...And What Do You Do?: What the royal family don't want you to know

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I’ve read ‘A Little Life’, I’ve read ‘Pet Sematary’ and other books considered to make people uncomfortable and/or depressed while reading them and, although they did cause discomfort, it was nothing like ‘Forbidden’. It made me want to have never read it, but a book needs to have more than just an uncomfortable plot to make me hate it. In this audiobook, former government minister Norman Baker argues that the British public deserves better than this puerile diet. There are a lot of deserving people who receive them, like charity campaigning war veterans, lollipop ladies who have served 50 plus years and Floella Benjamin.The increasingly thin argument that they're good for tourism is fast being extinguished by the groaning expense of security occasioned every time Her Majesty wends her way through the streets in her golden carriage.

But most of them are a load of corrupt horse shit, fuelled by political favours, donations and those who are best kept quiet, lest they scare the horses. His overall conclusion is that the Royal Family still wields considerable influence behind the scenes and, considering themselves above the law, they are aided and abetted by whichever Government of the day is in power which ensures that the rules that apply to everyone else are routinely skewed to benefit the Royal Family’s own personal interests.Not to mention the great friendship the previous generations held for their first cousins, the German Kaisers and their families, Nazis all. The author is extremely negative about the royal family, although he did find some positive things to say about Meghan Markle. I had dismissed this originally as it had been touted by Richard and Judy and appeared to be an American crime book. A poor condition book can still make a good reading copy but is generally not collectible unless the item is very scarce.

Although many royals have access to the Sovereign Grant for official royal duties, the cost of their day-to-day lives is not covered by public funding. Baker’s approach can be summed-up in the words that appear on the back cover of the book: The royal family – the quintessential British institution or an antiquated, overindulged, drain on the taxpayer? The author gives his own opinions but frames them in such a way as to make the reader think that they are the general opinions of the British public when patently he speaks only for his moderately socialist, republic self and the minority of the country who actually voted for him (he lost) and his tiny party (they got smaller). When Manni received this desperate message from his youngest brother, he knew everything had to change.As I paid little heed to the individuals concerned most of the mindless tittle tattle has passed me by. Plague journals, escapist literature, political history: explore our year in review, where we share rare book trends and a gallery of some of the most beautiful and interesting books sold in 2020. They have only been the Windsors since just before the outbreak of the First World War, when they conveniently changed their German name of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Working royals also tend to have access to ‘grace and favour’ residences and many are also gifted private country homes by the Queen in her private capacity. He makes a clear, fact-based case for reform, showing what is wrong with a system heavily loaded in favour of the royal family and what should change. Then we get the dossier on hapless old Air Miles Andy who is beyond belief and beneath contempt, a repulsive and repugnant parasite with connections and/or business dealings with various dictators, Middle Eastern theocracies, Gaddafi, the Bin ladens and of course old Jeffrey Epstein (In Epstein’s incriminating black book, there was no less than 16 different contact numbers for the royal and 18 for his ex-wife).Maybe we will just keep letting them get away with their bullshit for the sake of tradition, their reliance on our loyalty and allegiance. And of course the Queen owns plenty of private property too, notably Balmoral and Sandringham, both bought with public funds, which also qualify for taxpayer support when they are used for official business. Given the depressing conclusion that the Royal Family is anachronistic, corrupt and arrogant and costs the taxpayer a mind-boggling amount of cash, the intelligent wit that accompanies the narrative is essential. Yes, the Royal Family is too big and too many people are supported at public expense, but how does that qualify as “What the Royal Family Don’t Want You to Know”? The royal family is the original Coronation Street - a long running soap opera with the occasional real coronation thrown in.