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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Paul Withers & Ryan Merrifield

Royal Family have 'pulled a blinder' by refusing to respond to Prince Harry's new book

The Royal Family have "pulled a blinder" by refusing to publicly respond to Prince Harry's new book, according to an expert.

Buckingham and Kensington Palaces have maintained a wall of silence over the Duke of Sussex's bombshell memoir Spare which features further unsavoury allegations against the Firm.

Crisis management specialist Edward Coram-James said Harry and Meghan Markle have seen their "ill-conceived game plan" destroyed.

The pair stepped down as working royals in March 2020.

Prior to the book release this month, Netflix series Harry & Meghan launched in December, which also includes accusations against the royals.

Their Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021 saw Meghan suggest a senior member of the family questioned how dark then-unborn son Archie's skin would be.

A PR expert says Harry and Meghan will run out of steam (AFP via Getty Images)

However, during his ongoing promotional tour Harry denied they had suggested anyone within the Firm was racist.

At the time, Buckingham Palace issued a rare statement on behalf of the Queen, which said the claims were "concerning" and would be "addressed by the family privately".

It also included the phrase "some recollections may vary".

The statement read: "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning.

King Charles leads the royals after a church service in Sandringham (PA)

"While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members."

Mr Coram-James, CEO of PR firm Go Up, claimed the current silence shows the Royal Family had a strong "game plan" in place and were prepared for any such accusations, while blasting Harry and Meghan's strategy as "ill-conceived".

He told Express.co.uk : "What should the Royal Family do in response to these claims? In a word: nothing. They have pulled a blinder.

Copies of Prince Harry's book Spare at a book shop in Windsor (Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock)

"The biggest mistake that they could make would be to respond to any of the allegations. They are simply not serious enough allegations to warrant them breaching their long held code of silence.

"Breaching that silence will imply guilt. Remaining silent gives an air of maturity and remaining above the fray.

"The Royal family have had a game plan and, unlike the Sussexes, whose game plan has appeared ill-conceived and often strayed from, the royals have toed the line throughout."

Prince William and Kate, with Prince Harry and Meghan behind (Getty Images)

He continued: "The Royal Family know that it will all blow over soon enough, as the news cycle moves on and today's news becomes old hat.

"They will be deeply relieved that no fatal accusations were made, and will perhaps feel that Harry's revelations were not nearly as damning as they will inevitably have prepared for.

"The Royal Family will look forward to King Charles' coronation knowing that they may have taken a mild bruising, but they never came close to being on the receiving end of any knock out blows."

The Royal Family following William and Kate's wedding in 2011 (CLARENCE HOUSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Pauline Maclaran, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Research at Royal Holloway University of London, agreed the Firm has taken the correct stance and believes Harry "will burn himself out".

"If they make any reply, it risks exasperating the whole thing and we end up in a 'he said, she said, they said' battle.

"They would be horrified to start that and are probably scared to set anything else off.

"Keeping quiet is actually the best strategy because what accusations can they actually answer?

"Any of the ones are going to start a battle with who's right.

"They may issue something like the Queen's infamous response of 'recollections may vary'. That was the perfect response to that situation at the time," she added.

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