Ever since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the UK, the Royal Family’s response, or a lack thereof, has drawn plenty of attention. Prince William and Kate Middleton, however, have said nothing in public about the Sussexes. While some reports describe that silence as indifference, one PR expert reads it very differently, and her view shifts the focus from feelings to observable behaviour.
Expert makes an ’empathetic’ distinction in Prince William and Kate Middleton’s message to the Sussexes
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle returned to the UK in late August with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Since then, Prince William and Kate Middleton have stayed quiet, and according to reports, the brothers have no contact, despite living in the same country again.
It had earlier been reported that the Prince and Princess of Wales have “stopped caring,” and are practicing indifference. The same report states that Kate is not “sitting around talking about Meghan.” It stresses that this does not mean a reconciliation has taken place.
Now, PR specialist Grayce McCormick of Lightfinder Public Relations has offered a different reading to The Mirror. She cautions against calling the couple “indifferent.” Doing so, she says, assigns an emotional state to people “based largely on unnamed sources and outward behavior.” McCormick explains that silence can signal “boundaries, discipline, fatigue, acceptance or simply a decision not to participate publicly.” It does not reveal what someone feels privately, she adds.
The expert also draws on her own client work. According to her, responding to every headline gives a story “more oxygen.” McCormick points to the “illusory truth effect,” in which repeated information can become more believable through repetition. She believes that in royal coverage, speculation can often harden into perceived fact.
The expert also highlights a “human element.” William and Harry lost their mother very young, and their grief has played out under intense public scrutiny. McCormick says she is “much more comfortable describing what they do than declaring what they feel.”
Her conclusion has been clear. Rather than saying the couple no longer care, she would say they “appear to be choosing not to publicly participate in the narrative.” She calls that “an important distinction, and perhaps a more empathetic one.”
