Who is Mark Bolland? King Charles hired 'PR GURU' to gain acceptance of Camilla after Diana's death
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The entire world mourned the loss of Princess Diana and when the news of her death surfaced, millions of people felt like they lost someone really close. Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in August 1997 and everyone was devastated, including King Charles. It was a difficult time for Charles because he had to deal with two little boys who needed a mother. After her death, reports started swirling that Camilla might become Charles’ next wife. But it wasn’t that easy because there was a lot of negativity among the people and people didn’t want Camilla to be a part of the Royal Family.
Things became so hard that it was impossible for Camilla to make an appearance at a public event. However, Charles was determined to make her an integral part of her life. There was a deliberate PR campaign to make her acceptable to the world and they hired a young PR guru named Mark Bolland to run this campaign.
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So, who is Mark Bolland? And what did he actually do during this campaign? Let’s take a look.
Who is Mark Bolland?
Born on April 10, 1966, Mark Bolland was born in Toronto, Canada, and returned to the UK in 1987 for working in IBM’s UK branch. He then joined the Advertising Standards Authority and began a career in media regulation. He did an exceptional job at ASA and went on to become the director of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC). In late 1996, Prince Charles was recommended that Bolland should work as an advisor with him to rehabilitate the Prince’s public image. But most importantly, he had to do solid work in enhancing the public image of the relationship between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, the Queen Consort.
Bolland made a strategy that made Camilla and her relationship with King Charles more popular. They stitched out a plan to cover Camilla’s sister’s birthday party and tell the media to cover the event. That was the first time Camilla and Charles were seen together after Princess Diana’s death.
The PR guru was also responsible for Camilla’s first meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in June 2020 at a private party at Highgrove House. A lot of reports suggested that the media coverage of the meeting between Camilla and the Queen was the culmination of three years of work done by Bolland and the prince’s Private Secretary, Stephen Lamport.
What happened after Bolland’s campaign?
The negativity dipped, but marriage still looked really difficult. However, Prince Charles went on to propose to Camilla, and in February 2005, the Royal Family announced the engagement between Charles and Camilla. Meanwhile, in April 2005, the couple got married and perceptions began to change after the entire campaign to enhance their relationship.
'King Charles: The Boy Who Walked Alone' is currently streaming on Paramount+.