Prince Harry and Meghan made their first official joint appearance since moving back to the UK on Thursday, visiting Nottingham charities per the BBC. The venue is the story: it is also the city where the couple did their first official outing together as newly engaged, in December 2017, per People.
Meghan reportedly told the crowd, "It's great to be back." Of course she did. It is the line that gets pre-approved at a strategy meeting, the one where the smile arrives before the sentence does. Private citizens in the UK do not do "engagements," but the Duke and Duchess of No Place In The Pecking Order apparently do, and this morning it was multiple charity stops, a pause to greet fans, and flowers from the public, all on a single route.
The wardrobe did the second half of the PR work. A burgundy Joseph coat, a Joseph turtleneck, a The Fold skirt, Jennifer Chamandi heels, a Joseph bag, per Just Jared. And "notably, these are all British designers." Not British. All British. That is not an outfit, that is a memo to the tabloids, the kind where the form is filled out in advance.
Nostalgia is the cheapest PR product in the business. You do not have to promise anything. You have to stand in the same city where the story started and let the cameras do the rest. Nine years, one palace, one continent, and the encore lands in the same town. The Palace does not do callback tours. The PR firm does.
YOUR TURN: Is a comeback engagement a comeback, or a re-release? Vote in the comments, or let the ticker decide for you.
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