The daughter of the Queen’s former press secretary has opened up about spending her teenage years living in Kensington Palace, from attending functions thrown by Princess Diana to seeing William and Harry grow up.
Victoria Arbiter, daughter of Dickie Arbiter, spoke to news.com.au’s I’ve Got News For You podcast, recalling her first meeting with Diana in celebration of her father’s 50th birthday.
Victoria, who lived in a house on the block of the old barracks and stables on the Kensington Palace grounds, with Princess Margaret as her neighbour, said she was pulled out of boarding school for the day and not told what was going on until they arrived at Diana’s doorstep.
Sure enough, much to her delight, Diana had set up a party for Dickie in her own living room.
“It was the first time I met Diana … She had tied helium balloons to each chair, there were four tables set up … The balloons said ‘nifty fifty’ on them (and) she’d had a cake made in the shape of a phone and it said on it, ‘You’re never alone when Dickie’s got his phone’.
Describing her experience getting to know the late “people’s princess”, Victoria said it was Diana’s sense of humour that struck a chord.
“She was funny. That’s one of my lasting enduring memories of her, but cheeky funny. She had a very naughty sense of humour,” she explained, recalling of one Diana’s greatest pranks on her eldest son, Prince William.
“I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of Prince William getting home from boarding school and she’d lined up an array of ‘90s supermodels who were waiting in the foyer of the house.
“I’m sure it was Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington may have been one, Claudia Schiffer maybe … Your big hardcore supermodels, and he walked in and he’d had posters of all of them on his walls and he’s blushing, mortified that his mother has arranged this,” she said, adding that Diana was in stitches.
She went on: “She loved to do nice things for other people. The cheekiness and the sense of humour was never at your expense, she was laughing with you.”
Princess Diana in Tauranga. Photo / NZME
Casting her mind back to a Christmas function at Kensington Palace attended by George Michael and Elton John, Victoria remembered Diana pushing her to introduce herself to George Michael given she was such a big fan of his music.
She also recalled Diana saying, with a giggle, before Michael’s sexuality was publicly known, “Isn’t it a shame he doesn’t like the ladies.”
Making note of her “dazzling” beauty, Victoria described Diana’s eyes as having “a depth of blue unlike anything I could ever describe. Breathtakingly beautiful.”
Asked what William and Harry were like as children, she remarked that they were “different” but always very close.
“William was always a little bit more serious, a little quieter. I think he was very aware of his future position,” Victoria said.
“With Harry it was classic second child syndrome, he gets to be the cheeky naughty one.
“They were always very close. Diana worked really hard to ensure the children were treated equally, and fairly, she championed both of them,” she said.
