On Duty with the Queen: My Time as a Buckingham Palace Press Officer (repost)

In this wonderful and honest book, former press secretary to the royal family Dickie Arbiter reveals the inner-workings of everyday life inside Buckingham Palace and what it’s really like to be On Duty with the Queen.

With four decades of experience covering royalty as a journalist and as one of Her Majesty’s press secretaries, Dickie Arbiter has had unprecedented access to the inner circle of some of the most intriguing news stories over the years and is the only royal commentator to have witnessed the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and covered her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees.

Appointed a press spokesman for Queen Elizabeth II in 1988, Dickie was immediately thrown into the media circus surrounding the world’s most famous and divisive family. From sailing in the Royal Yacht Britannia, escorting Prince Charles on far-flung trips across the globe, and joining Her Majesty for washing-up duties following a picnic in Balmoral Castle, to becoming one of Princess Diana’s most trusted confidants before briefing the world’s media of her untimely death, Dickie was at the forefront of the decision-making at the Palace during the most turbulent decade in the monarchy’s reign.

Open, entertaining, enlightening and surprising, On Duty with the Queen is a wonderful account of a once-in-a-lifetime job and a truly unique service to the crown.