The film adaptation of the beloved gay rom-com novel landed its two leads and wrapped production across the pond, which means we’re a few steps closer to seeing the love story between Alex and Henry play out on-screen.
The Novel
Red, White & Royal Blue is a LGBT romance novel by American author Casey McQuiston, originally published on May 14, 2019,by St Martin’s Griffin. It centres around the character of Alex Claremont-Diaz, a first son of the United States, and his romantic relationship with Prince Henry, a British prince. Upon release, the novel received positive reviews with praise given to the representation of a gay relationship.
McQuiston first came up with the idea for what would become Red, White & Royal Blue during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. While watching a season of the HBO comedy series Veep and reading both a Hillary Clinton biography by Carl Bernstein, A Woman in Charge, and The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, they found themself intrigued by the extravagant, high-profile lifestyle of the royals and wanted to write their own take on a story featuring a royal family.
To say the movie verison for the Red, White & Royal Blue is high would be an understatement. The 2019 novel, written by author Casey McQuiston, hit the New York Times bestseller list shortly after it was published, and Amazon Studios snapped up the film rights thereafter.
With so much news coming straight from the movie’s set, we want to make sure you have everything you need to know about the Red, White & Royal Blue movie in one place. Below, we’ve gathered everything we know so far about the film, including release date, cast info, plot details, and more.
Plot
Alex Claremont-Diaz is the son of Ellen Claremont, the first female President of the United States, who is running for re-election in 2020. Alex, alongside his sister June and their friend Nora (granddaughter of the Vice President) attend a royal wedding. He has always despised the younger brother of the groom, Prince Henry, and after a confrontation at the wedding, the two end up in a physical altercation which culminates in both falling into and destroying the wedding cake.
The incident is photographed and highly publicised with both parties forcing Alex and Henry to pretend to be friends with each other to prevent it from becoming a full-blown diplomatic and media crisis that would distract from Alex’s mother’s election bid. While the effort is initially to control the damage, during the diplomatic visit, the two boys become friends, apologise to each other and exchange numbers. The two become close over time and Henry is later invited to an annual New Year’s Eve party where Henry kisses Alex. Henry comes out as gay and Alex realizes he is bisexual. The two begin a secret “friends with benefits” relationship and begin writing flirtatious emails while simultaneously building a close bond with each other. Alex eventually begins to develop feelings for Henry.
Alex turns to his mentor and friend, Senator Rafael Luna for help, only to find that he is the running mate for Ellen’s opponent, Jeffrey Richards. He eventually comes out to his mother who is supportive but reminds him that he needs to make sure the relationship is real and not just a fleeting moment. Henry begins ghosting Alex and after Alex confronts him, Henry lets him know that because of the royal family, they would not be able to have a proper relationship. He gives Alex his signet ring, continuing their secret relationship.
Their relationship becomes public when their emails and photos are leaked to the press. They are forced to stay away from each other while Ellen’s team handles the situation. Alex flies to England and supports Henry as he comes out to his family, including his grandmother, the Queen, who argues that the world will never accept them for who they are. As this happens, a gathering of people gather around the palace to express support for both Henry and Alex. Nora eventually finds out that it was Richards’ campaign who leaked the emails and photographs, with the help of Luna. After confronting him, Luna tells Alex he switched sides to expose Richards as a sexual predator. Ellen wins the election and Henry joins Alex onstage as an official couple.
- Director: Matthew López
- Writer: Matthew López, Ted Malawer, Casey McQuiston
- Stars: Sarah Shahi, Uma Thurman, Clifton Collins Jr., Nicholas Galitzine, Thomas Flynn
- Genre: Comedy, Romance
- Release Date: 2023-08-11
- Run Time: 112
Where will ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ be streaming? Red, White & Royal Blue will be streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, so you’ll need an Amazon Prime subscription to access it (or you can rent or buy it from Amazon without an Amazon Prime subscription).
