Rating: 
Summary: v. good
Review: I. Love. this. Book. How about a sequel? Surely there is more to say about the royals; especially now that Charles "I long to be as one with the heather, and I think, succeed" is set to marry Camilla(sp)?
Rating: 
Summary: The Royals are just another bunch of British eccentrics
Review: If you're British, or just an Anglophile, you will love this book. If you simply don't understand the British or British humor, your face will screw up into a question mark, you'll go "HUH?", and wonder why the heck you bought it in the first place.Obviously, I am in the former camp. I always suspected that if you take away the Royal Family's wealth, prestige, and titles, they'd just be another bunch of lovable British eccentrics (well, lovable to most of us, anyway...). Townsend has proved that's the case with this gentle, wonderful satire. Each of the Royals tries to cope with life among the common people in his or her own way, and the results range from mildly amusing to laugh-out-loud funny - Prince Charles wearing a ponytail and serving time in jail, Princess Anne taking up with a plumber, and the Queen's dog joining (and eventually leading) a pack of street dogs. One other note. In addition to reading the book, I also listened to the audiobook version of this novel several years ago. The book is good, but I highly recommend the tape. There's something about the narrator's imitation of the various Royals that made the story even funnier than it was on the printed page.
Rating:
Summary: Very, very funny novel of British class differences
Review: If you're familiar with Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole diaries (and you should be!), then you might think you know what to expect from this book: a realistic, bittersweet bit of fiction laced with humor galore taken from the most mundane situations. However, if you counted on that, you'd be wrong. In "The Queen and I," Townsend veers away from realism altogether.
The premise is the Queen's nightmare - the members of Britain's royal family are declared common overnight. Previously sequestered away in luxury, they must adapt to modern working class conditions, and fast. In this context, realism must take second place to humor. Who cares how a blue-collar cockney would REALLY treat the Queen if he were to meet her, when Townsend can so cuttingly evoke their class differences with a few words of conversation, and reduce them both to laughingstocks in the process? (The Queen's upper-crust accent is so strong, her cockney neighbor thinks she's speaking a different language.) And so forth...
A one-joke storyline? Sure. But if one topic is done right, it's sometimes all you need. Townsend is a wickedly funny observer of all the absurdities in the daily life of all humans, rich, poor and even royal. Ridiculing all it surveys, this quick escapist novel is intelligent and highly enjoyable
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant read: Silly book.
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: The Queen and I
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Different and Imaginative!
Review: Put out "on the street" by the newly elected Prime Minister, the Royal Family can barely function in their search for food and heat. It is hilarious to "watch" them get into all kinds of silly situations as they try to make it in the "real world" with the rest of us peasants! Not much of anything on the Duke and Duchess of York, which is unfortunate, because I believe there is some real potential for humor there, but even the Queen's favorite corgi gets in some good laughs.
Rating:
Summary: Dated now but still a gem
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: This book kept me wanting to read more until the last page!
Review: Review Titel: The Queen and I
Author: Sue Townsend
Publisher: Arrow Books Limited Review:
A Republican government wins the election in 1992, and overnight the Royal family is relieved of its duties and is forced to live on a council estate in the Midlands.
Each of the members of the royal family copes with the new situation in a different way,
The Queen tries to make the most of the situation, prince Philip can't cope at all, he refuses to get out of bed, wash himself or eat and ends up in a mental hospital. Prince Charles gets arrested for an argument with a police constable.
Meanwhile Jack Barker, the new Prime Minister brings the country to bankruptcy and England is annexated by Japan.
Luckily the queen wakes up to discover that it was all just a bad dream. Comment on the book:
This book has been a joy to read. It is funny, witty and it kept me wanting to read more until the last page. The story is brilliantly written and while reading it I saw the described situations very vividly in my mind. I can see why 'The Queen and I' has become a best-seller. Sue Townsend takes the Royal family and in a very entertaining way, puts them eye to eye with ordinary people. The Queen is portrait in a very dignifying manner as a strong motherly person who tries to make the best of every situation. I wonder whether the Queen herself has read the book, I know she would approve. Readers who decide to read this book, won't be disappointed. The book is witty, entertaining and funny. It is brilliantly written and what's more, at times it makes you laugh out loud, I wish I could write like that. This book should be in every book case !
Rating:
Summary: Great book-bad ending
Review: Sue Townsend writes a wonderful -but which turns out to be utterly pointless- story. Her depiction of how the Royal Family would live if they had been stripped of their power is hilarious, and I love how you see the gradual change in their adjustment to their new life. All of her characters are written in such a way that makes them come alive. A very good read, the book keeps you wanting to not put it down. Her ending of the novel, however, is disappointing, and leaves you unsatisfied. Regardless, if you want to read a funny book, this is for you!
Rating:
Summary: This is an absolutely delightful book.
Review: 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.
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