The book Living with the Queen, is written by Malcolm J. Barker, a member of Queen Elizabeth’s household staff for several years. The book is an account of the people who serve the queen and the royal family and is full of anecdotes involving the staff of Buckingham Palace. I find I cannot write anymore without saying that I believe the book to be hogwash, the publishing of it was a waste of the world’s resources, and reading it was a waste of my time.
The accounts that Barker relates are full of salacious acts, juvenile antics, and lots of inebriation. When he was present in a story that he tells, he is always the character who reminds others of their duty and position, he is never the one drunk, although everyone around him is all the time, and he is always the one saving the situation from disaster. In the stories he tells about events when he is not present, there is no savior, and things always end badly. He never explains how he actually knows that something happened when he did not actually see it, like his account of the footman who bared his buttocks to a visiting king. Although Barker’s writing is technically acceptable, his accounts of life in the palace are unbelievable. And since the queen sued him, perhaps they are as untrue as they seem to be. ( )