Here is the book for the alternative Golden Jubliee. Award-winning journalist Johann Hari exposes the truth behind the public face of the British monarchy. It is an institution more suited to the 19th century than the 21st, and incompatible with our media-driven culture. And not only is the monarchy an affront to the intelligence and modernity of the British people (and, indeed the Commonwealth) it is destroying the Windsors themselves, creating monsters and wreaking lives. It's high time - Hari painstakingly argues - that this tragicomic show closed.

Here is the plain proof of the child-sacrifice that underlies our most absurd and sinister institution
Christopher Hitchens

I love this book! It's like eating a whole box of chocolates in one go.
Julie Burchill

fantastically gripping and provocative...one of the most convincing books on the monarchy you'll ever read.
Independent on Sunday, June 16th 2002

"An enchanting, boisterous read that provides further sound argument for the forced removal of the House of Windsor... Hari makes a compelling case that monarchy is an institution inflicting abuse not only on democracy, but also on the Windsors themselves, denying them religious, political, and sexual freedoms that even their most strident supporters enjoy."
Arena Magazine

"Excellent"
Janet Street-Porter

"Brilliant"
Victor Lewis-Smith, Evening Standard

"This book is shockingly rude and intemperate and I believe every word. Johann Hari articulates what a lot of people know, but never say, at least in mainstream newspapers and journals. He pulls no punches. This is no measured, objective analysis: it's a rave, born of frustration and anger... I'm glad I read this scary little book."
Rachael MacAlpine

"Johann Hari has transformed our view of the monarchy... Excellent."
The New Zealand Herald

"Fascinating"
The Scotsman

It would be easy to assume that an analysis of the royal family by a republican journalist would be a series of vicious character assassinations. But it is quite the opposite. Without the sycophancy expected of those granted royal access, Hari shows a compassion for the Windsors that monarchists would find disturbing.

In fact, this is Hari's main thesis. 'Monarchists are torturing the very people they claim to love and respect,' he writes in his opening essay. Of them all, Charles receives more of Hari's pity than anyone. He has become a walking, talking example of how badly a royal life - one spent waiting for your mum to die so you can assume her job - can screw you up... This is republicanism with verve and wit. It should be embraced by Australians, along with, of course, all the positive reasons for having one of our own as head of state."
The Sydney Sun Herald