Robert Lacey
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Robert Lacey

  • Home
  • Biography
  • Books
    • Latest Books

      Battle of Brothers

      June 24, 2021

      Latest Books

      The Crown Volume 2: The Official Companion

      November 19, 2019

      Latest Books

      The Crown: The Official Companion

      October 1, 2017

      8.3
      Latest Books

      Model Woman

      June 16, 2015

      8.3
      Latest Books

      Grace: Her Lives – Her Loves

      June 11, 2014

      Latest Books

      Gulf Charities and Islamic Philanthropy

      March 18, 2014

      Latest Books

      A Brief Life of the Queen

      January 31, 2012

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      As of 1 January 2023, Robert Lacey is…

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      Harry and Meghan? John and Yoko? Spot the difference! 

      December 4, 2022

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      The Crown does NOT tell lies

      November 9, 2022

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      The Crown: Never a truer word was said…

      November 5, 2022

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      Yet another new Prime Minister? ’Dear! Oh, dear!’

      October 21, 2022

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      Encounters with Elizabeth What was it like to…

      May 31, 2022

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      My kitchen EXPLODED when the Queen came to…

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Farewell, Jamal

February 2, 2019
Farewell, Jamal

Robert Lacey’s article published in Time about his last meeting with Jamal Khashoggi.

I last saw Jamal Khashoggi in early July, over breakfast at our favorite London restaurant, the Wolseley. He and I first met 39 years ago in Jidda, but we developed a close friendship over regular breakfasts at this former automobile showroom on Piccadilly when he worked in the Saudi Arabian embassy in London in 2003.

Everyone at the mission, including Jamal’s boss, Prince Turki, the Saudi intelligence chief turned ambassador, referred to him fondly as Uncle Jamal. And how he loved his scrambled eggs! As well as breakfasting, he and I spent a lot of time putting the world to rights, until the prince whisked him off to Washington to be his spokesman there. Jamal was always on the inside track, at some of the very highest levels–and the power of his critique as an informed insider likely contributed to his fate.

On that July morning earlier this year, Jamal wanted to talk to me about one of the articles we had composed together for the Washington Post in his early months of exile: “What Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Can Learn From Queen Elizabeth II.” Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had been due for an audience that March in Buckingham Palace on his way to Washington.

We had written quite positively about MBS, who had just jailed 11 minor princelings for refusing to pay their electricity and water bills. Why stop there? we asked. Why not go on to cut down the numbers of useless Saudi princelings as a whole? One reason the House of Windsor is the world’s most successful reigning family is its strict rationing of royalness to the core relatives around the Queen.

But the greatest lesson we suggested that the House of Saud might learn from British royalty was to listen to its people–“What touches all should be approved by all,” the principle that King Edward I proclaimed when he summoned the Model Parliament of 1295. It had been a throwaway line in our February collaboration, but Jamal had come to feel that MBS’s failure to consult with his people lay at the heart of his problems, quoting the medieval King Edward in several radio interviews. Saudi Arabia’s young prince in a hurry would not brook the slightest criticism.

Jamal Khashoggi and Robert Lacey

Jamal and Robert at the Wolseley, 1st July, 2018

Over coffee, Jamal and I went back into Saudi history to remember another young prince in a hurry–Abdul Aziz, who created modern Saudi Arabia in the first half of the 20th century. Like his grandson MBS, he worked for two decades in a theoretically subordinate capacity. He always deferred to his father, Abdul Rahman, following the Saudi code to treat elders with deep respect.

It was a cornerstone of Abdul Aziz’s style to listen–to the clerics who sanctified his mission, to the merchants who financed it and especially to the tribes and families he needed to co-opt. On a regular basis, he would confer with all comers, however humble, discussing the affairs of the day and hearing grievances. The tradition lives on today in the majlis, or sitting place, that every Saudi provincial governor holds regularly. Nationwide, the Shura Council (consultative assembly) built up by several Saudi rulers sits in Riyadh as a prototype parliament.

You would have thought, Jamal told me, that a reform agenda whose objectives were aimed at the year 2030, a dozen years hence, would at least pay lip service to the need for popular consultation in the future. These democratic forums already exist in Saudi Arabia, and they include representation for women. But does MBS even nod toward a role for them? Economic and social change, yes. But genuine and solid political reform? Not a whisper.

Listening is not in the crown prince’s plan, and it is certainly not in his style. MBS apparently sees the destiny of the House of Saud as to grow ever more powerful and despotic, like any other Arab autocracy. It was when he hit on this truth, Jamal said, that he realized he was no longer safe in Saudi Arabia.

As we left our table and walked out onto Piccadilly, the two of us lamented the rise of political gangsters around the world who seem to be turning our decade into the age of the bullies, vaunting their thuggery and elevating their threats into a technique of government. “Bullies must always be faced down. We must never be scared,” my friend explained as his guiding principle when we said goodbye–for what now seems tragically to have been the last time.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been asking myself why he did it. Why, Jamal? How could you stride so confidently into that Saudi consulate in a foreign land, knowing the hazards that might lie inside?

Well, there was his Turkish fiancée, for a start, the lovely Hatice Cengiz. Jamal talked so very fondly of her that bright summer morning and of the sunniness she had brought to his life. He told me how much he was looking forward to getting married and to making a base with her in Turkey. Obtaining that divorce paperwork from Saudi Arabia was clearly very important for him.

Time Magazine

Then there were his trusting instincts – but trust can so often be abused. According to reports, Jamal was hospitably received by junior officials when he first made inquiries there the previous week. The exile felt at home with their style.

Jamal was a Saudi to the end. He loved the perverse old kingdom to which he had devoted his life, trying to make it a more open, honest and responsive place.MenusAnd if part of him did worry deep inside, there was, of course, that guiding principle.

Always face down the bullies. Never be scared.

This article appears in the October 29, 2018 issue of TIME. Read the full article on Time

 

Robert’s recent articles with Jamal

Washington Post: What Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince can learn from Queen Elizabeth II
https://www.robertlacey.com/2018/02/28/what-saudi-arabias-crown-prince-can-learn-from-queen-elizabeth-ii/

Guardian: The crown prince doesn’t listen to Saudis – why would he listen to Theresa May?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/06/crown-prince-saudis-theresa-may-britain-saudi-arabia-money

Washington Post: Why Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince should Visit Detroit
https://www.robertlacey.com/2018/03/22/why-saudi-arabias-crown-prince-should-visit-detroit/

Jamal KhashoggiSaudi Arabia
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Robert Lacey

Robert Lacey

British historian and writer

Robert Lacey is a British historian noted for his original research, which gets him close to – and often living alongside – his subjects. He is the author of numerous international bestsellers. lege felicter - may you read happily

Lege feliciter - may you read happily

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As the Platinum Jubilee begins with news of Camill As the Platinum Jubilee begins with news of Camilla’s elevated status, the Queen, Charles and William are making the big decisions as a trio. 

Robert Lacey writes in @thetimes. Article also on Robert’s website: Robertlacey.com

#robertlacey #platinumjubilee #royalfamily #thequeen
Robert lacey writes for the BBC as The Queen celeb Robert lacey writes for the BBC as The Queen celebrates her #platinumjubilee 

Full article on the BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60201088
As we approach the 70th anniversary of The Queen’s accession on February 6th, Robert Lacey selects his top pick of books about the Royal Family and The Queen. 

shepherd.com/best-books/about-the-queen

#royalfamily #PlatinumJubilee
Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult

First published in hardback: 15 October 2020

What drove Prince William and Prince Harry from the closest of brothers into very different, now distanced men? How has the painful, public unravelling of Prince Charles and Diana’s marriage reverberated through generations? What parts have Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle played in helping their husbands to choose divergent paths? And how does the Queen feel, marshalling her feuding heirs and looking ahead to the future of the British monarchy?

Moving and unvarnished, this is the most intimate insight yet of division in the royal family.

#battleofbrothers #royalfamily #harryandmeghan #williamandkate #britishmonarchy #robertlacey #christmasreads
Little Man - Meyer Lansky and the gangster life by Little Man - Meyer Lansky and the gangster life by Robert Lacey in 1991

Little Man is a book about organised crime unlike any other yet written. If, in the mythology of organised crime, Al Capone symbolised the crude menace of the machine gun and the baseball bat, Meyer Lansky stood for the brains, the sophistication, the hot money, the sheer cleverness of it all. This brilliant biography and social history separates the strands of fact and legend in Meyer Lansky’s – the Godfather of Godfathers – career, revealing a truth about the gangster life in America that is far more fascinating and dramatic than fiction.

#biography 
#meyerlansky 
#americanhistory 
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Extracts from Robert Lacey's book "Battle of Broth Extracts from Robert Lacey's book "Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult" are being featured in The Times this week. 

In Today's article Robert Lacey said allegations against the Duchess of Sussex led to a bitter row between brothers who were once inseparable.

You can read the full article from the link in the bio.

#MeghanandHarry
#WilliamandKate
#TheCrown
#BattleofBrothers
#RoyalFamily
Speaking earlier, Robert Lacey said: “Prince Ph Speaking earlier, Robert Lacey said:

“Prince Philip has been such an integral part of our life. Playing such a key role in the life of the nation.

It was no accident that we decided to feature Prince Philip very strongly in the Crown episode about the moon landing – capturing his interests in science and how he came to understand that science can only take you so far. He went on to develop a strong personal religious faith.

He also helped in bringing the monarchy into touch with everyday life in a fresh way. So many of The Queen’s fresh ideas and fresh initiatives came from this remarkable man.

Prince Philip will be remembered for his sardonic smile, hands behind the back, often unfailingly 2 steps behind Her Majesty. Always there in the most supporting sense.”

Photograph from 1972 in Robert Lacey's book Majesty. “Queen Elizabeth was always front, but Prince Philip was always center.”
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