Dorrit Moussaieff recounts robbery and past encounters with burglars

“I’m completely fine and there’s no need for anyone to worry about me,” says Dorrit Moussaieff in an interview with Atli Steinn Guðmundsson, a journalist for mbl.is, about the incident in London on Sunday , an incident that would have left many fully grown men still lying in bed, sucking both thumbs.

Moussaieff, who is always called Dorrit in Iceland, who is one of the most colorful First Ladies in the history of the Icelandic republic, did not make it out of the encounter with the thief unscathed on Sunday, and had both a broken tooth and a sore shoulder.

A brazen scoundrel on a bicycle had stolen her phone and wallet, as the whole world likely knows by now. Dorrit has given numerous interviews about the robbery, mainly to warn others, since she herself was barely shaken. After all, the former First Lady has previously confronted burglars in her London home… and sent them fleeing.

“He was cycling against traffic , so he was hard to spot — I didn’t see him until he was right up in front of me,” Dorrit says in her soft, silky voice, acting as if nothing had happened, despite having a broken tooth and a sore shoulder from the robbery.

“Maybe I’ve become a bit arrogant”

“I have friends who have come out of robberies much worse off — a neighbor of mine had a fractured shoulder and suffered serious injuries. I was lucky, but I want to draw people’s attention to the crime rate here in London, which is terrible. This city is full of crime,” Dorrit says with a serious expression.

Did you ever expect to experience something like this, even in the British capital?

“No,” Dorrit answers thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ve become a bit arrogant and stopped being careful. I used to never open the car door until I had looked around for three or four minutes. And then I get robbed right in front of the Moroccan embassy in London — in that neighborhood, imagine that.”

She says crime has nothing to do with immigrants. “I’ve never lived in a country where I wasn’t an immigrant. I was born in Jerusalem, but Hebrew is not my mother tongue. My mother is Austrian. And strangely enough, Iceland is the country where I’ve felt most at home,” Dorrit says warmly.

“Say? Nothing at all!”

Crime in Iceland has been a concern , including the rise in homicides in recent years. “Just look at what’s happening in the United States. Is it too late for us to stop this , for example , in Iceland?” the interviewer asks, and the journalist mentions increased funding for law enforcement.

Dorrit has opinions on that. “Certainly money needs to go there, but no less to healthcare — especially mental health,” she says.

What would you say to the man who robbed you if you were face-to-face with him?

“Say? Nothing at all. I would smash my phone on his face,” she answers bluntly — then launches into a story. “The last time someone broke into my home, I hit the guy with a glass. I smashed it on him as he was climbing over my balcony railing. He fell and broke his leg. Then he tried to sue me,” Dorrit says with such calm that nothing in her voice reveals her opinion of the man.

Slim pickings for the lowlife

“I didn’t catch the next one who tried it — someone else got to him first — but that man jumped over the fence and badly cut himself on it. He wasn’t quick enough to switch off the location tracker on what he had stolen, so I just told the police where he was. But that wasn’t enough — it didn’t count as evidence. The police do their best, though,” Dorrit recalls, describing those who have had ill intentions toward her home.

The journalist’s thoughts drift briefly to the words of Hildigunnur Starka ðardóttir of Öræfi in Njáls saga, when she spoke to her brother Þorgeir as they plotted the ambush at Knafahólar for Gunnar of Hlíðarendi and his brothers Hjörtr and Kolskeggur : “But I expect you will return with your heads held low from that meeting.”

What, then, would she have said to Dorrit Moussaieff?

You have been the victim of more crimes than most Europeans.

Dorrit bursts into loud laughter. “No, no — not if you take into account that I live in London. But what has really changed things lately is gait recognition. These men are all masked and wearing helmets, but you cannot change your gait. I know this technology is starting in Iceland, but Iceland needs to invest more in it — the equipment is not expensive,” says Dorrit , well versed in European crime issues.

But the former First Lady is short on time — she’s heading to dinner. “I have to run now, but it was lovely talking to you. Big hugs and bye bye ,” she says, the farewell spoken in flawless Icelandic by Britain’s new Iron Lady.