Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

What is it about the “new arrival” shelves at the library? My enormous hoard    small collection of books to be read is mocking waiting for me at home and still I bring home yet another book.  It’s a disease.

Turned out Mrs. Queen Takes the Train was just the cozy ticket (pun intended!) for a rainy afternoon (yes finally a little rain here in the Bay Area).

From the back cover:

After decades of service and years of watching her family’s troubles splashed across the tabloids, Britain’s Queen is beginning to feel her age. She needs some proper cheering up. An unexpected opportunity offers her relief: an impromptu visit to a place that holds happy memories—the former royal yacht, Britannia, now moored near Edinburgh. Hidden beneath a skull-emblazoned hoodie, the limber Elizabeth (thank goodness for yoga) walks out of Buckingham Palace into the freedom of a rainy London day and heads for King’s Cross to catch a train to Scotland.

But a characterful cast of royal attendants has discovered her missing. In uneasy alliance a lady-in-waiting, a butler, an equerry, a girl from the stables, a dresser, and a clerk from the shop that supplies Her Majesty’s cheese set out to find her and bring her back before her absence becomes a national scandal.

See, now how could I resist this?  Brewed myself a cup of tea, put on my favorite comfy sweater and set to it.

This is a modern view of the Queen and her past travails including the Diana years and the ebbing of her subject’s support.   We get a view into the inside workings of the palace, the many roles required to handle the Queen, palace protocols and the many obligations of royal duty.  As an Anglophile, I found this aspect of the story fascinating.

Despite escaping the palace, the Queen has difficulty shaking her royal attitudes and boundaries.  Her lack of understanding how the world works without attendants is amusing as she waits for others on the train attend to her needs and address her correctly – but she prevails and finds herself relaxing with the commoners.   I found myself empathizing with the Queen as she heads to the Britannia and memories of happier times.  After all, who would want that job thrust upon them while still just a young girl?

The motley crew of attendants that follow the Queen to Scotland have their own compelling stories to tell – enemies become friends, lovers come out of the closet, and the grieving find some solace.

The novel has been compared to another fictional tale of the Queen,  The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett.

Mr. Kuhn slyly refers to this other book in this novel:

“‘Did you read the one about The Queen becoming a reader?’ said the woman in spectacles to the young man at her side.`I did enjoy that one. So funny. And of course, being a reader myself, I liked that side of it.'”

The film The Queen is also referred to in this up-to-date take on British royalty.

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train abounds with dry, British humor and social commentary.  Mr. Kuhn tackles the homeless, terrorism, race relations,  and mental illness.   What I found fascinating was how the author gave the Queen a human side (she does yoga and attempts a computer) but still maintains the respectful dignity due a British monarch.

In the end the Queen must once again return to the palace and assume the duties of her crown- but with a fresh perspective and the reader is left to imagine she will find them less burdensome.

Note:  Read Mr. Bennett’s book, wherein the Queen discovers a bookmobile outside the palace gates and revels in the delights of reading for pleasure