It sounded like a great idea: a young, fresh couple modernizing the Monarchy as 'Hybrid
Royals'
But the Queen stopped Meghan and Harry's plans with the greatest skill in negotiation that
you'll learn, right now:
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Just two weeks before the infamous Oprah interview, it was reported that Harry and Meghan were
finally stripped of their royal patronages, as they would be no longer working royals.
It is reported that their original idea was to be some kind of Hybrid Royals.
In the sense of retaining some of their royal duties and of course, some of the benefits
that go with it.
At the same time they would be able to pursue their own money projects.
It's like having the best of both worlds, right?
But the Queen's answer was: not a chance.
Or, some variation of that sentence.
It was not so much that she thought that this was a bad idea but instead, that she was not
going to allow it.
It's that simple.
Now, this is a perfect example of how some ideas look like they can work on paper, or
in theory, and in some cases you can even persuade people to support you.
And at least until that point, the Queen had Harry in high regard, so... maybe there would
have been a possibility for their plan to get through.
After all, if you present a reasonable plan, there's no reason why it should be rejected.
And this is where we get to the first stage of this decision, and why it's important to
you to understand the rationale behind the Queen's negative, and how it could be very
useful for you when dealing with toxic personalities.
Any toxic personality is going to try to manipulate you into accepting a deal that has the most
benefits for them, and sometimes even harming your own position.
They are looking for their own gain and they don't care about anything else.
But at the same time they are going to play into your fears.
That's why their plan always includes getting to know you first, so they can establish a
strategy on how to... pull your HEARTstrings.
I'm sure the Queen has thought a lot over the past couple decades a way of modernizing
the British Monarchy's image.
After all, that impressive brand management is one of the sources of so much tourism to
the UK.
But as any organization, their members grow old and there is always the need to introduce
fresh faces so you can connect better with new generations.
And besides William and Catherine, you tell me if the perspective of Harry and Meghan
on those first years didn't look like a great way to connect with new generations, too.
Yeah, there were a couple red flags, but at that point, at that reunion of the Fab Four
for the Royal Foundation, this really looked like this could work.
But we, as humans, have a big flaw.
And that flaw is called Shiny Object Syndrome.
And it can really derail us like this.
To understand how this affects you, it's important to realize that we are still nomads at heart.
If you count just Homo Sapiens, that's roughly TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS, of which only
TEN THOUSANDS has been the current agriculture age.
We were designed to be constantly adapting to new places, new landscapes, new challenges
and for the longest time, that was our way of life.
So, just by natural selection we learned to love new experiences.
Staying in one place for too long, meant that sooner or later the resources would dry.
And the longer we stayed in one place, the harder it would be to get going again.
And that would be bad for survival.
That's why today we feel restless when we have to do the same again and again.
Maybe it's the same job with no future, or the same city, or the same circle of friends,
we will always be craving some sort of variety.
And that is good in one sense because it pushes us to explore new experiences.
But that's bad when you realize that to get better at anything, you have to put on the
reps.
Again and again.
That's the problem with Shiny Object Syndrome that is when you start something, and then
a couple months later you leave that for another thing.
It can happen with sports, it can happen with businesses, or playing musical instruments,
or even with relationships.
That natural restlessness explains why it's so likely that at middle age, both men and
women could explode in that crisis, because they think, "Hey, I'd been at this for so
long, that I need a radical change".
And in the worst case scenario, you get a Ricky Martin tattoo on your back.
So, fresh blood in the Monarchy was something that was craved and needed.
And the Queen knew it.
What's more, "Hybrid Royals" would be a really romantic term.
You're not only bringing a fresh face to the Royal Family but also a new approach to the
Royal Duties.
Now, you might think that The Queen said no because she's extremely conservative, doesn't
have vision, or any other similar option... but I don't agree.
Because in fact, she acted just like one of the greatest hostage negotiators in the world:
Chris Voss.
Chris is famous for his book "Never Split The Difference", and to sum it up in a single
sentence, its main idea is that you should never settle for the middle ground on any
kind of negotiation.
You know how nowadays everyone is so easily offended, everything should be win-win, everyone
should get a participation medal, everyone should be happy but, real life has never worked
that way.
The Queen realized that she could not split the difference.
That there could be no middle ground to Royal duties.
You either remain in, our you're out.
And the simplest reason is conflict of interest.
Let's say Harry and Meghan travel to Africa, as Royals.
And at the same time they bring cameras to record their duties there for a Netflix documentary.
The exact moment that your royal duties become part of a monetary gain, everything goes South.
Because your intentions would be questioned.
Are you doing this for the sake of doing good, or are you doing this just to get footage
for monetary gain.
And that conflict of interest would be a torpedo to the Royal Family's reputation.
It's like those TikToks when you see someone helping the homeless, and at the same time
that video is monetized.
So the question is, are you doing that because you actually want to help people, or because
you're looking fame and fortune?
That gets really ugly, really quickly.
And it would only lead to a public relations scandal.
And we already know that that's something that Meghan does quite well.
Most probably, the 'Hybrid Royals' proposition was Meghan's idea.
Use the Royal Family's resources and at the same time get exposure for your own private
endeavours.
I think the pitch did not get through because we already know that Harry was not keen on
keeping his royal duties at all.
And at the same time you can imagine Harry trying to pitch the idea to his grandmother
and Meghan on the window holding oversized flashcards to help him.
That would be a nice The Crown episode.
All this is not that far fetched, because we already saw Harry and Meghan at New York
City trying to blend both activism and at the same time boosting their brand and their
exposure with their Netflix and Spotify contracts in mind.
That's why they get so much flak.
And I already recommended, totally free, on the house, that they should compartmentalize
both activities.
For the life of me, I really can't get over how it escapes their understanding that not
having absolute, clean, full disclosure about their motives, would only hurt their brand
image.
That's why the Queen knew that this was not a good idea and what's more... it was not
the best of intentions.
If you get anything from this episode, it's three things: First, it's always best when
your motives are crystal clear, because it's extremely easy to spark a conflict of interest.
Two, now you know that restlessness is something natural for human beings, and you should make
the best out of it.
And three, negotiation it's not always win-win.
In fact, most of the times that's the worst possible outcome.
I'll be exploring this deeper in another episode.
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My name is Jesús Enrique Rosas and I'll see you soon, my body language buddies!