"On Duty With The Queen" by Dickie Arbiter (2014)

[ROYAL NORWAY]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rv2a1nrhJY&list=UUhmgPfkRooDpmni6LzMuYtg

 

[Moonmaiden23]

Dickie has shown bad form.
But having read some of the things Forum members believe and will represent as fact on our own pages, I'm all for people finding out about all the hijinks Diana, Charles, their staff and other palace staff engaged in 90s, as the War of the Windsors played out.
People on all sides were bad mannered and petty. Knives were thrown in backs. By all sides. There were no saints.
What I've read excerpted from the book so far has not been hyperbole. I will read it. I'll keep a skeptical eye peeled, but as I lived through the period, I will be interested. And while my personal belief is that the Queen has shown she is above this kind of bad behavior, there were those on her staff who were willing to throw oil on the fires. That will be my interest. Just my opinion.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I'm more than a little disappointed in Dickie Arbiter. I always admired his discretion in the past.

 

[Dman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rv2a1nrhJY&list=UUhmgPfkRooDpmni6LzMuYtg

Great interview with Dickie and I would suggest everyone listen to it.

 

[MichelleQ2]

Great interview with Dickie and I would suggest everyone listen to it.

Great interview! Especially enjoyed the part where he said that he had told BP about his writing his biography 9 months ago and that they had seen the manuscript prior to publication.

 

[Dman]

Launch of Dickie Arbiter’s book ‘On Duty with the Queen’-
Launch of Dickie Arbiter’s book ‘On Duty with the Queen’

That was very nice of Mr. Arbiter to invite Katie to the book launch. Katie was the little girl who gave the Queen a bunch of flowers after Diana died.

 

[cepe]

The stuff about the Queen and Prince of Wales being "angry" was created by the media (mainly DM) in order to promote the book (serialised in the DM) and "scandal".

 

[Dman]

Royal Central interviews Dickie Arbiter-
Royal Central interviews Dickie Arbiter

Very nice interview and I like the picture Diana took of Dickie on his 50th Birthday party she threw for him at Kensington Palace.

 

[Osipi]

After reading the serialization of the book and this interview, I am definitely putting Dickie's book on my "to read" list in the future (always wait until I can find it for cheap). My impression is that Mr. Arbiter does have the utmost respect for The Queen and her family but yet tells it like it was. No glossing over the bad times. No candy coating and gushing and most of all, he was in a position to give us some unique, amusing anecdotes of day to day life with the royal family in a 12 year span.

Margaret Rhodes.. Dickie Arbiter... the list is growing.

 

[Dman]

After reading the serialization of the book and this interview, I am definitely putting Dickie's book on my "to read" list in the future (always wait until I can find it for cheap). My impression is that Mr. Arbiter does have the utmost respect for The Queen and her family but yet tells it like it was. No glossing over the bad times. No candy coating and gushing and most of all, he was in a position to give us some unique, amusing anecdotes of day to day life with the royal family in a 12 year span.

Margaret Rhodes.. Dickie Arbiter... the list is growing.

I agree. The 90's was a very tough time for the royal family and he's giving us some insight into what happened behind the scenes.

 

[roseroyal]

So I read it.
What comes across to me is Mr. Arbitier's utmost respect for the Queen and BRF. No hanging out of dirty laundry, or dirt digging. No invasion of privacy. No candy coating. Big differences between paparazzi and royal reporters.

I do think Charles and the BRF treated Diana badly, but I can't say that I think Charles never loved her now.

This book actually made me rethink some things. My respect for Diana and her charity work,has not gone down at all, but Iv'e realized she was a human being, and not the easiest to work for, though not horrible either. But she wasn't an angel or saint either. But I appreciate the even portrayal. He tells us the truth. Not angelic, not insane. Just human.That makes it easier to read. She had her issues- physical and personality- - not an easy person to work for. But don't get me wrong-Dickie loved her too. I would have liked to work for her, or work for any of the BRF.

Interesting points about protocol- no required bowing or curtsying, no waiting for the Queen to start chatting- just Your Majesty/ Your Royal Highness. I have always sensed that Her Majesty is pretty down to earth. She also is funny. Loved her and Diana teasing him about his ties! I also loved Diana's dirty jokes! Her sense of humor, period.

My favorite part of the book- the 50th birthday party. Love that picture. It was Dickie and his friend Diana, not Princess Diana. Everybody seemed to be having a great time, and I can only imagine the surprise of his daughter and mum! That cake was awesome!

I fully agree with him in regards to Earl Spencer after Diana's death, and although I don't agree with the Queen and Prince Phillip's reaction to her death, they never felt sincere to me, although I wasn't there, he was-I have to give them credit for being supportive grandparents. And Prince Charles for being a supportive father.
Best former staff memoir I have read.

 

[roseroyal]

Royal Central interviews Dickie Arbiter-
Royal Central interviews Dickie Arbiter

Very nice interview and I like the picture Diana took of Dickie on his 50th Birthday party she threw for him at Kensington Palace.

Thank you. I love that picture and also of the one of Diana in pink. That picture was actually taken in 93- you may want to let RC know that. One of my pet peeves!
I liked his answer to the 2nd ?- what I perceived to be the case.

 

[ROYAL NORWAY]

I do think Charles and the BRF treated Diana badly, but I can't say that I think Charles never loved her now.

I don't agree with the Queen and Prince Phillip's reaction to her death, they never felt sincere to me, although I wasn't there, he was-I have to give them credit for being supportive grandparents. And Prince Charles for being a supportive father.

The Queen was very fond of Diana, and tried to help her all the time. I know that she was devastated, very saddened and shocked by Diana's death.

 

[Dman]

Yes, indeed Diana's passing shocked and saddened the royal family and they surrounded Charles, William and Harry with lots of love and support after her passing. That's where the attention was and that was very important. Like all families, Diana and her in-laws went through some ups and downs but she was loved and cared for by the royals.

Charles was always a loving and caring father but Diana's passing helped bring the three princes even closer together. I think she's smiling down and very proud of the three men she loved and left behind.

 

[AdmirerUS]

So I read it. What comes across to me is Mr. Arbitier's utmost respect for the Queen and BRF. No hanging out of dirty laundry, or dirt digging. No invasion of privacy. No candy coating. Big differences between paparazzi and royal reporters...

So, in your opinion, he left out the hyperbole and demonizing while he, in part, humanized his subject. If so, I would hope Diana is also smiling down on Dickie just now.

 

[roseroyal]

Yes, that is my opinion. I hope so too.
This book made me realize we all saw Diana with different eyes. I saw " Diana the charity worker." She was wonderful, more than human somehow. Dickie saw " Diana the boss" who was all too human, and could be less than wonderful.
Reading books about Diana I have wondered, how could so many staff members have so many different opinions. But I realize now they all saw her differently.
I loved this book, because books either portray Diana as a saint, or they go too far the other way, and portray her as insane. Neither of which I believe. In this book, she is portrayed as human, which I know she was.

Also, a lot of books pick sides- picking either Diana or Charles to portray as the best thing since sliced bread. DA is on the side of everybody. Refreshing!

 

[Rudolph]

Dickie Arbiter on a life serving the Queen, Prince Charles, Diana and William and Harry | Royal | News | Daily Express

For a dozen tempestuous years he was a Palace press secretary handling royal crises. So perhaps unsurprisingly, Dickie Arbiter has strong views on where the monarchy should be heading next. Surveying the scene from firmly outside the royal household these days he could be forgiven for thinking that today's courtiers have got it easy.

During his time serving the Queen, Prince Charles and Princess Diana he had to deal with the disastrous fire at Windsor Castle, the break-up of three marriages, constant bickering as Charles and Diana used the media to brief against each other and the aftermath of Diana's death.

Compared with those days, chronicled in his newly released memoir On Duty With The Queen, it has all been relatively plain sailing for today's generation of advisers. In the past four years the royal story has been dominated by overwhelmingly good news: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's marriage, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of the Coronation, the birth of Prince George and now a second child on the way for William and Kate

 

[Dman]

I agree with Dickie on the senior royals needing press secretaries that are willing to stand up to their royal bosses, but I disagree with him that William & Catherine and Harry are "right to avoid becoming a full-time royal and focus instead on a career outside The Firm." I think the young royals should be doing more and stop avoiding State duties.

 

[Tarlita]

I look forward to reading this book. After Diana died I read somewhere that about 80 books about her life were going into print. I prefer to read something by someone who was actually there and witnessed events. So many books are by authors who never met or even knew the royal family personally. They say history is someone else's bias. And I believe where Diana & Charles are concerned there is a lot of bias. Dickie has the benefit of hindsight to temper how he felt about certain situations.
Thanks to those who wrote a review of his work.

 

[Rudolph]

Arbiter is a wise man.

If the Queen does prove to have her mother's longevity genes, William too will have a long wait to become Prince of Wales. Critics argue that he and Kate should do more now but Arbiter thinks that like Harry, who is now 30, William, 32, is right to avoid becoming a full-time royal and focus instead on a career outside The Firm.


Harry remains a career Army officer, combining his role with part-time royal duties, and a year after quitting the RAF Search and Rescue Force, William has begun preparing for training as an air ambulance helicopter pilot.


Arbiter thinks it right that the two brothers and Kate have focused their energies on a small number of charities in an effort to make a difference as working royals. "Diana was a lot like that too. She would work on her charities," he says. "When she gave up the charities she had supported they felt a very cold draught in their coffers."