unpleasant for his own brother and sister in law. I recall when will bragged about his being able to make peace in the middle east. He was told by a critic to make peace with his brother
I’m not a fan of William but I think the tone of this discussion is wrong. William has a lot of baggage in terms of trauma ie: his childhood, losing his mother then trying to navigate the world as a senior adult royal and heir to the throne. Remember also his time as emergency rescue heli pilot, William plainly stated the experience added more trauma. I think all the trauma has made William more reclusive which is a shame given his responsibilities. Do I think William is lazy? Yes sometimes, however it’s entwined with the reclusiveness. William has also stated he’s a private person. I don’t think his intention was to make it all about himself in this case. I think his emotions, his tears were real. Diana called William her little wise man, a deep thinker. Rhian and William wanted to get the story out to others. Rhian has suffered a terrible tragedy. Please let’s not allow our negative feelings about William obscure the message. And always remember there is hope.
Diana would be horrified at will and how he turned out. He called her paranoid and censored the interview that she very much wanted. And wills treatment of harry and Meghan was unspeakable. Wills helicopter work was a made to order job where he skipped shifts. Harry lost his mother too. Will should have gotten counseling. I have no sympathe for him
Once upon a time, I was out to lunch with a friend who had been going through a very difficult time and my sister-in-law who happened to be visiting. During lunch, my friend began sharing some serious mental health struggles her 14 year old daughter was going through when suddenly my sister-in-law burst into tears and began blubbering about how how hard SHE had it at 14. Seriously, by the way she was carrying on you’d think she was still 14 not 45! My friend and I spent the rest of the luncheon comforting sister-in-law.
The gall of the Mail to run that headline about William pledging 1 million when two weeks ago they were crying about Harry making it known that he was personally donating to children in need and that Archewell was giving grants to other charities during his visit. It makes it even more obvious that this was a crass stunt fueled by Williams jealousy over the warm reception Harry received. Also: how much you wanna bet that 1 million isn’t from his pockets?
This is like a boss crying as he fires someone. William made this about himself. The timing is also highly suspect.
And sure, he’s had lots of trauma in his life, but I’m not buying his performance.
If he was truly empathetic, he would have shown more kindness to the struggling Meghan. He wouldn’t have been dismissive of Harry’s mental health journey.
This is B.S.
💯
I find it interesting that the quoted column conveys that this is all public relations and they all know it.
“The exercise in image making has taken on more urgency”
Image Making.
If he had an authentic personality or interest in his role, philanthropy, mental health etc we would have noticed over 40+ years.
This exercise ticked a box. This was a performance. Is there so little to work with they have to manufacture a public persona for him. Is the real William so flawed he must be secreted away? My God No wonder Kate looks like a shell of the vibrant, healthy, active young woman she was.
@Quite Contrary and @Nerd
Aptly said. I totally agree.
Yes, William has suffered tragedy; but let’s be clear, he should have availed himself to therapy years ago. If you want to emulate your brother, emulate that! And under no circumstances should he and his enablers have hijacked this lady’s story for their own benefit. No matter how you spin it, it was a d*ck move.
He gave a million pounds to the charity? Well, H&M need to get more awards, because if Billy Idle gives this kind of money to causes it’s well worth all of the sycophants coming out of the cracks in the walls.
Did he give a million? Well, good then. The charity got money and some attention which can’t be a bad thing. While William got way more line space in the nyt and talking points about what a vulnerable and human king he will be. Sure, lol.