A Tourist With A Title
Did TOS use his status for preferential treatment during a visit to Pearl Harbor?
Armistice Day (or Veterans Day) and Remembrance Weekend is a sacred time for everyone in the world, as we honour those who sacrificed their lives in battle for the freedoms we enjoy today, and we thank those who made it back for their service to their countries. It is never appropriate in any circumstances to use the anniversary to promote oneself with photo opportunities or staged promotional events.
This year, it was the first time King Charles III led the ceremony at the Cenotaph, and for many of us the reality of the Queen being gone hits us a bit harder, as it is the first time in our lives the majority of us will not have seen her at the Cenotaph. Christmas will also be strange and difficult—the first time that we won’t see her give her traditional Christmas speech. We now appreciate her calm and reassuring voice and presence that is much missed.
Those who are aware of the Sussex PR gravy train were dreading what stunts the duo might pull this year. I have watched over the last several days, and out of respect for Remembrance Weekend I choose not to post and give them any oxygen, for the weekend is to pay respects to those who have served their countries, and to thank those who died and those who made it home, and not to highlight what the duo chose to promote.
The ‘campaign’ began with a seemingly desperate attempt to find an image to post, and they had to scrape the barrel and use an old (April 2022) Invictus Games photo that their private photographer, Chris Allerton had taken. That, it seems was the best they could do to find an image with them both in it, and in any kind of military setting that they had access to. No one took much notice because this is about the millions of service personnel that had served and who are serving their countries. In the UK, I saw and chatted to veterans who manned the poppy tables for the Royal British Legion in the supermarkets, for even in retirement they are still serving.
In the UK, we had the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on Saturday evening which was a splendid event to celebrate and thank the armed forces. On Remembrance Sunday, there was the traditional ceremony of laying poppy wreaths at the Cenotaph. In every village, town, and city in the UK, there would have been local ceremonies too, and most of us thought that the duo had found some decency not to use the anniversary as a publicity platform for themselves. Unfortunately, we were wrong as Scotty’s Little Soldiers (charity for bereaved military children) released a letter that TOS had sent to the children that afternoon.
The letter was long-winded and turgid in style and content, and didn’t appear to be aimed at comforting young children. It looked like a cut and paste job from some PR briefs, so formal and cold, and where TOS tries to compare himself to the children by saying he lost a parent (the Diana card again), but they lost a parent while they were serving their country in the line of duty—Diana died because she didn’t wear a seatbelt, got into a car with a drunk driver, and was heading to the home of a current fling/lover. He cannot compare that to losing a parent who sacrifices their life for their country. The charity posted the letter in good faith, but also failed to realise they had been retweeting content from hate accounts on Twitter. What they probably didn’t realise and won’t accept is that TOS used them for a bit of publicity as there were no invites to galas or other events this year it seems. If all else fails, make a video message or write a letter to a charity for children as they will never say no.
There was more to come, as American tourists spotted TOS on the USS Arizona (a National Memorial in a National Park) in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in Veterans Day. A couple took some snapshots and posted them on social media, and the images show TOS in a new suit and pair of shoes with a member of the Navy taking photos of TOS. It would seem that the tourist used his title to gain preferential treatment during the visit. He could have simply gone as a normal tourist (you have to book tickets) if he truly wanted to pay his respects, as he represents no one as Archewell is allegedly a business/foundation. One of the tourists who posted images has now removed them from social media and is asking for payment to use them!
Which is worse—the Sussex staged photos at the Los Angeles National Cemetery (where the duo walked over graves and posed for photos laying wreaths forcing the cemetery to be closed for them), or TOS posing for photos at Pearl Harbor with a Navy photographer? I asked some American friends what they thought, and some say the cemetery stunt was worse, and others say both stunts are as bad. Did he need photographers for either of the visits? If it was a genuine visit that was through respect, then you do not need to photographers to take photos of you. Using the graves of dead service personnel for promotional purposes is distasteful and disrespectful no matter who you are —they died serving their country, while it appears that TOS and TW use the military events to serve themselves for some free PR.