Prince William’s equerry Rob Dixon is stepping down after four years

The whole idea of “working for the Windsors” is that you’re playing a longer game and setting yourself up for your next move. A few years working in one of the royal offices can set someone up for a high-paying job in the private sector. The Windsors pay badly, but on the bright side, there’s nothing much to do – the left-behinds are lazy as hell and we heard endlessly about the “genteel pace” of Kensington Palace in particular when Prince Harry married Meghan. Basically, the money is awful but the work isn’t stressful at all. So it’s strange that despite the “genteel pace” of KP, Prince William and Kate cannot keep staff around at all. They’re constantly losing senior staffers in particular – Kate went without a private secretary for a year and a half, William’s private secretary quit when William announced his big plan to hire a CEO, and they’ve gone through a dozen major staffers in the past four years or so. Weirdly, there’s absolutely zero energy towards “Will and Kate are horrible bosses and their staffers never stick around” commentary. Speaking of, William is losing his equerry and the guy isn’t even moving into the private sector. Dude would rather go back to the Navy than organize those “William is the sexiest bald man ever” polls.

Prince William’s dashing royal equerry Rob Dixon has shared an emotional message to LinkedIn as he prepares to bid farewell to the role. The commander was first appointed to the household in 2020, when William and Kate were Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and continued in the role when they became the Prince and Princess of Wales. After being loyally by William’s side for four years as his right-hand man, he is now set to return to his post in the Royal Navy.

Sharing a moving post to his LinkedIn account this morning as he prepares to step down as equerry, the officer thanked the Prince for the ‘incredible opportunity’ and reinforced his continuing commitment to ‘Team Wales’. He accompanied his post with some touching images from his time in the role, such as laughing alongside the Princess of Wales during her Christmas event in 2022, and joining Prince William and Prince George for the Platinum Jubilee.

Mr Dixon wrote: ‘It’s time to move on… I’ve had the most incredible opportunity to serve in a role that not only challenged me, but allowed me to grow, to learn, and to make meaningful contributions alongside a talented and passionate team. I am immensely grateful for the support, collaboration, and friendships formed during these last 4 years. It’s been a remarkable journey and I look forward to carrying the skills and insights I’ve gained into my next appointments.’

Equerries are officers from one of the three branches of the Armed Forces who are seconded to assist senior royals in the course of their royal duties. This involves organising and helping out at public engagements, to arranging official diaries – with about six of them working in the Royal Household at any one time. The role dates back to the 16th century and aims to reinforce the Crown’s role as Head of the Armed Forces. It is usually held for three years. Mr Dixon is heading back to the Royal Navy after four years.

Prince William’s new equerry will be Squadron Leader Mike Reynolds, who is also a trained helicopter pilot and on secondment from the Royal Air Force.

[From The Daily Mail]

Ah, so Dixon was assigned to William. Incidentally, William’s current private secretary was also assigned to him. Despite the months searching for a Keen CEO, William’s office went without a private secretary for months, coinciding with all of the clownery at the beginning of the year, with the lies about Kate’s health issues, the manipulated photos, etc. Back in February, it felt like Buckingham Palace basically assigned two new private secretaries for William and Kate. Anyway, it’s interesting that Dixon managed to stick around for four years. I feel sorry for him that he can’t cash out and find a lucrative private gig from here, but I bet anything else will feel like a vacation after babysitting Prince Incandescence Rage.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

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23 Responses to “Prince William’s equerry Rob Dixon is stepping down after four years”

  1. somebody says:

    What a waste of time for trained career military personnel. Is this a way to make the government pay for your workers instead of the palace footing the bill?

  2. Eurydice says:

    According to the article, it looks like he lasted a a year longer than he was supposed to. I imagine he’ll get a nice promotion in the Navy for having had the “incredible opportunity” of managing William’s non-existent schedule.

    • First comment says:

      His contract probably got an extension due to the whole last year clowning. I’m sure he would be properly recompense for his silence…

      • Eurydice says:

        I just saw other articles that said the position is for four years, so it looks like the DM is up to its usual standards of accuracy.

    • somebody says:

      As long as he is enlisted in the Navy and is appointed there, is it his personal choice? His only option out would be to resign his Navy commission and he doesn’t seem to want to do that.

    • Jpp says:

      Peter Townsend was equerry to King George for 8 years, so…

  3. Amy Bee says:

    He’s decided to remain in the Navy rather than cashing out. I suspect when he goes back he’ll get a promotion and no doubt William will nominate for a royal honour. His time will come when he will able to cash out.

  4. Libra says:

    “Appointed”. Does this mean that the military continued to pay his salary? Didn’t cost Willie a cent? This is how the wealthy stay wealthy

    • Eurydice says:

      The Ministry of Defense pays for all the equerries – a Newsweek article says it’s about half a million pounds a year.

      • BeanieBean says:

        I vaguely recall reading that Diana’s father had served as an equerry for The Queen. Don’t know if he was earl yet, or ‘just’ a viscount; in any case, he was non-military at the time.

  5. Nanea says:

    The way RD commented on his LinkedIn about his departure was strange.

    It sounds as if there’s a backstory there, somewhere.

    From Rob Dixon’s statement:
    https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rob-dixon-ab44a493_its-time-to-move-on-ive-had-the-most-activity-7268179395129872385-2uvg
    “There were engagements when our whole Household was involved, every single person, and there were times when I was quite rightly standing alone, calling the shots and backing the shots I’d taken.”

    Sounds as if there were conflicts within Team KP. Was he pushed out?

    • sevenblue says:

      It is interesting that he put a photo with Harry too. From the sources, you would think all in KP hate Harry, but they still use his cloud.

      “calling the shots and backing the shots I’d taken.”
      From the series about Andrew’s interview, it is shown that BP (Charles’s office) intervenes in the decisions of the other members’ offices take. I am sure he had to fight for some authority when the aides working for BP didn’t agree with him.

    • Eurydice says:

      The post is supposed to be for 3 years, but he stayed on another year. Not pushed out, but maybe kept on because of all the Kate chaos this past year?

      • sevenblue says:

        If he left during #kategate, there would be headlines about his departure connecting it to the chaos. So, I am sure he had to wait it out.

  6. EasternViolet says:

    Dixon and William had a messy breakup.

  7. Honeybee says:

    1st photo of RD looks like a hollywood action movie still.

  8. Lady Digby says:

    Imagine trying to wrangle Willy the reluctant royal with a capital R by bribery getting his favourite activities eg football classified as work? Willy is temperamental, thin-skinned, stubborn, foul tempered, dim, lazy and entitled. He sounds exhausting to be around so no wonder Dixon has bolted.

  9. phlyfiremama says:

    So much staff turnover!! They must be MONSTERS.

  10. Libra says:

    Mr Dixon; you want to make some serious money? Write a book about your 4 years at this assignment.

  11. Deborah1 says:

    Is he the one who was photographed staring adoringly at Bulliam, which started certain rumours?

  12. bisynaptic says:

    Men don’t know how to dress, nowadays. They should read Derek Guy. That’s all I got.

  13. Beff says:

    Funny I was thinking he knows how to wear a pair of trousers, unlike the prince he worked for.

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