mrs. queen takes the train

i just finished reading william kuhn's first novel, "mrs. queen takes the train", a delightfully fun story about the queen running away from BP (effectually, home as in Buckingham Palace) and the host of people trying to find her and bring her back.  kuhn, an historian, peppers the novel with real photos and tidbits of facts about that era in a somewhat "downton abbey" fashion in terms of showing the lives of those who serve the nobles as well as the queen's desire to just be an ordinary person for a while.  i came across three unfamiliar words which, as you know, lights up my brain synapses although it will take more coffee until i can use them in one coherent sentence.  1) equerry:  officer of a noble in charge of caring for the horses 2) demesne:  possession of and use of one's own land and 3) vituperation:  verbal harshness, bitter railing or condemnation.  in the non-fiction category, kuhn is also the author of "reading jackie" (jacqueline kennedy onassis), "democratic royalism" (henry and mary ponsonby--key players in queen victoria's court) and "the politics of pleasure" (benjamin disraeli, britain's most royalist prime minister)--the latter of which seems fitting for today as per the passing of margaret thatcher.  see also www.williamkuhn.com