93. Kings & Queens & Prince & Princesses 

Is it true that we choose the date and time of our birth and death? I'm not sure about it; I just heard that this happens.

It seems that Susan Lillian Townsend, an English writer and humorist, did it. April was her favorite month, and she chose to come to this Earth on April 2nd and leave on April 10th.

Although she is mainly renowned for creating the character Adrian Mole, I prefer her satirical novel, The Queen and I. 

This story portrays the royal family being forced to live on a council estate in Leicester on a street known locally as Hell Close, following the election of a republican government that abolishes the monarchy. 

The novel humorously examines their adjustment to poverty, living together, and social work.

The family is forced to relinquish their titles, possessions, and wealth and adjust to living in a simple house with a limited income. The book humorously criticizes the monarchy and the welfare state by highlighting the royal family's amusing struggles and adaptations.

The book served as an outlet for Townsend’s republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still portrayed with sympathy. The Queen and I were adapted for the stage and enjoyed successful runs in London's West End. 

I am happy that something that Susan Lillian Townsend imagined regarding monarchy is happening in our lifetime.

I am referring to Andrew, who was a prince but has now been stripped of all his titles.

However, for him, the situation isn't as bleak as it seems because the king supplies him with everything necessary. As a result, Andrew is now a commoner in both a literal and punishing sense, yet life remains much better than that of a typical commoner for the 65-year-old Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

As media reports say, “Andrew will no longer be in Windsor, but he’ll be on a private royal estate in Norfolk, and will have accommodation provided, and he will be supported in other ways by his brother, the king.”

However, the king made this decision to protect the royal family from constant media attention. It wasn’t something that he did voluntarily.

I hope that moments like Townsend's imagination occur soon everywhere the monarchy still exists.

Monarchy is thriving in India, too — don’t laugh. I am not talking about those estates and riyasats whose titles were stripped in 1947.

I am referring to the new breed that emerged after that – the democratically elected monarchy.

From the family of Jawaharlal Nehru, the man whom MK Gandhi made the first Prime Minister, to many other politicians, we see numerous monarchies in every state. The greedy family members of these elected monarchies have developed a particular fondness for an entitlement attitude.

Even after the regime change and the clear intention, the government is unable to punish them in court because the party in power is afraid of losing votes if they are penalized. 

The strong attachment to these monarchies is ingrained in the psychology of their followers, often due to caste or tribal identities, to the extent that they overlook the fact that such practices are incompatible with a democratic nation.

Consider this: the title and the entitlement are gone, and immediately, UK Trade Minister Chris Bryant suggested that Andrew should, if asked, go to the US to answer questions about Epstein's crimes.

That is the fair game.

Since I started with Townsend, I must conclude with her. I have only read The Queen and I, so I don’t know much about her, but she indeed achieved great success in the 1980s with her Adrian Mole books. This series, which eventually expanded to nine books, is written as the character's diaries. 

The first of her comic series, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4, was published in 1982, and the eighth instalment, Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years, was released in 2009.

So, the series followed the main character from adolescence under Margaret Thatcher's government to maturity in Tony Blair's Britain.

Sue Townsend died on April 11, 2014. 

Let's do our best to bring her imagination to life. 

And also, in India.

(Top Photo:  Susan Lillian Townsend)