The rise of kings and princes

In Saturday’s Guardian there is an article detailing how princes William and Harry have shaken off their image of drunken heir heads to become right royal role models. All it took was a cocaine bust here and a spot of helping the poor there. Hey presto, you’re a national treasure and the tabloids love you.

But is it really that easy to change your image? A short burst of positive PR with a few days charity work, a well staged photo shoot and some well timed news releases. Or does it demand a more sustained effort to make a difference. I’d opt for the latter. If Harry and William went out next weekend and had one too many bottles of champagne, before getting photographed stumbling out of some posh club in a sick stained shirt all that hard work will have been for nothing. At least in terms of improving their image.

The princes aren’t the only ‘royals’ who have been working on their reputation recently. The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has been in the background working hard on his. The pop star who Max Clifford once described as “the hardest job in PR after Saddam Hussein” is now working on a new album, and collaborating with some of the biggest names in the music industry. I’m not sure how Wacko Jacko has improved his image, but whatever he’s done it certainly seems to have been successful. After all I can’t imagine the likes of Kanye West, Akon, and Black Eyed Peas star, Will.i.am, were falling over themselves to work with a singer recovering from a second set of peadophilia allegations.

What other public figures have turned their reputation around?

Here are my top 5:

1. David Beckham. Following kicking Diego Simeone during the 1998 World Cup, Beckham went on to become one of the country’s favourite footballers and captain of the England team.
2. Nelson Mandela. Once regarded as a terrorist, Mandella is now thought of as a key freedom fighter and in 1993 was presented with a Nobel Peace Prize after becoming the11th President of South Africa. However he was only taken off the US list of terrorists twelve days ago.
3. Kylie Minogue. Sometimes all it takes to change your image is a decent pair of hot pants. However this might not work for all.
4. David Hasselhoff. Embracing his online persona as the Hoff with some good humour was all it took for the aging actor to breathe some new life into his celebrity status.
5. Take That. Once in a while doing nothing can revive your image. There’s a reason they say what goes around comes around…