''Queen Camilla'' is a satirical novel by the British author Sue Townsend.
It was published in the UK on 26 October 2006 by
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.The Queen and I''. Most of the Hell Close neighbours from the earlier novel are also in the subsequent book.
Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...
and his wife,
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the ac ...
, who, at the start of the novel, have been living for the last 13 years on the Flowers Estate, now called the Flowers Exclusion Zone or 'The Fez'. The Fez is the private fiefdom of scaffolding magnate Arthur Grice,
Prince William
William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Born in London, William was educa ...
's employer. Grice fancies himself a grand-scale public benefactor; he often wonders why most Fez residents dismiss him as little more than the self-aggrandising businessman he is. He lobbies the Queen for a knighthood, which she cannot grant him, all honours having been abolished.
The exclusion zones are the worst sign of the authoritarian country Britain has become, with almost lock-down security in the Fez. Jack Barker, Cromwell (formerly People's Republican) Party leader and prime minister, is exhausted after 13 years in office, and wants out. The New Conservative ("New Con") Party elects "Boy" English as its new leader; Boy promises to restore the monarchy.
The Queen, now 80, does not want to return to public life; she tells her family she has decided to abdicate. One reason: the Duke of Edinburgh, her husband, suffered a debilitating stroke two years earlier, and is now being (badly) cared for in a nursing home in another part of the Fez. With the Queen's abdication, the Prince of Wales will now become King Charles III – but Camilla will only be his consort, not his queen. Charles refuses to become king unless Camilla is his queen. Prince William then offers, too eagerly for the Queen's liking, to reign in his father's place. Charles consults his friend, MP Nicholas Soames, who tells him there is no constitutional reason Camilla cannot become his queen.
Enter Graham Cracknall, who claims to be the son of Charles and Camilla, born in 1965. His adoptive parents revealed his biological parentage in a codicil to their will, opened only after both had died. Graham visits Charles and Camilla; the whole family takes an instant dislike to him – particularly after he claims that he, not Prince William, is second in line to the throne after Charles. Graham then attracts the online attention of a mysterious lady named Miranda – who, unknown to him, is a New Con operative in the General Election that is finally called. On learning of the New Con ruse, the enraged Graham goes to the ''Daily Telegraph'' with his story; he is not believed, causes a disturbance when thrown out, and ends up in Rampton Hospital. The New Cons win the election, restoring the monarchy as promised, but the Queen follows through on her decision to abdicate, and Charles becomes king. The other members of the Royal Family, including Queen Camilla, spend part of each day talking with tourists.
Inconsistencies between novels
There are several inconsistencies between the two novels, among them:
* The fate of the
Imperial State Crown
The Imperial State Crown is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and symbolises the sovereignty of the monarch.
It has existed in various forms since the 15th century. The current version was made in 1937 and is worn by the monarc ...
; despite being destroyed in ''The Queen and I'', it is still in the Queen's possession in ''Queen Camilla''.
* The death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The character was killed off in ''The Queen and I'', set in 1992, yet in ''Queen Camilla'' she is said to have lived to the age of 101, as she did in real life.
* In ''The Queen and I'' Jack Barker effectively "sells" Britain to the Japanese; in ''Queen Camilla'' this is changed to the Americans. Accordingly, the marriage of Prince Edward to the daughter of the
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
is forgotten and the character is married to his real-life wife, Sophie.
* Tony Threadgold's name is changed to Vince, and he and Beverley apparently now only have one child, Aaron, as opposed to two, Lisa-Marie and Vernon. They also now live next door to Charles and Camilla instead of the Queen.
* In ''The Queen and I'' Prince Charles goes on the run after escaping from prison. No explanation is given for his return to Hell Close.
* At the very end of ''The Queen and I'', the whole book is revealed to have been the Queen’s nightmare. This is completely ignored in the second novel.