The Queen and I

Rating:
Summary: Great book-bad ending
Review: 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!)

Rating:
Summary: Just What If?
Review: 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!)

Rating:
Summary: What a funny idea!
Review: The Queen and I is a lovely story by Sue Townsend. The book gives a very nice and detailed image of the characters and the places.
What is going on in the UK? The royal family definitely doesn't seem to be who they were before their change of lifestyle. And you will find out things about Prince Philip, Prince Charles and the Queen you would have never thought of.
Sue Townsend criticises four social aspects in the book like the differents between the poor and rich people, which is an obvious aspect. Also the educational gap between the poor and rich comes clear in the book, you can notice it in the use of language, and the schools in Hell's close haven't got enough teachers, books and pencils and the roof is about to collaps. But wait till you get to the end of the book...you will be surprised!

Rating:
Summary: Very nice and funny book
Review: The Queen of England and her family have to live on a hellhole council estate in the Midlands, because the Queen was taken away from the thrown. They have to adapt themselves to their environment and have less money than before. It is a very funny story, in this story you get to know the Royal Family from their personal side. In the end it turned out to be a bad dream.

Rating:
Summary: Highly amusing!
Review: The royal family finds itself living among the poor, having to adapt to the equivalent of our Social Security. Sue Townsend does a marvelous job capturing each of the royals' personalities and how they might (humorously) react to existing in such a manner. Even the chapter titles are funny. I found myself avoiding reading the titles until I had finished the chapters, then I would go back for a chuckle. One of the funniest characters is the Royal Dog, Harris. His attempt to run with the local pack is priceless! Of course I winced when someone asks Diana what she will miss the most of her former lush life and she answers, "My Mercedes." But take into account that this was written well before Diana's tragedy, and the rest of the book is indeed worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: What fun!
Review: This is by far the most amusing book I have read in a long time. Sue Townsend describes the royal family from her own funny perspective in a situation were they have to live the everyday life of the working-class people. It elaborates on several social aspects such as the difference between the upper-class and the lower class, prison life etc. It's one of those books you just can't seem to be able to put down!

Rating:
Summary: excellent story
Review: This was an excellent story, I really enjoyed it. As ordinary people I almost started to like some of the royals, like Prince Charles for example who really turned out to be a rebel with a pigtail. The best character in my opinion was Harris, the queen's dog, who finally found his freedom. It is a shame this is a fictional story for I would love to be one of their neighbours in real life. I recommend this story to anyone who is against monarchies, for it really gives you a good laugh and the hope that you would some day really have the pleasure to see this happen.

Rating:
Summary: A Royal Romp!
Review: This wonderful book is not for the faint hearted Monarchist! The premise is that Great Britain has finally casted off their parasitic Royal Family and of the entire lot, only Betty Windsor (Formerly QE 2) has the good sense and backbone to survive everyday life as a "normal" person. The satire is wickedly funny and is ceratinly not intended to reflect on the actual personalities of the Windsor Family. The book grew from a series of BBC radio comedies which were a smash hit in the 1980's and developed into this volume. It is a wonderful and fun read! While it is wild fiction it does pull at the socialist heartstrings of at least this reader!

Rating:
Summary: way out there
Review: Townsend did a terrific job at making you feel sympathetic for the royal family. It was a fun and silly at times book that gave great insight into the life of commoners in England. Pour a good ale or bitter, sit in your favourite reading chair and have a good time. I must say that I was horribly disappointed with the weak ending. There was so much creativity flowing 100mph throughout the book and when I read the ending it was like hitting a cement wall. I wont spoil for you by telling you what happens!

Rating:
Summary: Good, Silly Fun
Review: 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.