Christopher Anstee grew up in the hidden and isolated coal mining valleys of Wales. He struggled to conform with the limitations of his small world, and by the age of eight, he had already been confronted with intolerance and the ridicule of the very people he identified with most. Christopher was a child fuelled by an energy for all things bright and ostentatious, but he learned all too soon that those things were the very attributes that made you vulnerable and an outcast in this world, especially if you were a boy. With the brightest light in his little heart he strived to become who he truly was, despite the hurdles that faced him. Christopher spent his early days being labelled a queer and a queen by his bullies, but instead of trying to prove them wrong, he actually found his power in proving them right. He navigated his way through relationships, broken dreams and spectacular ambitions on a sometimes dizzy, dramatic, humour filled journey, to find that one thing we all want, fulfilment. Inspired by spirituality, humanity and a sprinkling of pop icons, Christopher battled anxiety, loss and the inner demons from his childhood to take control of his life, and to live it his way. Polish The Crown is a powerful collection of memories, poems and beautiful illustrations that celebrate the extraordinarily ordinary life of a boy who grew up under the shadow of section 28. A boy who became a proud gay man, despite the life and times that once defined him.
