It’s manifesto week in the UK – a time when the main political parties release their plans and promises to voters in the hope of winning the upcoming general election.
But at a time when one would expect the media to be dominated with wall-to-wall coverage of the election, another story is taking up the newspaper columns.
The Duke of York features on all of the British newspaper front pages for the third consecutive day.
HRH’s interview with BBC Newsnight on Saturday was widely seen as a PR disaster, with the Duke coming under fire for what many describe as a lack of self awareness.
The first 11 pages of Monday’s Daily Mail are entirely dedicated to Prince Andrew, with the paper claiming that the Duke regrets not expressing sympathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.
Other outlets including the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Daily Mirror and The Guardian also lead with Prince Andrew – all other stories are given lesses prominence.
This may come as a relief to some politicians, including Boris Johnson who has been heavily criticised by a former business associate Jennifer Arcuri – a story one would expect to lead the papers in an ordinary news day.
Some have suggested that Prince Andrew’s interview with Newsnight is a classic example of a dead-cat strategy.
Deadcatting is the act of introduction of a dramatic, shocking, or sensationalist story into the news cycle in order to divert attention away from a more damaging topic.
Dead-cat or not, Prince Andrew continues to captivate the focus of the world’s media, with The Queen being forced to read yet more uncomfortable headlines over her breakfast.
