The Queen and I
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| Author | Sue Townsend |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1992 |
The Queen and I is a 1992 novel/play written by Sue Townsend.
The setting is England, where the royal family has just been evicted from their status by the Republican Party and are made to live like normal Britons.
After a republican government is elected by the British people, who were influenced by their TV-sets manipulated by Jack Barker, the Royal Family has to leave Buckingham Palace and must move to a council house estate. Jack Barker, the new Prime Minister, transforms Britain into a republic and dismantles the monarchy. In Hellbore Close, the new home of the Royal Family, they learn to cope with the normal day of ordinary people. The Queen learns how to use a zipper or buttons and that five hours of waiting to see a doctor in an ordinary hospital is not unusual. She gets to know that living with a small pensioners income is hard and that you have to organize your budget. On the whole the Queen learns very fast to cope with the situation and later does not want to go back to Buckingham Palace, because of all the duties waiting there. On the contrary her husband Philip cannot cope with the situation. He refuses to eat, is annoyed by sharing one bed with his wife and would like to be anywhere but in Hellbore Close. Charles, former Prince of Wales, discovers his great love for gardening. While he and his wife begin their affairs with their neighbours, their children, William and Harry, always think the whole situation is an adventure trip. Later Charles is imprisoned and sentenced for attacking a police officer, what he actually not committed. Their neighbours, first sceptically, help to include the ex-Royals in their society and help them as much as their possibilities allow. Although Queen Mum is the oldest, she learns very fast how to cope with the new situation but even in the poor circumstances of Hellbore Close she cannot stop herself from betting on horses. Her death shakes the whole neighbourhood and everyone takes part in her actually cheap, but solemn funeral. Jack Barker and his so called “Kitchen Cabinet” make very expensive promises to his voters, e.g. rising pensions or renewing schools, and therefore gets in trouble with his foreign creditors. After talks with the Japanese Emperor he announces Britain to be part of the Japanese Empire, in return all repays are set out for indefinite time, which is sealed by the engagement of the Emperors daughter and Edward, the Queen’s son.
The novel concludes as the queen awakes. A Conservative government was elected.
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