Harry's Mad

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You can see why Harry dislikes the tabloid press – but they

Without a clear public understanding as to how it intends to cut its cloak according to the available cloth, it might as well be talking to the birds. Public pledges are meaningless without explaining how they will be achieved. It is understandable that Harry has been marked for life by what happened to his mother. Some of what the tabloid press did in the 1980s and 1990s, in an era of frenzied commercial competition was frankly deplorable. But by and large, partly as a result of that experience, the British press has been more restrained in recent years. The paparazzi are still with us but their market these days is continental and American – many of the headlines shown in the recent Netflix documentary were from US supermarket tabloids and the photographs of massed ranks of photographers were taken from other, non-royal events on different occasions.

Harry is a bit miffed to inherit a parrot from a great-uncle he’s never met, but Madison, the parrot, turns out to be a fun surprise. Madison is a brilliant bird that can help with homework, do crosswords, and share delicious recipes. Things are going peachy until the unthinkable happens and Madison is stolen. They are the ones who want to read the royal news and gossip; if the media did not provide it and feed their enthusiasm the institution would wither. As a self-confessed believer in the monarchy, Harry presumably does not want that. The family realizes that they can’t let anyone outside of the family know about Mad’s talents. Also that Mad is quite an addition to the family in many ways. It is not as though Mr Sunak does not know where to start. It is claimed that the total staff in No 10 is now 400, more than three times the size of Margaret Thatcher’s team at her busiest.

mad - SIR BERNARD Kindest thing on Harry is that he has gone mad - SIR BERNARD

Without drastic cuts in spending and a vigorous economy campaign to eliminate waste, you can kiss goodbye to any responsible tax cuts. We all have a vested interest in a balanced budget. Although I enjoyed this more there were parts and ideas that I feel could have been omitted to make the story flow better. There was also an unnecessarily cruel element to the text near the end which didn't fit in with the theme. I read a couple of books by this author over the weekend. I didn't enjoy either of them. I wouldn't do a review I can't justify and I started this with a little trepidation too. Turns out I enjoyed this a lot more Ethan the previous books of King-Smith I have read.

It was as fun as i remembered, with quite sophisticated language given its intended audience was fairly young, including a rather clever cryptic crossword clue (and answer). All royals through history have had to show themselves to their subjects to prove they are still there. As Lord Salisbury, the future prime minister, wrote in the Saturday Review in 1871 when Queen Victoria was burying herself away a decade after Prince Albert’s death – and losing public support as a result: “Seclusion is one of the few luxuries in which royal personages may not indulge. Loyalty needs a life of almost unintermitted publicity to sustain it.” The crowd, it was said, “want the gilding for their money”. As Harry’s late grandmother used to say: “We have to be seen to be believed.” Never was a truer word said than when someone uttered “Some mothers do ‘ave ‘em”. They do indeed. After all, Queen Elizabeth II had the Duke of York. It is only fair to say that “Randy Andy’s” activities, though still damaging, were as nothing compared with Prince Harry’s compulsion to hurt his family. I loved this book as a kid and recently unearthed my mildewed, yellowed copy from my parents' garage. So i figured I'd read it one last time before consigning it to the bin.