Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is bored, restless and a little depressed.

Even the yoga she has begun practising isn’t working its calming magic. She wonders if she’s getting too old for this ruling lark.

One day, while visiting her favourite horse, a stable girl lends her a hoodie to protect her against the cold.

The Queen realises she’s become anonymous and decides to go AWOL and head up to Edinburgh to see her old ship Brittania.

Her courtiers, the stable girl and a young man called Raj set off in pursuit of Her Majesty, desperate to bring her home before her walkabout becomes a national scandal.

It’s a lovely story very much in the spirit of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader, packed full of delightful characters including, of course, Mrs Queen.

RRP $36.99

Allen & Unwin