Imagine having the Queen as a neighbour! (The Queen and I - Sue Townsend)

Member Name: machar

Product:	The Queen and I - Sue Townsend
Date:	30/05/01 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good idea for a story, good characters

Disadvantages: bit dated

The last Sue Townsend book I read was the Adrian Mole diary just the same as many other people I presume. However when I spyed "The Queen and I" nestled in a pile in a charity shop I decided to give it a go. I have to say straight off that I didn't find it as good as the Adrian Mole diaries but it did give you plenty of food for thought.

Whereas the Adrian Mole diaries were stuck in the 80's, this book is well and truly in the 90's. This is a bit of a disadvantage as some things don't translate to the "00's" as well.

The book is set in the future but when in the future we are not told. The Peoples Republican Party has just won the general election thanks to some subliminal advertising. Obviously the first thing a Republican Party does is to get rid of the monarchy. Unlike France where they beheaded their now redundant monarchs, we in Britain are not quite as cruel. Just about - but not quite. The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince William, Prince Harry and the Queen Mother (the main characters) are all given houses on a lovely cough, splutter council housing estate called the Flowers estate. The address of their new abode is Hellebore Close. Quite apt that someone removed the middle "e" from the street sign.

The story focuses on how the Royal family copes with being pushed into everyday life. It's probably not every day life to a lot of people but to some it is a living hell. They have to deal with no money (DSS payments being late or non-existent), terrible housing full of damp and cockroaches and trying to decide whether to have a warm house or no dinner. Bit of a change I think you'll agree.

Each member of the family copes in their own way. Prince Philip becomes depressed and stays in bed refusing to wash or eat. Prince Charles loves every minute of being "normal" and spends all his time in his garden growing vegetables.
The Queen Mother goes back in time and thinks that its 1940 all over again. Other members of the Royal family do appear such as Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and her children, all adding to the chaos.
At the centre of everything is the Queen. The Queen is the one that is holding the family together trying to get them all fed and clothed, chasing up the DSS payments and trying to get Prince Philip out of bed.

I did enjoy this book. It was easy to read and certainly didn't tax your brain too much. The story line was exciting and opportunities to put the book down were rare! It was a very interesting idea for a story and I think that Sue Townsend pulls it off very well.
Where the book fell down was the fact that it seemed quite dated already. Princess Diana passed away years ago and Prince William is about to start university. It feels very odd to be reading about him as a young tearaway aged about 10.

I'm certainly not a die hard fan of the Royal family but surely no one could but feel sorry for them, plunged into a situation well out of their depth. Definitely a book to read out of curiosity.

I wonder if the Queen has read this?

Summary: