''The Queen & I'' and ''Queen Camilla'', Sue Townsend

Yet more Christmas frippery! As you might have guessed when I’m in the frozen north I do tend to read quite a lot of trash, normally curled up on the sofa in the kitchen attempting to stay warm near the Aga and not get pushed off by the cat. These were more Christmas presents, again not actually mine (my own Christmas books having been sensibly sent directly to Athens via Amazon by my tech-savvy Mother).

Sue Townsend (of Adrian Mole fame) writes about the Royal Family following an election in which a Republic Prime Minister has won and promptly deposed the monarchy. In potentially over-obvious use of contemporary events, they are moved into an Exclusion Zone for ASBO-types and made to live under surveillance. But it’s all light comedy really, with most of the family quickly ‘fitting in’ to what effectively is a caricature of working class ‘’chav’’ life. Playing with the two-dimensional stereotypes that we all know so well from the papers, Princess Anne manages quite well in a down-to-earth horsey sort of way, whilst the Queen is polite and terribly nice to everyone. Will & Harry become boy racers and get together with the local Vicky Pollard types and so on. I think there’s meant to be some political satire in there, but frankly it’s just a bit too obvious to work on that level. It’s not clear whether Townsend is a Republican herself (maybe she’s famous for an opinion but I’ve never heard her on the subject) but it does betray some affection for the Royals. The suggestion is that they’re good eggs, with the exception of Prince Phillip who apparently is the only one who wouldn’t be able to handle it. Personally, I have to confess that I don’t really care. Apparently the Royal Family cost the UK taxpayer less than a pound a year. In which case they’re clearly worth their weight in tabloid sales & commemorative mugs.