Red, White & Royal Blue

Plot

Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son of the United States, attends the wedding of Prince Phillip, Duke of Cambridge. Alex has a long-standing feud with Prince Henry, Prince Phillip's younger brother. During the reception, Alex and Henry get into an argument that results in the £75,000 wedding cake falling on top of them.

To mitigate the fallout after the cake incident and help his mother's re-election campaign, Alex is forced into a series of interviews and appearances with Henry, in which they pose as friends. While stuck in a custodial closet, Alex admits that he began to resent Henry after he rebuffed him at Alex's first appearance as a public figure. Henry apologizes, explaining that he had just lost his father, and was forced by the Palace to appear at events while mourning. The two make amends, later beginning to text regularly and become real friends.

At Alex's annual New Year's party, a drunk Henry leaves abruptly after seeing Alex kiss several girls at midnight. Alex follows him outdoors to the White House grounds. Henry expresses frustration with how he will never be able to be the real him, and he kisses Alex. After the party, Henry neglects to respond to Alex's attempts to contact him for several weeks. During Henry's silence, Alex confides in Nora, his best friend and the Vice President's granddaughter, and he realizes that he is attracted to Henry.

Alex texts Henry to ask if he will be attending the Prime Minister's dinner, which Henry does not respond to. Henry does attend the dinner, and they are forced to interact publicly to keep appearances. Alex requests his Secret Service bodyguard arrange for him and Henry to talk somewhere private, where Henry begins to express remorse for the kiss on New Year's, but Alex kisses him again. They are interrupted by Alex's Secret Service.

The pair quickly become lovers, although they keep it a secret from everyone except those who are directly necessary, such as bodyguards. They also tell close friends, using private jets to traipse back and forth across the Atlantic throughout their relationship.

Alex comes up with a plan for his mother to win Texas, their home state, in the upcoming election. After much badgering for his mother to read his plan, he travels to Texas to lead the campaign effort. When he goes to Brooklyn to speak at the Democratic National Convention, Henry surprises him with a visit, where they are later caught and Henry is forced to return home. Alex later comes out to his mother, who is supportive, but advises him to consider his relationship with Henry carefully.

Cast

Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son of the United States

Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Henry, third in line to the British throne

Clifton Collins Jr. as Congressman Oscar Diaz, Alex's father

Sarah Shahi as Zahra Bankston, the deputy chief of staff for Ellen Claremont

Rachel Hilson as Nora Holleran, Alex's best friend and the granddaughter of the vice president of the United States

Stephen Fry as James III, King of the United Kingdom and Prince Henry's grandfather

Uma Thurman as Ellen Claremont, the first female president of the United States and Alex's mother

Ellie Bamber as Princess Beatrice, Prince Henry's younger sister

Thomas Flynn as Prince Phillip, Prince Henry's elder brother

Malcolm Atobrah as Percy Okonjo, Prince Henry's best friend

Akshay Khanna as Shaan Shrivastava, Prince Henry's equerry

Sharon D. Clarke as the prime minister of the United Kingdom

Aneesh Sheth as Amy, a United States Secret Service agent

Juan Castano as Miguel Ramos, a political journalist and Alex's past fling

Charles Nishikawa as the prime minister of Japan

Production

Development

In April 2019, it was reported that Amazon Studios had won an auction to the film rights of Red, White & Royal Blue, which would be produced by Berlanti Productions through its subsidiary Berlanti-Schechter Films. In October 2021, it was reported that Matthew López was hired to direct and re-wrote a draft of the script by Ted Malawer.

Casting

On June 1, 2022, Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine were announced as the film's leads, playing Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry respectively. Shortly after, Uma Thurman was confirmed to play Ellen Claremont. Clifton Collins Jr., Stephen Fry, Sarah Shahi, Rachel Hilson, Ellie Bamber, Aneesh Sheth, Polo Morín, Ahmed Elhaj, and Akshay Khanna were also announced to be joining the cast. Production began in the UK that same month. In July 2022, Sharon D. Clarke, Malcolm Atobrah, and Thomas Flynn were cast.

Filming

Principal photography began in the United Kingdom in June 2022 and wrapped that August.

The Sculpture Gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum was featured in the dance scene. The scene prominently features the Torso of Banović Strahinja sculpture by Ivan Meštrović.

Music

Drum & Lace composed the film's score. The soundtrack album was released on August 11, 2023, by Lakeshore Records.

The album features songs by artists Vagabon and Oliver Sim. "If I Loved You" by Vagabon was released as a promotional single on July 26, 2023. It is a cover of the song of the same name from the musical Carousel. It was followed by "Fruit (Red, White & Royal Blue Version)" by Sim on August 3, 2023. It is an orchestral version of his song of the same name from his 2022 album Hideous Bastard.

Release

Red, White & Royal Blue had its world premiere at the BFI IMAX in London on July 22, 2023, although its actors were absent due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Matthew López was the only member of the production present but did not walk the red carpet, or give interviews as he was also on strike as a member of the Writers Guild of America.

The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on August 11, 2023. For the first three weeks after its release, it was the top watched film worldwide on the platform and provoked what Prime Video described as "a huge surge" of new subscribers. Amazon Prime Video did not release the film in Turkey due to its LGBT scenes.

Reception

Critical response

The film received generally positive reviews upon release. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 122 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Amusing and endearing, Red, White & Royal Blue is a cheerfully formulaic rom-com that embraces inclusion without falling back on stereotypes." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

CNN Entertainment's Brian Lowry stated that the film "is at its core a fairy-tale romance – only where the challenge isn't the customary wicked stepmother or malevolent witch, but rather what happens when true love finds two princes, not one." Amy Nicholson of The New York Times wrote: "It sounds like fan fiction and looks like it, too, particularly when Galitzine dips his chin bashfully – a tic that Princess Diana passed on to her boys. Yet, as in any screwball romance worth its trans-Atlantic sea-salt, the first-time director Matthew López gets us rooting for the cheeky couple's transition from rivals to romantic bedfellows, boosted by the cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, who photographs the leads so adoringly that you half-expect them to turn to the camera and hawk a bottle of cologne. Thanks to their playful chemistry, we're sold." She, however, criticized several "over-florid theatrical flourishes". The Guardian's Wendy Ide awarded the film three out of five stars, dubbing it "so slick and polished, it feels obsessively micro-managed rather than directed." However, she praised the charisma of Zakhar Perez and Galitzine and credited it for the film's appeal: "It turns out that watching two impossibly beautiful boys making cow eyes at each other might be just the escapist pulp we need right now."

New York Post's Lauren Sarner thought that the film "has some big flaws, but it's fun and cute rom-com with heart". She criticized Thurman's performance (dubbing it "career-worst"), her Texan accent and the writing of her character, but praised Zakhar Perez's and Galitzine's performances. Sarner also took note of resemblance between Prince Henry and Prince Harry; both princes are spares and their romances with their American lovers lead to strained relationships with their older brothers. Jessie Thompson of The Independent awarded it three out of five stars, summarizing it as "wry and witty at first, but then becomes unstuck as it enters into soap opera mode", additionally drawing comparisons with The Crown and Prince Harry's media tour, and taking note of an "air of liberal fantasy to it all". She characterized the casting of Zakhar Perez and Galitzine as "absurdly [good] ... like cartoon Disney princes made into humans", and Thurman's performance as "delightfully camp".

Sequel

The cast and filmmakers announced a sequel for the film on May 9, 2024, at a Q&A session after a screening. On October 15, 2025, the sequel was officially greenlit by Amazon. The announcement included the title of the movie, Red, White & Royal Wedding, and its director, Jamie Babbit.