Far Out!

A MINIONS Worldbuilding Conundrum?

I'm confused about a worldbuilding detail as it relates to the world of DESPICABLE ME, MINIONS, and Scarlet Overkill.

Doesn't DESPICABLE ME establish that villains exist in some kind of secret/parallel world? There's an emphasis that one's neighbor could secretly be a villain, and that villains, if they wish to live in civilian neighborhoods, have an obligation to maintain secrecy. Like a loose "secrecy" code of honor. That was my understanding, but now I'm wondering if the press conference scene in MINIONS throws that factor into question. And I'm curious about what it means for Scarlet.

At the press conference, Scarlet makes no secret of the fact that she orchestrated the coup (i.e., when she conveys her thanks to the Minions and says they stole not just England, but her heart). So up until that point, was her villainous existence a secret, like Gru's, or not? (I.e., secret in the way Gru stole the Moon and the authorities never found out.) Was her admission at the press conference a deliberate, necessary reveal of her secret villain identity, or had she been "out" as a villain all along?

If she'd been open about her villainous nature her entire life, think of the implications. She would have been a known, successful master thief. She built that huge fortress in plain sight, with no attempt to blend in with non-villainous people. She flies her jet right past Big Ben & Parliament on the way home. Was that even legal for aircraft at the time? I can't imagine it was. Her flaunting authority like that, if she was open as a villain, would reveal just how incredibly powerful she was. She might have been a supervillain whom the authorities couldn't stop.

But Villain-Con was clearly established as a secret from outsiders and to me it continued the theme established in DM of villains living openly, yet secretly alongside civilians. So was Scarlet pretending to be a socialite/aristocrat (and maybe Herb's cover is he works for the military or some kind of big corporation—otherwise, how do they explain all his inventions to the non-villains they encounter in daily life?).

If that's the case, then MINIONS canon might be implying Scarlet had lived secretly as a villain until the day she decided to overthrow England, at which point she knew she'd no longer have any protection from anonymity. Maybe that's how ambitious she is, that she'd willingly give up the secret aspect of her existence in exchange for being able to rule a country. In that case, we can add extremely brave to her list of outstanding qualities. :D

In conclusion, I'm thinking no matter how we look at it and whether or not MINIONS introduced a continuity error about the villain world, Scarlet emerges as a very powerful supervillain either way. Which is pretty groovy!

[If I'm overlooking a key detail that explains all this, feel free to let me know!]