Dickie_Arbiter

Dickie Arbiter

Dickie Arbiter

British journalist, television and radio commentator

Dickie Arbiter[1][2] LVO (born September 1940) is a British journalist, television and radio commentator on the British royal family and an international public speaker. He was a press spokesman for Queen Elizabeth II from 1988 until 2000;[3] in the 1996 Birthday Honours, he was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO).[4]

Quick Facts LVO, Born ...

Biography

Arbiter was born to German Jewish refugee parents during a World War II air raid on London.[5] After college in London, he was an actor and stage manager in South Africa and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, where he became a television and radio news reporter. His most famous on-air slip up occurred when he started a radio broadcast with, "I am an oil tanker, Dickie Arbiter is on fire in the Gulf." This would then go on to be immortalised by Fi Glover as the title of her book I am an Oil Tanker: Travels with My Radio.

Upon his return to the United Kingdom, he was a special events presenter for LBC and court correspondent for Independent Radio News[6]

His television appearances include Newsnight, BBC Breakfast, BBC News, This Morning, Larry King Live and Richard and Judy.[7][8]

In March 2021, he was tricked by a fictional news company created by YouTuber pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners into giving his purported reaction to the Oprah with Meghan and Harry interview two days before the interview was aired.[9]

Personal life

He is the father of Victoria Arbiter, who is a commentator on the Royal Family.[10]

Publication

His memoir On Duty with the Queen: My Twelve Years as a Buckingham Palace Press Secretary was published in October 2014.[11]

References

  1. [1]
    "Richard Winston ARBITER - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. [2]
    Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1995, ed. Charles Kidd, p. 95
  3. [3]
    Arbiter, Dickie (April 2016). On Duty with the Queen. ISBN 9781910536278.
  4. [4]
    "No. 54427". The London Gazette. 14 June 1996. p. 4.
  5. [5]
    Langford, Georgina (26 November 2014). "Tales From The Palace With Dickie Arbiter". Tatler Hong Kong. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. [6]
    Sheila Tracy (1983). Who's who on radio. Worlds Work Ltd. ISBN 0-437-17600-2.
  7. [7]
    Biography at Dickie Arbiter Website. Retrieved 4 July 2017
  8. [8]
    Dickie Arbiter Showreel on YouTube. Retrieved 2 June 2012
  9. [9]
    "Royal commentators hoaxed into critique of Meghan interview before seeing it". the Guardian. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  10. [10]
    "How the Queen's 'mental discipline' has helped her cope with a tough year". honey.nine.com.au. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  11. [11]
    Dickie Arbiter (April 2016). On Duty with the Queen. Blink Publishing. ISBN 978-1-910536-27-8.
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