A former royal press secretary has branded Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor a “bully” after detailing a tense call that saw him slam the phone down on the former prince.
Dickie Arbiter, who spent 12 years as a Buckingham Palace spokesman, appeared on the Royals Unscripted podcast, where he shared his thoughts on the then-Duke of York during his tenure with the Firm.
“Well, my impression of him back then hasn’t changed since. He was arrogant. He’s bombastic. Very rude. Treats people who really can’t do anything for him like dirt,” he confessed.
Arbiter then shared previously unknown details about a charged conversation between him and Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, while he was planning a garden party for Queen Elizabeth II.
The late monarch hosted around one hundred bishops as part of a conference held every ten years called the Anglican Communion.
According to the ex-royal staffer, Mountbatten-Windsor told him he had a “good idea” for a photograph and instructed Arbiter to place “some chairs in the garden”.
However, Arbiter refused, telling the then-Duke, “it’s not your garden party”.
“If Her Majesty wants a picture, then she will tell the master, the master will tell me and I’ll arrange it. But, until such time, it ain’t going to happen,” he recalled saying.
His refusal prompted Mountbatten Windsor to slam the phone down on him.
In response, Arbiter says he picked up the phone and redialled the then-prince’s number, telling the Queen’s second son: “Don’t you ever slam the phone on me like that again.”
He then claims he “slammed the phone down” on Mountbatten-Windsor in retaliation.
Following the fiery phone call, a colleague of Arbiter voiced their concern that he would be fired for the weighted move, but the Palace secretary wasn’t worried, insisting the royal “won’t tell anybody”.
“A few days later, I saw him. He was sweetness and light. So, you know, he’s a bully. He’s arrogant. He’s rude,” Arbiter said, adding: “He’s everything that’s not particularly nice in a person.”
Since then, Mountbatten-Windsor has seemingly been shunned by the Royal Family after he was mentioned multiple times in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Epstein files.
His links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein saw him stripped of his titles, evicted from Royal Lodge and investigated on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Earlier this year, the former Duke of York was taken into custody on his 66th birthday and was questioned for nearly 12 hours at Aylsham police station in Norfolk, before being released under investigation.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been accused by Thames Valley Police of passing sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein during his tenure as UK trade envoy between 2001 and 2011 after a tranche of his emails with the late Epstein were made public by the DOJ.
The police department has also noted that it is “assessing” reports of possible sex offences as part of its investigation into the royal.
Mention in the Epstein files does not indicate any wrongdoing.
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