Guardian writer Zoe Williams wrote a humourous piece the other day about what Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield can do to rescue their reputations that have been damaged from the Queen’s queuing argument. However, she does not actually offer any meaningful advice! They have been admonished recently for appearing to skip the queue to view the Queen lying in state via a side entrance. The average queueing time for the public was between 5 – 9 hours. Even David Beckham queued with the public which was praised as he was offered the chance to skip the queue and refused.
The anger from the public Holly and Phil faced in recent weeks has been quite severe, which even resulted in a petition to remove them from their positions as the presenters of This Morning. The nation has felt huge grief, understandably, losing the Queen and Holly and Phil were considered to be hugely disrespectful in not queuing like everyone else.
As Reputation Management experts, we feel this could have been handled better and have some thoughts on this.
Firstly, the response from Holly and Phil was quite muted and they said they were in Westminster Hall “strictly for reporting”. Holly said in a voiceover during This Morning after the backlash on social media “None of the broadcasters and journalists there took anyone’s place in the queue and no one filed past the Queen. We of course respected those rules.” She also added “However, we realise that it may have looked like something else, and therefore totally understand the reaction. Please know that we would never jump a queue.”.
However, by then the damage had been done and the idea that they had skipped the queue had gone viral. This happened during a hugely emotional time for the country and so the response from people was fierce and reactionary.
This Morning is a daytime magazine programe unlike Sky News or the BBC in which it would be quite normal for reporters to be at Westminster Hall at that time. That is why people found it hard to believe they were telling the truth. However, they did present a piece about the queue and the Queen which made sense as to why they were there. It just wasn’t made clear that they would be doing that before they were spotted at Westminster Hall. So whilst they most likely did follow the rules, that got lost in translation as it is not something they would typically do – be out of their studio and out reporting in public.
Other journalists were led to an area on a raised platform in order to observe and write about the queue and atmosphere at the time. No phones were allowed here. It seems as though Phil and Holly were led to a different area of the hall, away from other reporters and meant they were seen on camera. This has contributed to the outrage as the images appear to show them in an area not reserved for journalists.
How can Phil and Holly repair their reputation?
It is a tricky time for them as they face a backlash, some might argue unfairly -due to public grief and a feeling of ‘one rule for them, one for us’ mentality – and is not just about Phil and Holly but they are an example people can direct their anger towards.
In the long term, we are sure that they can repair their reputation, by highlighting their good works, setting a good example with the huge public exposure they get and working hard to restore their characters. They are, on the whole, usually well liked and have a decent base to build on. As presenters of a popular show, they have an opportunity to highlight their good character on a daily basis.