Queen Camilla – Sue Townsend

I realise that this is unlikely to ever be classed as a high-brow book choice, but I was delighted when I saw a copy of    Queen Camilla in the local charity shop a few weeks back. The Queen and I, also by Sue Townsend, is one of my favourite books of all time and this is very much in the same vein.

Quite simply, the Royal Family is living in the FEZ, or it give it its full title the Flowers Exclusion Zone. Think of it as one of the worst council estates, with the added limitation of the residents not being allowed to leave. The family were placed there by the current Prime Minister following him disbanding the Monarchy. The Queen is there with her two corgis, whilst Prince Philip stays in a local nursing home. Charles and Camilla live nearby, with William and Harry also local. 

It's time for a general election and it seems that the party that might take power want to bring back the Monarchy. The only thing is that the Queen's no longer sure that she wants to remain Queen and talks of abdicating. Charles has said that he won't be King without Camilla as his Queen. William offers to take over, but is he ready? To top it all off, the sitting Prime Minster has had a clamp down on dogs and decided that no household may have more than one, in addition to various other limitations that he is enforcing. Now bearing in mind that the dogs living in the FEZ all appear to be able to talk to the reader it's interesting getting their take on things.

It's a very light read, which was exactly what I needed when we moved, but some beautifully caught moments that it's very simple to imagine the Royal family being at the centre of. Laugh out loud funny in parts.