Poor old Princess Michael of Kent in these hard times of austerity

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On the outlandish penury front, it never rains but it pours. As if stocks of sympathy were not already bankrupted by Bibi Netanyahu, Princess Michael of Kent outs herself as a victim of stretched finances.

“I am in very austere economic times too, thank you very much!”, she winsomely tells The Times, reaching out to a cash-strapped literary public while plugging her debut novel.

“We’ve cut back dramatically. I mean we never go … to restaurants. That’s too extravagant,” she added.

I would recommend the Stick and Bowl, a brilliant cheap Chinese the briefest of strolls from her grace-and-favour tenement in Kensington Palace. But perching on a stool at a Formica counter might be pushing the prolier-than-thou act a bit when the Kents have already gone far enough in economising’s name by using easyJet for short hops.

“It’s the only direct route to Biarritz,” explains Marie Christine, tweaking the heartstrings yet again. “For long-haul, we go club.”

As an act of charity, please, please buy Princess Michael’s novel, The Queen of Four Kingdoms. Those as skint as Her Royal Highness have permission to wait the requisite fortnight until Amazon does the inevitable, and makes it that crucial bit more affordable.

Twitter: @MatthewJNorman

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