This novel by Sue Townsend is a satirical look at UK which makes excellent social and political commentary, while tickling your funny bone. But then Townsend is famous this style of writing. You might remember her as the writer of the ever popular Adrian Mole series. Well, she pulls off another winner with this novel.

Queen Camilla is, as you might have guessed, about the British royal family. Of course it is not a true-to-life description of them; rather, think of it as a glimpse into a parallel universe. Nonetheless, despite having a fictional backdrop, Townsend manages to touch upon a lot of topical issues, both about British society and its government, in this novel.

So what's the story about? The novel is actually a sequel to The Queen and I. This story continues where the latter left off. In a nutshell, here's the backdrop: UK is a bit of a totalitarian regime; the royal family is not in power and are under house arrest in The Exclusion Zone; people are constantly monitored by the authorities (think of a scenario right out of Equilibrium, except mildly British in their outlook); and civil services are breaking down. How is this a parallel universe you ask? This sounds like where the world is headed to right now, you add. Well, that, I suppose, is the point of the novel. Where the main plot is concerned, the Queen is thinking of abdicating and guess who is somewhat eager to take over? Speaking of the heir to the throne, the younger generation is admittedly acts like riff-raff and Townsend covers this concept rather well in the novel. And yes, the Prime Minister's nerves are on edge; he looks ready to snap. This is hardly surprising, given the paranoid atmosphere created by a nanny state. You really have to read the book to learn how it all comes together. The ending was the best comment, which admittedly is just the author's take on the importance of royalty in British society.

The main plots and sub-plots sounds rather heavy-handed but most of it is tinged with typical Townsend humor. However, I must admit that the topics covered are so close to the truth that sometimes it is easy to overlook the humor and feel downright depressed. At the same time, her social commentary can be a wake-up call for people to change social trends before it is too late. For me, the descriptions about the over-zealous monitoring of citizens were quite funny. And I did have a good laugh, even if sometimes the laughter did die down in a "Hang on a moment" sort of realization. Perhaps the most disconcerting moments were the instances in the nursing home. It might not have affected me so adversely if I had not seen the recent kerfuffle in UK about care homes.