The world is looking forward to the royal wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, taking place on Saturday 19th May. As the excitement and anticipation over the wedding rises, so has a scandal around a poor public relations stunt by Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, who allegedly staged photos with the paparazzi to win over the favour of the public. The incident taking place only days before the wedding has spiraled into a PR crisis for the Palace. According to broadcasting data, over 2 billion people watched the previous royal wedding in 2011, when Prince William and Catherine Middleton tied the knot; it may become challenging for an individual to recover from a crisis, which is so closely intertwined with a trending topic. The PR Insider offers a three-stage guide on crisis communications:

Take Responsibility for Actions

Taking responsibility for your own actions or mistakes immediately changes the tone and direction of the conversation. Thomas Markle has openly identified his mistakes, however has given limited explanation to his behavior, which can often lead to misleading interpretation of events. Apologising and offering a reason (without divulging the nitty gritty) is the best course of action, having an explanation and openly admitting to making an error is a good beginning to recovering from a media crisis. Unfortunately, since he is convalescing, Thomas Markle is yet to owe some explanation, in order to recover from the negative media coverage he has received.

Transparency and Communication

We are all human and we all make mistakes. Communicating openly about your intentions, feelings and series of events around the media crisis is good, because humans understand humans. Thomas Markle would do well if he discussed his learning process after the crisis and how he is managing with his recovery, after apologising of course. Having a proactive approach and ensuring you are informing your target audience of the process is key to recovering from a media crisis. The royal wedding may be a topic which will be discussed for many weeks to come, however if Thomas Markle and his family plan their next moves carefully, the public will be able to forgive him and he can expect more positive coverage in the future.

Focusing Attention Elsewhere

Releasing statements on other activities proactively, in order to favour the public, can be a great way to drift attention away from your mistakes. As much as one is willing to admit to their errors, it is also important to announce other qualities they can offer i.e. assisting with a local charity, raising awareness for social/global issues, in order to win the attention of a wider audience. Enforcing positivity while promoting meaningful messages to the public are good tactics to overcome a media crisis.

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