The Queen lived her entire life with a team of dedicated and loyal staff waiting on her hand-and-foot. She had people cooking her meals, cleaning her many historic homes and even helping her plan her outfits and get dressed.
However those closest to her say she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty when she needed to, and often helped out with the washing up. Dickie Arbiter, who worked closely with the Queen for many years as her Press Secretary, has recalled an unforgettable day when he was invited to a small private lunch with the late Monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, which ended up with the two of them cleaning dishes in the kitchen sink afterwards.
Speaking to True Royalty TV, he explained that as the least senior person at the table he nipped off to the kitchen when they finished to start clearing up when he heard footsteps and a "very familiar voice" behind him.
He said: "When I arrived at Buckingham Palace, my boss said to me, ‘you've been invited to Balmoral for a dine and sleep to meet the Queen’.
"There were only four of us at this lunch: The Queen, her lady-in-waiting, Prince Philip and myself. It lasted about 45 minutes, with china plates, silver cutlery and Tupperware that we helped ourselves from.
"And at the end of it, the Queen said, ‘we've got to clear up’ and I took it as my cue as the junior flunky to do the washing up. So I went into the kitchen and started washing up. I heard this footfall behind me and assumed it was the lady-in-waiting coming to give me a hand.
"I said over my shoulder without even turning, ‘okay, I'll wash you dry’. This very familiar voice behind me said, ‘no I’ll wash, you dry!. It was the Queen. So she plunged her hands into the fairy liquid - no gloves - and I did the drying up. It was quite an experience to actually do a bit of domesticity with a head of state.”
Dickie enjoyed a close relationship with the Queen during his career, and has since spoke on several fond memories he has of her. However at one of their more recent meetings, the Monarch had some pretty strong feedback on his outfit choice.
He went to the Palace in 2020 for the last reception before the Covid-19 lockdowns and noticed a "twinkle" in his former boss' eye - which he knew meant something was about to happen.
He said: "I was at Buckingham Palace in 2020 for what was probably the last reception there before the pandemic lockdown. While we were talking, I was about to take my leave and there was a twinkle in her eye. And something with the Queen you learned was you have to read her and reading her was seeing what was in her eyes.
"If there was sparkling, you knew something was coming up. If they were clear, then nothing was going to happen. And as I took my leave, she looked at me and she said, ‘I see you're still wearing those dreadful ties!’ We both chuckled. I had absolutely no response to that. She had the last word.”
- Recollections: Memories of Her Majesty is available on True Royalty TV now.
