The Prince has just completed his first official overseas engagement in New York and the trip has served well to distance him from previous negative press attention, say PROs.
Hill & Knowlton creative director Peter Lawlor said the media coverage had been handled well. ‘The trip was clever to play to his strengths. It showed him playing polo and also picked up on his good work in Africa. It was very simply done and came across as genuine.'
Prince Harry visited a children's centre and also took part in a polo event on Governors Island to raise money for his Sentebale charity as part of the trip.
Trimedia CEO Loretta Tobin also branded the exercise an ‘unqualified success'.
Tobin said: ‘The trip managed to make the Royal Family look relevant, which is something that they struggle with. It was a smart agenda with him playing with children in a school and visiting the Ground Zero site. All of the images are very strong.'
However, Ketchum head of strategic media Richard Griffiths warned that Prince Harry still posed a PR risk. 'The US trip was a PR success which quite simply kept him busy and out of trouble. While Harry comes across as a genuine, self-effacing character, he's still a young guy who's going to need ongoing communciations advice to stop him being a PR risk.'
