The Queen and I: The Play With Songs (The Royal Court Writers) [Paperback]

Sue Townsend (Author), Ian Dury (Author), Mickey Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1995 | ISBN-10: 0413689700 | ISBN-13: 978-0413689702

This play is based on Sue Townsend's novel of the same name. The Queen and her family are deposed by a new Republican government and allocated housing on a Midlands council estate. The author's satire explores the broken promises of the Welfare State.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Townsend, author of the phenomenally successful Adrian Mole books, here brings off an audacious notion with considerable elan. She imagines a Britain where an unforgiving, newly elected Republican Party decides that the entire Royal Family must learn to live like other Britons--or in their case, like desperately poor lower-class Britons on a hideous housing estate in a provincial city. A notable farceur, Townsend has terrific fun imagining how they would cope: the Queen buckles down sturdily, mindful of stiff-upper-lip duty; Prince Philip goes to pieces and takes to his bed; Margaret remains a royal pain, perpetually and irritably in search of a cigarette; Diana haunts thrift shops for designer castoffs and snares a flashy West Indian boyfriend; Charles, infatuated with a zaftig neighbor, gets involved in a brawl and is jailed , while his organic garden goes to pieces; Anne copes stolidly, much helped by the gift of a horse--and the Queen Mum, never quite aware of what is happening, dies peacefully in her little bungalow, and has a splendid horse-drawn funeral in a home-made coffin. Meanwhile Harris, the Queen's corgi, runs wild with a pack of mongrels. The book is uproarious and touching by turns, with a perfect eye and ear for the class gulfs in Britain and the appalling lot of those at the bottom of the heap. Only a silly throwaway ending disappoints--but how else to end such a cautionary tale? This was a huge seller in Britain, and should delight all royalty addicts here too.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This British version of the classic role-reversal plot provides an entertaining evening of quick reading. The plot develops after the royal family, from Queen Elizabeth to little princes Harry and William, are deposed after the "republicans" win an election. All royal possessions are confiscated, and the stunned royal family members are ushered out of Buckingham Palace into modest quarters in a common neighborhood. The trials and tribulations that each of the royals endures make for amusing reading. Townsend, a British author and playwright, spins a lighthearted tale that has touched the funny bones of enough readers across the Atlantic to propel her novel to the top spot on the British best sellers list. And there appears to be enough royal family watchers stateside to consider adding this to many library collections.
- Marlene Lee, Reedsport Branch Lib., Ore.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Methuen (April 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0413689700
• ISBN-13: 978-0413689702
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,508,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I wonder what the Queen thought of this one?, May 8, 2000

By 

S. Antonio Arch (Toronto & Grand Cayman) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen and I (Paperback)

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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just What If?, September 8, 2002

By 

sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen and I (Paperback)

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!)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dated now but still a gem, July 12, 2002

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen and I (Paperback)

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!