"What it means is that some of Charles' press secretaries have been better than others as some of the Queen's press secretaries have been better than others"
About this Quote
A sentence this bland doesn’t happen by accident; it’s a journalist’s velvet glove over a clenched fist. Anthony Holden is ostensibly offering a neutral observation about royal press operations, but the intent is to criticize without supplying the palace the oxygen of a direct accusation. By saying only that “some…have been better than others,” he performs the British art of understatement as both shield and scalpel: everyone can hear the implied verdict (there have been screw-ups, maybe spectacular ones), yet no one can quote him as alleging incompetence, malice, or cover-up.
The subtext is about control. Royals don’t just need good press secretaries; they need people who can manage a paradox: project human warmth while keeping the machine opaque. Holden’s symmetry - Charles and the Queen placed in the same grammatical cradle - is doing politics. It refuses the easy narrative that one household is uniquely bungled or uniquely manipulative. Instead, it suggests a system where “better” means “more effective at containing chaos,” and “worse” means leaks, missteps, or tone-deaf handling of public feeling.
Contextually, this reads like commentary from the era when royal communications became a public battleground: tabloids, televised intimacy, and personal scandal turning PR staff into major characters. Holden’s line is less a fact than a tactic: a way to register insider knowledge, hint at hierarchy and rivalry behind the curtain, and maintain plausible deniability in a world where the palace always remembers who said what.
The subtext is about control. Royals don’t just need good press secretaries; they need people who can manage a paradox: project human warmth while keeping the machine opaque. Holden’s symmetry - Charles and the Queen placed in the same grammatical cradle - is doing politics. It refuses the easy narrative that one household is uniquely bungled or uniquely manipulative. Instead, it suggests a system where “better” means “more effective at containing chaos,” and “worse” means leaks, missteps, or tone-deaf handling of public feeling.
Contextually, this reads like commentary from the era when royal communications became a public battleground: tabloids, televised intimacy, and personal scandal turning PR staff into major characters. Holden’s line is less a fact than a tactic: a way to register insider knowledge, hint at hierarchy and rivalry behind the curtain, and maintain plausible deniability in a world where the palace always remembers who said what.
Quote Details
| Topic | Management |
|---|
More Quotes by Anthony
Add to List
