Customer Reviews

Queen and I

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I sometimes think that Sue Townsend has the ability to take the most everyday of situations and mundane people and put them in witty, funny difficulties; first bringing Adrian Mole to hilarious reality, then a young Margaret Thatcher, Ms. Townsend breathes life, humour and satire into a personality that few might associate with side-splitting humour...the Queen!

What would happen if the Republicans were to win the British elections by a landslide? The story begins with Queen (and Corgi)watching media coverage of such an event on the Master-bedroom telly at Buckingham Palace. The Royal family soon finds itself stripped of wealth, titles, power and the life of leisure. They are forced into life as that of a down and out family, living in a council house and on social assistance (imagine!). Our heroine, formerly Her Majesty the Queen, now Mrs. Liz Windsor is a housewife unable to deal with a seriously depressed husband who rarely leaves his bed and children who despite lives of privelige, have still failed to find their own ways in life. Mrs. Windsor is thus once again forced into the position of head of the household.

This is a work of satire that is so hilarious, so thoughtful and so original that I'm not surprised at Sue Townsend's now world-wide reputation as one of Britain's most important contemporary writers. I recommend it to any Anglophile out there; I also recommend it to the "anti-Anglophiles" as well as both will find much to laugh at

The Queen and family were fired? A dark horse Republican takes over Parliament and his first act is to dissolve the monarchy. All their estates and belongings are turned over to the Government. The Royal Family is instantly transformed into poor pensioners receiving welfare and set up in grim little council flats.

It is pleasing to tell you that Queen Elizabeth copes admirably. After a few faltering missteps (please remember Her Majesty has never dressed herself, opened a door or made a cuppa tea in her life), the Queen pulls herself together, makes do and takes charge of her bewildered family. Philip goes into a deep depression and takes to his bed. Charles becomes a passionate gardener and gets a crush on a well-endowed commoner next door. Diana airily, with excellent good will, sets about redecorating and rearranging her clothes. Margaret is arrogantly certain it is all a hideous mistake. The Queen Mum is good natured, befuddled and instantly makes tremendous friends with her Cockney neighbors. Anne is grimly practical and sees the advantage of courting a plumber. Charles and Wills have no trouble losing their accents and becoming one of the guys in the gang.

"The Queen and I" is more a gentle satire and almost never mean spirited. I think the author has confidence in the Queen's powers of diversity and admires Princess Anne's spunk. I am sure English readers appreciate and are more aware of the subtleties than we Americans, but this didn't stop me from having a most enjoyable, very fast read. (Even if I never did figure out what "agro" and "filofax" were!)

Reading this book in the Queen's Golden Jubilee Year is a little spooky in some respects. But even though the British Royal Family's circumstances have moved rather during the ten years since "The Queen and I" was written, and three of the characters portrayed here are no longer living, Sue Townsend's send-up of the British political scene and the nation's best-loved family remains a poignantly funny read.

To really appreciate the genius of Ms Townsend's satire you will need to have at least a passing knowledge of British Royals and some of the scandals that dogged them in the early 1990s. Even without that knowledge, though, many parts of this book should have you helpless with laughter. It is all very silly and stereotyped, of course, but that just makes it all so much the funnier!

The novel concerns the Royal family, which must now life like ordinary citizens because of a change in government. From now on, they will live in council housing--two bedrooms, one bath--with no staff or servants of any kind. Now each will be addressed by their given names rather than by title. The Queen, Mrs. Windsor, at first is quite incapable of performing the simplest tasks. "[She] tried to open the door. It was extraordinarily difficult. True, it was years since she'd opened the front door of any house, but surely it had been easier than this?" Charles is the only one who is delighted since he will never have to be King. The novel is filled with misunderstandings and complications based on ignorance of even the most fundamental needs. "There's no lavatory paper, Lilibet," whispered the Queen Mother. "How does one obtain lavatory paper?" . . . "One has to buy it from a shop,"said Charles. There is no meanness in this satire, only lots of fun.

One of the things that permeates British society is the idea of"breeding" - that there are those who by genetic fortune(being born to the right parents) should have control of the money and of society because they are genetically predisposed to succeed. "Trading Places", the film with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, played on this theme. And so does Townsend. And like the film, this book trashes the idea that people are by grace of birth or manifest destiny destined to succeed.

Using the Royal Family as a metaphor for a country whose fortunes have fallen, she's portraying quite accurately on how people take it when they wake up one morning to find they've lost everything. Some soldier on; some live in denial. Some enjoy the new lifestyle, freed from the restrictions of the old one, and some curl up and die. Some simply survive.

Commenting on the eyes of poor people from the point of view of the poor wouldn't be as poignant - they haven't fallen, they know no other existence. So she's chosen to do so from the point of view of the nouveau poor. The poor don't discuss cockroaches amongst themselves - they just accept that they're there. Diana, however, has to be informed that they exist, and that's how we get to learn of the horrid conditions in Hell Close.

The predictable and cheap jokes are out of the way quickly. Ha ha ha, the Queen can't figure out how to tie her own shoes, cause she's had servants for that. However, as the book progresses (through some witty acknowledgements of changes in word usage - the Royal Family has a dangerous moment when they refer to a guy holding a carpet knife as a "gay bachelor" without realising what that would mean to him) the book twists through some pretty powerful material. Diana has to come to grips with the fact that Charles doesn't love her and never has when he fancies another woman (one significantly less attractive than herself). Charles comes to realise that he's always wanted to do something practical, yet cannot. Neighbours look at them and realise how coarse and unrefined they are compared to the new arrivals, and are ashamed.

This is an excellent book.

It's a very funny book and contains biting satire, but its silliness also reduces the credibility of the story, and it now seems incredibly dated in terms of the Royal Family today.

Essentially the characters are portrayed like this: The Queen Mum is a daffy and kindly old woman (evidence exists to the countrary), Edward has the hint of camp around him (although now he's married) Margaret is spoiled and selfish (probably true) Anne is practical, Charles is a sensitive dreamer (probably true) Diana is essentially a bimbo (probably incredibly offensive to the many who regard Diana as saintly in hindsight).

The Queen herself is the protagonist and hero of the book, always sensible and practical, always determined. It certainly portrays the Royals in a positive light and is indeed a glowing reflection of the Queen. In actual fact it is more likely that Elizabeth II is very shy, bound to her duty but unwilling to change in any way. I don't think she would have taken the dissolution at all as well as this book implies she would. In the novel, the Queen often thinks fondly about her governess Crafwfie, when in fact Crawfie was ostracised and forgotten by the Queen and her sister, dying alone without any wreath or message sent by the royal household to her funeral.

As someone who lives in (relative) poverty in the UK, the reactions to the Queen by her community is unrealistic. Just as in the days of old, the working class help their own, helping the ex-royals keep their head above water. This wouldn't happen. Loneliness and isolation, perhaps ostracisation would result. Communities like the one portrayed in the book don't exist anymore. The description of prison was a lot more friendly and civilised than the reality.

One thing that did amuse me was the Australian doctor, who seemed to speak in a weird OZ-TV dialect, saying such stuff as "long as a roo's tail" "strewth" "dingo" "crook". Such a cliche! What was Townsend, with her normally incredibly sharp characterisation, thinking! Has she ever been to Australia?

The ending is brilliantly silly although sudden, however once again it proves how dated it is with its fear of Japanese economic supremity.

Still, it isn't supposed to be alternative history, and is a very fast read, with plenty of laughs. The actual Royals, society and situation just didn't ring true for me.

I heard the tapes a few years back and had to get them for myown. What a scream! Susan Townsend's text is wild enough, the audioversion will have you rolling on the floor. One of the few cases where the tapes really are the best part. I would encourage this as a gift for any devoted Anglophile, I can't wait for my copy!

Well-known British author Townsend takes an amusing premise about as far as it can go with her silly take on what might happen if the British royal family was stripped of its titles and possessions. In this farce, subliminal TV messages hoodwink British voters into electing a Republican ticket on an abolish-the-monarchy platform. The bulk of the plot is fairly predictable, but nonetheless enjoyable, fish-out-of-water stuff as the royals are sent to live in nasty council housing amidst the rabble, sans their servants, finery, and so forth. Townsend uses this as an opportunity to satirize the royals: Diana is depicted as an airhead clothes horse and has an affair with a Jamaican fellow, Charles goes environmental and falls for one of his feisty lower-class neighbors, Harry and William run wild in the streets and quickly adopt gutter accents, Prince Phillip goes mad and is bedridden, etc... Somewhat predictably the one most able to cope is the Queen--also predictable is the ending, but you can't really expect it to end any other way.

You really need to be British or at least lived in the UK to understand this book. It was simply hilarious throughout with a serious undertone. I loved it!

A laugh-out-loud social satire with a dig at socialism. Somehow Sue Townsend makes this absurd story nearly believable; the reader is fairly easily able to suspend his disbelief in exchange for a truly entertaining experience. This is an easy read with very short individually titled chapters and a quick pace including many characters, both royal and common. As an American my only occasional struggle was with deciphering specifially British terms like "shell suit," and political jargon such as "my giro was late." And ... I must confess to barely understanding the ins and outs of the British political landscape (e.g., their "republicans" are nothing like ours). But I got the gist.

Anyway, the absurdity of situations throughout (e.g., common citizen Elizabeth Windsor counting her pennies in order to catch the bus) is juxtaposed beautifully by the spot-on characterizations of the Monarch and her other family members. One can almost hear Charlie Teck (as he is now known) close-lipped and snootily pronouncing a princely "marvelous"; one can envision Anne's cavalier mannerisms and hear her upper crust voice persist as she skillfully eyes her new lower class friend's horse, Gilbert: "What's he been used for?" Charles' desperate letters to 'Mummy' from prison are particularly hilarious ... and credible (in their context). Diana is pictured as somewhat of a fashion-focused airhead. Philip and Margaret are particulary outlandish in their depictions. Yet all remain true to their basic personalities and idiosyncrasies. And one can't help but sympathize with the long-suffering Elizabeth... who patiently and characteristically muddles through.

The only thing that slightly annoyed me about Townsend's writing was her jumping from viewpoint to viewpoint (getting inside more than one character's mind)-- especially with regard to Harris, the Queen's beloved Corgi. This was a little silly. But I suppose he was the "I" in this story, after all. He gets his just desserts in the end, vindicating the Royals by proxy in their dire fate.

Funny, funny story which I will recommend to my friends. Very entertaining but with three of the Royal players now passed on, somewhat dated now. Yet still strangely timely as it resonates in today's political climate with a small but growing backlash against the spread of socialistic ideals. B.O.M.B.! (Bring our Monarchy Back!)