The Queen and I (novel) to a council estate. Barker, as the new Prime Minister, transforms Britain into a republic and dismantles the monarchy. In Hellebore Close (aptly known as "Hell Close" to its longtime residents), the new home of the Royal Family, they learn to cope with the normal day of ordinary people. The Queen – now called Mrs Windsor – is not allowed to take all her beloved corgis to her new home in "Hell Close", only Harris is with her and Charles has to learn that you can't keep horses in a council house garden. The Queen is visited by a social
The Queen and Concubine Heywood), the vast majority are comedies; only three are tragicomedies. (Along with "The Queen and Concubine", the others are "The Lovesick Court" and "The Queen's Exchange".) Brome may have chosen the tragicomic form for "Queen and Concubine" because it allowed him to make, in a limited form and degree, a political commentary. Critics have noted that "Queen and Concubine" is a critique of royal tyranny and courtly sycophancy, issues that were pertinent in the 1630s, when King Charles I was conducting his period of personal rule and Parliament was prorogued. Brome is directly critical of religious support for tyrannous rulers: