I used to work for Time magazine, but even before that, I was covering the royals. It took me until I really started having to look at it to understand quite how difficult it is and how important it is as a topic. Difficult because unlike other public figures, unlike other institutions that receive public money, there is very little transparency. An institution that has living people, living their private lives in public. In 2015, I published a biography of the then Prince Charles that was based on at least a couple of years of intensive following him around. And I continue to do that, but I would not count myself in any way part of the Royal Press Pack.
He was King Charles’s Communications Chief for almost a decade. She wrote the book on Charles (literally). Our guests today – Patrick Harverson and Catherine Mayer – are two insiders who take us beyond the media spectacle and into the inner workings of both the Crown and the British media. They consider whether the revelations inside Prince Harry’s best-selling book “Spare” will shake-up a stodgy palace. They discuss the unquenching hunger of the tabloid machine, debate the resilience of the monarchy – and examine whether the response to this royal controversy hints at a deeper culture war brewing in Britain. Finally, they unpack an emotion that permeates Harry’s pages: grief.
Kara and Nayeema taped this episode in London where they were joined by Brooke Hammerling, a strategic communications expert and Kara’s go-to source for all things royal. Before and after the interview, the trio looks at how people on both sides of the pond are responding to the book’s many revelations. And Brooke shares why a tell-all … may not have been the best strategy for Harry and Meghan.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter at @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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