I agree that the BRF will have a massive problem regarding their relevance the second the Queen is buried. The whole wholesome Cambridge family and pro Charles PR that has been set in motion about 5 years ago shows they are very aware of that. And they did a fantastic job. It started slow but it’s in full force now for a couple of years. Harry marrying was a gift and how this particular situation turned out will benefit this more than they could have hoped for. A new royal wife always gets crushed at least after the honeymoon, with a short baby announcement and baby birth break. It was always to be expected that they would use Kate as the positive opposite in this narrative. But Harry and Meghan made it pretty easy for the tabloids and at least he should have known what was coming. The whole “workhorse” narrative was obviously about to bite them in the ass. Marrying someone from the US in a time when the prejudice against the USA is high and anti-Americanism is socially accepted, and then someone connected to Hollywood (which is seen as fake, too focused on glitter, money and fame) made her an easy target. I believe Harry fell victim to his PR narrative (the Golden boy, funny, warm and invested Harry, so much easier to be around than his brother. People were openly discussing to prefer him as king - never going to happen obviously). He thought he and his wife would ride this wave. Sorry but at 35(?) he should have know better. Their actions fuelled this conflict and the end result is completely their fault. I think if they had come after the actual racist comments they would have been supported (I definitely would have. Some people are vile). But suing news group for a racist bias is hard because it is not easy to prove. I predict they will loose this case.
The BRF needs to get their tit together though. Wiliam and Kate need to pull high numbers through out the UK. Charles and Camilla are doing ok but if it’s their faces in the heads when people think about keeping the monarchy they will be thrown out. They need to get rid of Andrew and Sarah ASAP. The Queen’s cousins need to go. They need to re-evaluate the York sisters. Same goes for the Wessex children. I think a model like Spain might be a good idea. They need to change their MO. Less people means less engagements- so make them bigger and more important. Drive a better media strategy (we start seeing signs. At least Wiliam seems to be less hyper aware and buttoned up with them)- look at Sweden. Nice photos (great mix of “private” and professional), a yearly video documentary (again gives a feeling of a more close relationship with them even though it’s obviously not) and for gods sake bring the one thing only royals can do: tiaras!
Because, let’s not kid ourselves- abolishing the monarchy will not make anything more fair. There will be a new head of state. Maybe people can vote directly, maybe it will be a parliament vote. There will still be costs. Especially as their service will not be indefinitely. As soon as they are out of the job, they still get pensions, security, offices and what not- all while cashing in money in personal business endeavours. Germany had to pay for the upkeep for 5 former head of states at one time. Let me tell you- that was about the amount of money the BRF costs. There will still be corruption and bad press just like with every politician. At least the royals bring an air of history, magic and glitter and continuity. I mean if there is no Queen/King there is no kingdom? Will it be the republic of England, Scotland and Wales? I think Scotland will make a run for it’s money. Who will be on the money? They have to rename administrative bodies, give out new passports. To untangle this will be unbelievable hard. Especially as the history of the country is so intertwined with the family. It will be a legal nightmare. That is going to be expensive- and it will be given to cheapest supplier- so probably not done in Britain.
If I were the leader of the BRF and the UK abolishes the monarchy I would pack up every piece of art, lock up every castle, pull every loaned out piece of whatever. Incredible rich people have a way of protecting their wealth, so I wouldn’t worry. They are one of the biggest landowners in Britain.
I think there are flaws in every political system. The western European democracies (not talking about the EU members) are all pretty good with their particular pros and cons. Almost half have a Queen or a King and they do neither better nor worse than the rest. So yeah, it might be decision of principle because the problems people connect with them don’t disappear. They will just wander to the next holder of the position.
Interesting will be what Canada, Australia and New Zealand decide. And what becomes of the Commonwealth- hint hint: I think it will loose impact and lots of bigger members will leave.
The first part of your post - the Windsors are a great study in terms of PR.
Harry's wife, no matter who she were to be, would've been crucified by the press, just like Kate was. However, BP does let it happen and it is part of their age-old tactic of having the spare and their spouse be the fall couple for the heir & spouse, so they look better in the public's eye.
Nothing makes me laugh more than the adulation Kate gets and comments by people how Kate "would never do this", "behaved always impeccably" or "never put a foot wrong" "is elegant and classy 100% of the time". I wonder, did these people start following once Harry married or did they start the adulation (knowing full well that the above statements are not true) just to spite Meghan? Because if we were to compare Meg vs Kate 1st year of marriage and 2nd (to draw a more direct comparison, so ticking the stations from the start of entering the firm in direct contrast), Meg either outperformed Kate or did no worse than her.
The media followed suit and glorified Kate along with these either spiteful or unknowing people, but the thing is, as Diana said, they build you up to knock you down. The Cambridges felt this again, after years of positive on positive press (ie since Meg came along), when the Sussexes were gone from the media for a good while, they started to criticize the Cambridges again. And the Cambridges do deserve quite a bit of criticism.
Charles has been on quite a campaign since Diana died and the introduction of Camilla was nothing short of genius PR. There's a whole documentary on that out there. The biggest problem Charles really faces is his age. People seem to love nothing more than youth, so no matter Charles's good deeds (and there are many of them), he remains always overshadowed by the younger generation, so his image is oddly skewed, regardless of postive PR.
The workhorse bit, you're right. I think this ties in with the "Harry's frustration regarding projects" bit in Omid's biography of them. I do think they had many ideas, wanted to work on many things and were sidelined, because they cannot do more or overshadow the heir and the heir's heir (ie Charles & Will).
A further problem is that the Cambridges are absolutely lazy. Both of them, but Kate even more so. Harry's wife being a busy bee (again, no matter who she were to be) would've been a massive problem. Esp if that wife were to have also kids and still outperfom Kate in numbers and with a better delivery (ie better written and performed speeches, something Kate's only become better at in the past 2-3 years, is the timeline in which Kate became better a mere coincidence or a shock/wake up reaction to the de facto direct competition (ie Harry's wife)?).
In terms of PR it is really fascinating what the Windsors do and also how the press spins it all by their own. There's a documentary on the Windsors's PR tactics over the years and it's beyond amazing!
Albert was the first to have a major hand in the family's PR in a similar way as Phil did back in the 1950s/60s, he's the one who started with the whole "wholesome family just having a nice time bonding" thing and the one who effectively shaped Xmas as we know it today and the Windsors's own Xmas traditions, as well.
They need to update the monarchy fast, they are the most old-fashioned of all European monarchies and I realized that only once I started to learn a bit about them all. The UK has in theory more territory to cover than other monarchies (ie the Commonwealth), but in reality it's not like the Windsors are incessantly on tour and need a whole family to act as representatives.
They should have a monarch & heir only system like the others (e.g. Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Norway & Denmark, basically like all EU monarchies at this point), wherein all spares are raised to join the workforce and all extended family (ie spares, cousins, aunts, uncles, the works) are only roped in based on necessity, eg to fill seats at state banquets, but even then seats could be filled in various ways.
Abolish the curtsey bs, too. Others have done it as well.
They must also quit the "heir vs spare" pitting type of PR, as it's doing them no favours at all. The spares are acting out (rightly so, who'd want to be the professional fall guy for their older "more important" sibling?? All their life!) and when the negative press of the spare is rotated through and nothing left to write about, the heir will be experiencing a renewed fall from grace anyway.
Most recently as we saw with the Cambs a few months ago. The Cambridges will have a lambasting through the press soon enough again, just wait for it.
The media is a fickle beast and can be quite problematic, aside from what I just wrote about. Eg in Denmark they never criticize their royal family, even though there is a lot that the people should know about and the heir and his wife need to be called out for (eg spending so much, they beg the government for more money, which goes up in air on luxury shopping sprees for Italian and French couture brands, which then end up sold by Mary in a 2nd hand shop! that's just one example. Another is the fact that Mary's Danish is still piss poor, nigh in non-existent, meanwhile Maxima was basically fluent in Dutch already when she gave the engagemet interview back in the day, as was Marie in Danish for her engagement interview...).
Monarchies are great (apparently) never ending soaps, really. Tune in to The Windsors, series 856, all brand spankin' new with the same age-old scandals befalling a whole new generation!
... I also feel that the venom towards them is at psycho levels that's why I don't go on their thread or comment on any of their mag/newspaper articles. Similarly the Cambridge halo effect is just as bad. I can't comment on their articles because their worshippers will burn me at the stake. 
