By Mary Beth West, APR
I generally don’t delve into the latest tabloid dramas for examples of public relations cases-in-point, but the Duchess of York bombshell this week merits a heads-up, particularly when viewed through the lens of organizational damage to one of the United Kingdom’s (and the world’s) most venerated institutions: the British monarchy.
As this case unfolds (i.e. was Prince Andrew in on it or not; how far will the Queen have to go – yet again – to try to salvage the monarchy’s reputation and sustained ability to exist; etc.), there is the clear spectacle in the middle of it: Sarah Ferguson.
A classic come-back story over the past decade, Ferguson captured attention and widespread support, particularly on this side of the pond, for taking control of her life and making the kind of personal turnaround that led to a host of commercial endorsements. All of that success is now hopelessly derailed by this incident exposed by a British tabloid of Ferguson audaciously selling access to her husband for cash.
Lots of observations could be made here, but the most important one related to public relations management is this: there are boundaries to what the public forgives. Personal struggles are one thing, but premeditated acts of deception for personal financial gain, smacking of aristocratic entitlement no less, are quite another.
No need to pile on further, as the personal implications for Ferguson are quite clear. For the British monarchy, however, quick response – and the right response – could spell the difference between continuation and ruin. In recent decades, there have been calls within that country to abolish the monarchy as a taxpayer-supported institution, and, no doubt, this scandal will serve as a rallying cry from those who hold that view, and with a whole new degree of legitimacy to that position.
The Queen will have to balance a swift and commensurate consequence to Ferguson – mother to two of her beloved grandchildren – with a transparent, third-party inquiry into the implication of her own son. The Queen has proven herself in the past to be Britain’s other Iron Lady, although painfully slow to execute, as witnessed in Princess Diana’s death. If the monarchy is indeed to survive, the Queen must take definitive action, communicate and lead, posthaste.
