I was not a fan of this book. I thought that it tore Meghan Markel’s life apart In shreds. I am not a huge fan of hers but she doesn’t deserve what this book does to her. Just an opinion.

I’m not quite sure what to make of Keeping Up With The Kensingtons. I got this title because I’m interested in the royal family, and I enjoy good humor.

The cast of characters leaves little to the imagination:

Harry Kensington, the hapless hero
Will Kensington, his brother
Granny, Queen of Britannia, also known as The Boss
Ms. Madison Mountebank, an American actress
The Page of the Back Stairs, “an inveterate gossip, devoted to the Queen”
If you don’t follow the royal family, you will be lost. All the events that happen in the book happened in real life, sort of, but with not context in the book, so it is easy to overlook the attempted humor and just scratch one’s head in confusion.

There is humor in Keeping Up With The Kensingtons, but I wouldn’t call it satire. I’d call it black humor, because all it does is portray “Madison” as an untalented actress whose only goal is to make a name for herself and has Harry wrapped around her little finger. Keeping Up With the Kensingtons is biting humor aimed at both Harry and Madison.

Harry is portrayed as not having a mind of his own and always does Madison’s bidding. Really, the shots taken at Harry for being a royal who actually talks about his feelings are pretty low.

There are two quotes that I’d like to share that stick out: “These undemonstrative, utterly British nonagenarians undoubtedly personify the twentieth century’s most romantic and enduring love story; and the Duke’s withdrawal from public life, while being partly due to his impaired health, was surely done principally to give The Boss time to adjust to official life without him, so that that it will not be so disabling a shock when he is no longer here at all. It was his final gesture of love, loyalty and devotion to her.” This is actually a lovely passage, as there is truth to it. The problem is, it doesn’t really fit with the rest of the book.

“…he was doing was just to protect his son. No doubt that is why he’s gone to live in Hollywood, which of course, is well known for its sane, normal, well-balanced people who are famous for bringing up the world’s happiest, most well-adjusted children.” Despite the mean nature of the book, I think the author nailed it. Harry just wants to protect his son, so why can’t people leave him alone?

I’m not sure how Keeping Up With The Kensingtons was published, because at it’s best, it seems like mean girls fan fiction. I don’t know Solanah Fane, as this is her first book, so I don’t know if she’s just a bitter English woman who can’t stand the fact that Harry married a divorced American actress, or a bitter American who is jealous Harry did not pick her instead. There is too much hate in this world, and too much directed at this couple. This book is the sort of attack against “Madison” that led the real-life couple to leave England in the first place.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy from NetGalley for my honest opinion of this book.

I thought it was amusing, well written and went over rumors from different people. It is sad if only half correct, but the public personas match up well with people in the book. I would recommend this to young adults and older.


This was given as an arc from the publisher. The opinions are my own.

This book certainly won’t win any awards for literary fiction. However, it will give you a belly full of laughs. I have just spent the time reading whilst calling out to my husband ‘ listern to this’ then reading sections in appropriate voices.
He was laughing. Not sure if it was at the book or me though.
Very quick reading of an entertaining book.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc in return for an honest review.

This was a hoot, very naughty, but so funny. Not for the ardent royalist I suspect, but for anyone who needs a laugh this is well worth a look.

I knew this was a satire when I started it, but it wasn't terribly well done, unfortunately. It's a spoof of the current royal family, specifically the meeting and marriage of Meghan and Harry. She highlighted the obvious parts of both their characters but went beyond until it got a little mean. None of it was particularly funny, in my opinion. It's a short book and a quick read. 2 stars, it's ok.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Yikes.... A short "story" about Harry, Meghan and the Royal family. Basically tracking the blundering of Meghan. I thought this was going to be a short comedic romance about Harry and Meghan's love story/life as royals. I knew it would be a tad snarky but this was just too much honestly. While I don't have a strong opinion on Meghan either way, this book just tore her to shreds and was insulting not just to her, but the other royals as well. I felt like this book was distasteful and crass (low-key was semi-entertaining but I can't condone it). I did find it interesting to understand how people perceive Meghan & Harry's relationship and some of it I would say was likely truthful, and there was a few events I didn't even know about so I was interested to read about those (Harry & fake Greta *cringe*). Overall, this is a "trash" novel which reads very much like a gossip column or tabloid blog.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*.

I really wanted to like this book - love satire and quite like the royals- but I felt like this was a giant miss.

For one, if you are not fully caught up on (and can recall) all the royal gossip you will be lost. There was no context for events or characters, one is simply expected to know the roles, placement, and influence of staff and outsiders.

Secondly, I felt like I was reading a stream of incoherent social media posts in a disjointed jumble. The content read like someone was gossiping on Facebook, or even pretending to be each of these characters in a group dedicated to talking about the royals. Each character had the same voice and that made it hard to distinguish and connect the ‘different’ perspectives.

Third, I didn’t find it funny. I found it mean spirited and catty, lacking the satirical wit and dry humour one would expect from a royal satire. Not that I want any book to be typical, but they didn’t portray M’s side of the story or offer any redemption, which I think is part of why this came off as mean and not funny.

Overall, very disappointed. Sorry.

What a fun & funny read! This satire of what has transpired since Prince Harry & Megan Markle met is a perfect story to read, if you are bored with staying away from others, or just want to read something that will have you chuckling frequently. Very well done and very strongly recommend!!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author Solanah Fane, and the publisher Books-Go-Social for a free ARC in return for an honest review.

Satire is a necessary element to society - we need to be able to see the "funnier" side of things and absorb criticism of all kinds.
If you want a book to generate "buzz" choosing a well-known couple/event and fictionalising it is a great way to go.
This is not the most original piece of satire that I have read - most of it comes straight from the newspapers and tabloids. The most original part was the altering of a few names.
It was a read that kept me occupied for a few hours but didn't leave too much of a lasting impression - the title is a bit misleading but I suppose generates buzz by referencing another family whose surname starts with a K and are tabloid stars. I highly doubt this book would have even seen the light of day if MM was a British aristocratic socialite........................
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book.

This book is HILARIOUS. I am a huge fan of the royals, though not Meghan Markle or Prince Harry, and this thinly veiled satire is everything you'd want it to be. It's a fun, juicy look at the machinations of the royal family and the difficult few months with Meghan Markle involved. It's silly and fun and the perfect summer read.

As a royal watcher for over 20 years myself, I got my hands on this book thinking it woud be a good escape after the harsh reality we've lived since The Duke and Duchess of Sussex decided to quit the royal family.

I must say that an escape it truly was, picking up countless stories between tabloids and "friends" of the couple sharing about their private lives and meticulously putting every piece together to build a web of fun frivolity.

Madsy (as Harry calls her) wants to have it all and to have it all, she has to step on everyone. Harry tries to please her but in the meantime, he manages to make bad decision after bad decision, echoing their real counterparts with a scary accuracy. These enhanced personalities gives this whole book a very fun background that makes us enjoy other characters, like Willy and his wife, the Queen and Harry's father,

If you're a fan of the real life couple, this book might not be for you, for it can be quite sarcastic at times and that doesn't put your fave's counterparts in a good light. But if you want ot laugh a little and have fun with a quick reading, this book is for you, even if you know NOTHING about the British Royal Family and their family issues.

This was a fun satire and an easy read for me to read during the quarantine. The book also had more potential. This is a short review because there isn’t much else to tell.

It was okay. It had potential but wasn't quite there. It was short, a little amusing at times but still...missing the mark.

Keeping Up With The Kensingtons is the tale of Ms. Madison Mountebank aka Meghan Markle as told by others in their life like Prince Harry.

If you’re #TeamMeghan, you won’t enjoy this book. This book basically takes every gossip column and repeats it. I was expecting some dramatic license by the author, but this is just a repeating of US Weekly. It feels like we’ve read this before because the author hasn’t added anything to the gossip columns. Madison Mountebank is portrayed as self-absorbed and only concerned about her fame and fortune. She displays a shocking lack of self-awareness for a Hollywood actress who is in her 30’s.

Is it funny? Yes, parts are.

Good for a beach read or when you’ve gone through your entire TBR pile on Goodreads.

I wanted to like this book, but to me the retelling of Harry and Meghan’s story felt more mean than satire. I was hoping for more “The Royal We”, but this felt like a roast where no one is laughing.

An entertaining, if bitchy read. I feel ambivalent about this novel, it's so outrageously unpleasant about " she who must not be named", I feel uncomfortable to admit it's good points It is very well written and pacy, and I liked the style. Still overall not sure, think on balance I'd rather not have read it.

First of all, in my review's ~ I never give away any of the story ~ What a great well written story ~ I pictured the scenes in my head ~ the characters just danced into life !! ~I WILL RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL MY READER FRIENDS ~ I could not put this book down. When, I was bone tired, I had to go lay down and take this book with me. A real PAGE TURNER ! YOUR A AWESOME WRITER !!
Thank you ! It was a pleasure to read. Thank you NETGALLEY

Keeping Up With The Kensingtons by Solanah Fane presents an interesting approach to the ups and downs a most popular royal family generally experience. An actress marrying into a so-called "blue blood" family changing the whole dynamics display the core insight of this satire. I particularly enjoyed the manner the author wrote this book. The storyline provides a light reading approach but one needs to use some philosophical thinking to grasp the irony in the book as well. Personally, this story I would need to re-read to grasp the intense message and the detail hidden in the storyline. I find this material exceptionally interesting to read and I, therefore, recommend this to any person interested in the "Brittania" Royal Family.

Such a fun read. I was laughing out loud several times. Great satire and pleasantly took my mind off all the tensions and problems going on in real life.