The Queen and her family are deposed by a new Republican Government and allocated housing on a Leicester Council Estate. The Queen's husband takes his redundancy badly, her beautiful daughter-in-law copes bravely with the problems of bringing up two young lads alone in difficult circumstances while her sister reaches an understanding with criminal elements on the estate. The Royal Family come to terms with their new situation in a series of hilarious scenes as Sue Townsend's satire, based on her best-selling novel, explores the broken promises of the Welfare State.