John Davidson says he once shouted expletives and a false bomb warning while standing just feet from Queen Elizabeth II, an episode he describes in his memoir I Swear: My Life With Tourette’s.
In a review published by the Daily Mail, Mark Mason recounts Davidson’s account of the 2019 investiture at Holyrood Palace, where Davidson, then due to receive an MBE, told police officers at the gate, “Bomb! I’ve got a fing bomb!” and later shouted “F the Queen!” while close to the monarch. The book, Mason wrote, is an “engaging and fascinating account” of living with Tourette’s syndrome.
Davidson’s memoir describes how he prepared for the ceremony to limit the consequences of involuntary vocal and physical tics. He says he avoided placing himself near ornamental plinths that might trigger urges to knock objects off and chose tartan trousers rather than a kilt to avoid an additional compulsion he feared would be triggered by the traditional garment. The book recounts being diagnosed with Tourette’s as a child in the 1980s, a period Davidson says had limited public understanding of the condition.
I Swear: My Life With Tourette’s is published by Doubleday and is listed at £18.99 for 304 pages. Mason’s review, published on Sept. 7, 2025, frames the memoir as a candid, often humorous primer on the daily reality of living with Tourette’s and the social misunderstandings that can follow involuntary behaviours.
Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological condition characterised by motor and vocal tics. Public awareness of the disorder has increased in recent years, but first-hand accounts from people who live with it remain relatively rare in mainstream book publishing. In his memoir, Davidson combines personal anecdotes with reflections on diagnosis and management of symptoms, according to the review.
Davidson’s description of the Holyrood incident underscores the unpredictable ways tics can manifest in public settings and the strategies some people with Tourette’s adopt to reduce potential harm or embarrassment. The memoir, as reviewed, positions those strategies alongside broader observations about stigma and adaptation.
The book adds to a small but growing body of personal narratives aimed at broadening public understanding of Tourette’s. Davidson’s account of the 2019 investiture, and the precautions he took, is presented in the review as emblematic of the tensions people with tics can navigate when participating in highly formal or symbolic events.
Mason’s piece in the Daily Mail is one of the early reviews to highlight the memoir following its publication. The review quotes passages from Davidson’s book and places the investiture anecdote at the centre of its appraisal, noting how the episode illustrates both the extremes of public reaction and the private measures individuals may take to manage involuntary behaviour.