The trouble-making brother of the heir to the British throne who doesn’t want to play by the rules and falls in love with an American sounds like a very familiar tale.
But it’s not actually reality, it’s the plot of Amazon’s new rom-com movie, Red, White & Royal Blue, where a young English prince falls in love with the US President’s son.
On a diplomatic trip to the UK for a royal wedding, America’s dashing ‘first son’ Alex Claremont-Diaz reignites his long-time rivalry with ‘rogue royal’ Prince Henry.
While the adaption of the 2019 romance novel by Casey McQuiston features a fictional British Royal family, obvious comparisons have been made to Prince Harry.
Aside from having the same name, as Harry’s is in fact Henry Charles Albert David, there are a number of similarities to Prince Henry from the movie.
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Prince Henry has lost a parent, plays polo and enjoys partying, but actor Nicholas Galitzine says his character is “his own entity” but is actually more like a different royal.
“I feel like, especially in the last five years, Prince Harry and Prince William have been so in the public eye. Harry, especially being this kind of rogue amongst these very uptight, duty-bound royals, is maybe a comparison people will make,” Galitzine told People.
“But,” he adds, “to be honest, I feel like Henry almost has more of William in some sense. For a large part of the story, duty comes first. This responsibility that has been bestowed upon him since childhood comes first and he can’t put his love, who he really is, before that.”
The actor’s thoughts echo that of author McQuiston, who previously said many of the characters are pulled from a mixture of his brain, people he knows and history.
While director Matthew López has also addressed speculation that Henry is based on Harry.
“There is something probably borrowed from each of them that Casey put into the character [of Prince Henry],” said López in an interview with Tatler. “I think Harry’s inherent rebelliousness and William’s inherent sense of duty.”
“What’s interesting too is the third piece that’s missing from the real-life princes is the fact that Henry is gay. So it’s easy for Harry to be rebellious because he’s straight. And it’s easy for William to be dutiful…he doesn’t have to tell a lie in order to be dutiful.
“But Henry does have to tell a lie in order to be dutiful. Because of that lie, he also can’t be too rebellious. That’s what sets [Henry] apart from the two.”
Red, White & Royal Blue is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
