The Royal Romantic Comedy
Once upon a time there was a handsome Prince, who was trying to hold on to a sense of anonymity despite his face being on all the magazines, and there was a fair woman who was looking for an adventure and was off to break down barriers: her own and those put upon her. Then as it would happen, fate threw them together. Their passionate disinterest for each other was often discussed by friends with a knowing look in their eyes. Soon they discovered that their feelings were actually feelings of love. Despite all the obstacles thrown in their path, they were able found a version of happily ever after.
There is an inherent romance to the idea of a Prince or Princess Charming falling in a whirlwind romance with a non-royal partner, whether that is in real life or literature. In the past five years, there has been an increased amount of literature published that is influenced by real-life fairytales, and the large majority has been centered around fictionalized versions of the English royal family. The stories of Kate Middleton and, more recently, Meghan Markle have captured audiences across the world, as we follow along with their royal weddings, catch news about their latest charitable activities, and keep an eye on their recent fashion choices. These women are not the first to marry into the royal family and most certainly won’t be the last but in this decade they have been at the front and center of it all. (Interestingly, few stories are written about the men who marry into the family as most of the drama focuses on the women.) And yet, the pressure placed upon each woman to carry herself in a certain way in the eyes of the press and their soon to be family is overwhelming. One step out of line and it is all over the media. One step in line and it is all over the media. It is incredibly isolating to live under a microscope especially during what is supposed to be some of the happiest times of one’s life.
Three stories that do a captivating job of portraying this royal drama, pressure, and the butterfly feeling of falling in love are The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan (it is important to note they also run the website Go Fug Yourself which has a weekly royal column), Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins, and Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. These are stories of the fairy tale: you never think it will happen to you, until it does. These three novels, and the majority of royal themed rom-coms that have been published recently, center around the start of the romance and the secrets that occur behind closed doors throughout the courtship, and not what happens after the wedding which I think is where the story can get really interesting. Along this theme, the authors of The Royal We are currently working on a sequel that will discuss what happens after that happily ever after which is due to be published in 2020.
All three works are written by American women and feature American protagonists who enter into relationships with the royals. The majority of the courtship happens overseas which seems to add to the magic of it all. It is perhaps the Americanness of it all that strikes me as the most interesting element of these stories as we are not a country built on royalist enthusiasm, and yet so many are drawn to the Queen and England in general. What exactly is the draw? Is it a draw to the world behind closed doors? Is it the fantasy of falling for a prince and being able to live in another country, or is it simply a fun story device to play with? None of these questions took away from my enjoyment of the read and if anything it was while preparing for this piece that I began to connect the similarities of the works that I realized they shared many similar elements. Granted, I as the reviewer have read all three works, and am here to write about their appeal, so maybe that is an answer in and of itself.
Though touching on similar themes and framing devices, each of these romantic comedies reads very different. The Royal We is inspired by William and Kate’s romance where they met at university and then had to make the tough decision of deciding if the royal course was right for them. Versions of the cover art depict their real life wedding photos. Her Royal Highness is a queer YA novel about an American high schooler who goes off to boarding school in Scotland and finds herself rooming and falling for the Scottish Princess. Her Royal Highness is actually a companion novel to Prince Charming, which follows Princes Flora’s brother, the heir, and his romance with, you guessed it, an American girl. Red, White & Royal Blue is a queer adult novel about the relationship between the First Son of the United States and the royal Prince.
While romance is at the heart of these stories, so are the realities of today’s life and its many pressures. Interest in royal life, their ups, downs, and all the heartbreak along the way is a key element to each book as is the media’s role in portraying these ups and downs. Each novel offers a specific commentary about the media, portrayed predominately negative, which I think draws from the treatment toward Diana, Princess of Wales. Her presence is felt across the books though each depiction is different as she’s never directly referenced, as she doesn’t exist in these fictional worlds, but elements of her story are found in the absence and treatment of the mother or father characters, or through her style. Although Meghan Markle is also not directly mentioned in either book, as she doesn’t exist in these worlds per say and the characters are essentially filling what would be her shoes, her recent treatment is paralleled through our protagonists as they face similar ridicules for everything they do. This is mainly felt in The Royal We and Red, White & Royal Blue.
The most recent ITV documentary following Meghan and Harry’s royal tour through Africa poignantly features an interview in which Meghan is asked if she has found this time difficult, and she responds that no one has asked her if she is okay. She has been ridiculed and judged for everything she’s done from cradling her baby bump too much while pregnant, to being too Hollywood in terms of the styles of dresses she decides to wear or for not wanting to wear shear pantyhose which is a staple for Kate and the Queen, to being ridiculed for the way her estranged family acts. It is heartbreaking to watch as this is a woman who married for love and has since had a very difficult year adjusting to her new life, which the public and press have then debated if she deserves sympathy at all. In terms of what the real royals have had to endure, I would say the books are rather tame in terms of what the characters have to endure, but I do think there is a direct link between reality and fiction. The novels are able to make a commentary about the way these real life women and men are treated when making decisions for love, and the way in which they are torn apart for this decision.
Now let’s get to the books.
The one that I didn’t want to end, that made me laugh and tear up, sometimes at the same time, was Red, White & Royal Blue. It is a novel that is filled with such optimism and hope. Set in 2018 on a slight alternative timeline in which the 2016 election went in the way of hope and change by electing its first female, latino President from Texas. President Claremont and her administration sits in the background as this story is about Alex Claremont-Diaz, the first son and eligible bachelor. Alex has always found Prince Henry of England to be insufferable, despite his exquisite jawline and the way he looks in a tailored suit. This is only made worse when the two men find themselves colliding into the cake at the wedding of Henry’s eldest brother, Prince Philip, who is anything but cool and collected. Now they must make nice after they find their faces on the cover of every magazine and spark international tensions when rumors circulate that the two men hate each other. That simply will not do.
Their respective teams come up with a plan that the story sold to the public should be that they’re the best of mates and what happened at the wedding was nothing more than an accident. An accident that everyone should laugh off. Photo ops are staged at the stables where Henry looks like a windswept model riding his horse into view as he stops next to a waiting Alex and the two beam for the camera, pretending this is nothing out of the norm. Then there are interviews on Good Morning Britain and press at the cancer wing of the local hospital. Alex thinks the hospital visit is just a ploy for the press until he catches Henry in a room without cameras talking compassionately to a young patient, and he remembers that Henry isn’t immune to grief. His father, Arthur Fox, famed actor who played James Bond, died years earlier from the same disease. Arthur was married to Princess Catherine, the first royal to ever receive a PhD, and who notably married for love. Catherine became a recluse after Arthur’s death. Her absence and his death have remained shadows over the family which caused Henry to pick up a lot of the slack. He’s had to pretend he’s stronger than he wants to be. It is during this visit that the hospital goes into lockdown and the two are ushered into a safe room: the storage closet. It is in these close confines that Alex and Henry first see each other as real people in similar situations. There might be hope for a real friendship after all.
There is a spark between them that will eventually grow into a fire. It’ll take Alex longer to realize that his feelings for Henry are real and to come to terms with what that means. Including what that means in terms of how Alex identifies. Although he always had an interest in a magazine photo of Henry that was in one of his sister’s tabloid magazines, Alex never thought that he was attracted to men. And yet he finds himself thinking about Henry at all hours. When their first kiss happens, Alex feels something he’s never felt for anyone else. Alex isn’t ready to come out as bi to his friends and family right away but he comes out to himself. He feels a sense of relief when he takes that step. His story is one of self discovery and figuring out how he fits into the roles he had previously carved out for himself.
“What are you even doing right now?”
“What am I doing? I was trying to sleep.”
“Okay, but you’re eating Jabba Cakes, so”
“Jaffa cakes, my God,” Henry says. “I’m having my entire life haunted by a deranged American Neanderthal and a pair of turkeys, apparently.”
“And?”
Henry heaves another almighty sigh. He’s always sighing when Alex is involved. It’s amazing he has any air left. “And… don’t laugh.”
“Oh, yay,” Alex says readily.
“I was watching the Great British Bake Off.”
“Cute. Not embarrassing, though. What else?”
“I, er, might be… wearing one of those peely face masks,” he says in a rush.
“Oh my God, I knew it!”
“Instant regret.”
“I knew you had one of those crazy expensive Scandinavian skin care regiments. Do you have that, like, eye cream with diamonds in it?”
“No!” Henry pouts, and Alex has to press the back of his hand against his lips to stifle his laugh. “Look, I have an appearance tomorrow, all right? I didn’t know I’d be scrutinized.”
“I’m not scrutinizing. We all gotta keep those pores in check,” Alex says. “So you like Bake Off, huh?”
“It’s just so soothing,” Henry says. “Everything’s all pastel-colored and the music is so relaxing and everyone’s so lovely to one another. And you learn so much about different types of biscuits, Alex. So much. When the world seems awful, such as when you’re trapped in a Great Turkey Calamity, you can put it on and vanish into biscuit land.” (80-81)
They both have insomnia and can be found awake at all hours. Henry has a dog called David (after Bowie) and is often tormented by his sister’s cat, Mr Wobbles. Alex is a caffeine junky who has ambitions of being a Senator, one of the youngest, if he can survive his senior year while also helping to run his mother’s reelection companion. There are moments of the Thanksgiving turkeys having to share a room with Alex, upon his insistence as he didn’t think the turkeys who were to be pardoned the next day should have to sleep in a crate. (The same turkeys who make an appearance in the above quote.) There are stolen kisses after a polo match and drunken karaoke. Henry wants to break away from his family so he can embrace the true version of himself. He plays the role when he’s at Wimbledon or Alex’s famous holiday party, but he lets go of that image when behind closed doors. Their interactions and tensions lead to sexy scenes as they explore what they want from this relationship and also have a bit of fun.
When their relationship is leaked to the press Alex and Henry find themselves in an even bigger scandal than the cake incident. Alex is forced to sit down with the President who asks him if Henry is worth it, as she’ll go to bat for Alex and protect him. Then as his mother asks if he’s alright. Henry has to deal with the crown who doesn’t want him to come out as gay as they think its bad for their image. And in the midst of all this are two men who are trying to figure out where they stand with each other and if the person on the other side of the world is perhaps their person. The public, on the other hand, backs them entirely.
Alex’s form of sanity comes from his sister June, a budding journalist, and Nora, the VP’s granddaughter and also a statistics genius. They’ve been dubbed the “White House Trio” and are thick as thieves. Henry’s solace comes from his sister Bea (short for Beatrice) and Pez (short for Percy Okonjo), an entrepreneur who has a massive crush on June. When the friends mix, it is a perfect storm that brings out the best and craziest sides of Alex and Henry. The friends group plays a large role in all three romcoms. They are the sounding board and support system for the protagonist, and there tends to be a sibling dynamic that influences whether or not the relationship will be successful. In the case of The Royal We, Bex’s twin, Lacey, has the ability to detour the wedding, and in the case of RW&RB Bea and June provide constant support for both Henry and Alex and yet they are often left in the dark about their brothers’ true feelings. The more successful the world around the royal romance tends to be, the more likely the relationship will not face as much drama from internal circles.
As the reader, we also feel connected to their journey for though we spend the majority of our time with Alex and his perspective, we get to read the text messages and emails they send back and forth. The media is leaked these private conversations and it gains traction with all of the major publications. Both are outed without their consent. The press is seen as a nameless force that is there to create complications. The arm of today’s media has spread so far beyond printed publications that everything is accessible from a cellphone and any phone can watch anyone. To each of our protagonists and their love interests, their actions are constantly monitored by outside parties. This is a departure from The Royal We where print media plays a much more in your face role as news spreads across tabloids and newspapers in a way that feels inescapable and in a way reminds me of Notting Hill when Julia Roberts’ character is constantly followed by the British press. Her Royal Highness uses media in a different way as we get to read what’s being published from a perspective that is outside of the couple. At the start of some chapters there are snidbits from magazine and newspaper articles about Princess Flora’s life and what she’s up to. It was a fun device to see how the outside world looks at her and then to see how that is not always an accurate representation.
Her Royal Highness follows a similar trajectory as RW&RB. Millie Quint is a high school student living in Texas who has been dreaming about living out a fantasy life in Scotland. On a whim, she decides to apply to do her senior year at the elite boarding school, Gregorstoun. According to Prattle magazine’s “Best Boarding Schools for Landing a Royal,” Gregorstoun is ranked #4 on their list of best boarding schools in Scotland. It is knocked down a few numbers due to its early wake-up calls and the grueling Outward Bound-esque competition know only as “the Challenge,” it has also been the chosen spot for Scottish royalty and nobility since the early 1900s. This year it welcomes its first ever female class (1).
Not only does Millie get accepted and now has to figure out how to tell her father she’s going and find scholarships to pay for it, she also is now thinking of turning down the offer. The thing is she’s fallen for her best friend who becomes her first girlfriend. The idea of leaving this budding romance behind when it is just beginning sits uneasy with Millie. She’s standing on the edge of going off into something unknown that could be great but unsure of which something great she wants: a romance or an adventure. Luckily for Mille both lie ahead for her as her best friend/girlfriend unceremoniously dumps her in order to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. A binge of Outlander episodes and an awkward run-in at the grocery store only worsens Millie’s heartbreak. She does the only thing she can think of as staying in this small town and watching her love carry on with something else is too much to handle. Away to Scotland she goes.
Scotland is not all its cracked up to be. Yes it is filled with cozy jumper weather and dramatic foggy hillsides and yes she’s basically living in a castle and her roommate is an actual Princess but they’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. And if that weren’t bad enough, they’ve been partnered together on Gregorstoun’s yearly “Challenge” in which students must survive for two days in the wilderness and Flora will do anything to get removed from school, including sabotage.
She’s looking over my shoulder, her face gone a little pale, and I freeze.
“What?” I ask, scared to look.
“Shhhh!” she instructs weaving a hand. “Just…keep your voice down. It’s fine.”
Her face, and those wide eyes seem to say it’s very not fine, and I can feel every hair on my body standing on end. “Is it a bear?” I whisper, and she shakes her head.
“Bears have been extinct in Scotland for—”
“Hundreds of years, I know, and I do not want a history lesson right now!” I hiss, and finally, unable to take it anymore, I turn.
And Flora’s “oh, dear,” makes a lot more sense. […]
Because that’s what’s behind me. A massive deer with a bunch of very pointy antlers, looking right at me. Look, I am no stranger to wildlife. I am a Texas Girl after all. […] But it’s the size of this thing that has my heart pounding and my mouth dry with fear.
“It’s not a deer,” Flora says, “it’s a stag.”
“Not really hung up on appropriate nomenclature right now,” I reply, my lips barely moving. “Mostly interested in not getting impaled.”
The stag hugs out a breath, and I tense up. Then Flora moves into my peripheral vision, one hand out-stretched.
“What are you doing?” I ask, which is hard because again, lips numb at this point with the terror and all.
“The stage is the national animal of Scotland,” she tells me, moving forward very slowly, never taking her eyes off the animal in front of us. “And since I’m a princess…” (136-138).
But of course, Flora isn’t allowed to leave school, and these mutual feelings of hatred lead toward feelings of friendship, which then leads to more than friendship. One of my favorite sequences is when Millie attends a ball with Flora in the highlands and is dressed for the occasion in a sweeping ballgown. The two find themselves in the orangery, away from prying eyes, and have their first dance together. And not to mention the big romantic gesture at the end of the book that involves the characters finally coming true about their feelings.
This book is so delightful, in part because it captures the fantasy of wanting to live in another country and figure out who is the person you want to be all while falling in love with someone who sees that person before you do. I began reading Her Royal Highness outside on a restaurant patio, beneath the leafy banister, and found myself immediately whisked off to Scotland. Every step of Millie’s journey was enjoyable and left me with warm feelings. Out of the three books I would say this is the easiest to dive into. It feels like a nice middle ground between the two in terms of style, commitment level, and also flow of the story. The plot covers a school year though you’ll be less concerned about the seasons and more about who will make the first move.
The final title, The Royal We, will also whisk you away to an academic setting just as grand as Gregorstoun, except you’ll quickly move away from the ivy covered walls and into the streets of London. Bex Porter learns that Cornell offers an exchange program with Oxford and immediately applies. She’s never been further from her twin sister, Lacey, and yet she finds the desire to be around art, antiquities, and history too appealing to deny. It is on a rainy day that Bex finds herself standing in front of Pembroke College trying to navigate her way across the cobblestones all while balancing her two giant suitcases, laptop bag, and purse. Luckily, the Porter doesn’t answer the door and she is greeted and helped by Prince Nick, who she instantly insults before realizing that he’s in fact the prince. A trait that Bex shares with Millie and Alex, as our three principles have a special talent for insulting the royals upon first meeting.
Bex is ushered into Nick’s inner circle by the luck of the draw as the room that she’s been placed in belongs to Cilla, a family friend, who quickly introduces us to the rest of the gang down at the JCR: Gaz (short for Garamount, like the font, which his family invented), Joss (a budding fashion design), Clive (Bex’s initial love interest who will become the reporter who makes the royal romance a tad more complicated), and Lady Bollocks (real name: Beatrix Larchmont-Kent-Smythe). It is my speculation that part of Lady Bollock’s name comes from Larchmont Village - a street in central LA where cute coffee shops and boutiques line the neighborhood destination. Nick’s brother, Freddie, will appear later in the book, and serves a Prince Harry like function, pre-Meghan. The inner circle takes Bex under their collective wing and introduce her to all the glamor that the English aristocracy has to offer. Not to mention, that she’ll earn the heart of young Nick through the moments where they’re able to be entirely themselves. Their lives quickly leave the security and privacy of Oxford as soon as Bex is introduced as a potential suitor to the heir.
My favorite sections of the novel are those when the friends are all together, and when we are introduced to Night Bex and Night Nick. Their early bonding comes from their evenings spent in each other’s rooms watching old tv shows and binging on junk food. They both are nocturnal creatures by nature, enjoying the solitude that is offered to them. These moments set up why we want Bex and Nick to work out because we understand that what they have is real and worth protecting, and yet the outside world will do all it can to tear them apart. It is in these moments when they’re hidden in Oxford that feel the most romantic. The reader can only imagine William and Kate having similar interactions up at St. Andrews before the pressures to fulfill a role took on. So many of the plot’s details mirror their real life romance: from their time at university together, to breaking up and getting back together, to the details of Bex’s emerald ring which belonged to Nick’s mother to her green v-neck engagement dress that mirrors Kate’s though in a different color, to the way their engagement was announced. There is plenty of fictionalized elements through the book though I could feel the real lives serving as the backbone of this world.
Holed up in my room, I felt nauseated thinking about leaving Nick alone to wilt under Richard’s wrath. I had several elaborate fantasies about storming back in and give him hell on Nick’s behalf, but in the end, I just out my lights so I could feign being asleep […]
Day Bex wanted me to give it up and go to sleep, like a rational person, but Night Bex never obeys that boring old shrew. So I grabbed a pen and the Devour DVD and crept toward Nick’s door, careful to avoid the squeaky parts of the old floor. Underneath the string of exclamation marks on Lacey’s note, I scribbled, Dear Night Nick: Take two and call me in the morning, then smoothed the Post-it back over the DVD and shoved it all under his door.
The next morning it came back under mine. Day Nick is dead. Long life Night Nick (62-63).
In contrast, one of the more frustrating elements about The Royal We is the ending. Without giving too much away, I found that the story abruptly stops before the big reveal that we’ve spent the entire novel working up to. It was unsatisfying as I wanted to see that moment and experience it along with the characters and not being able to felt like being denied this moment. The courtship of Bex and Nick feels more traditional than the other books and focuses much more on the world behind the glamor that Bex must discover and decide she’s willing to enter. The Royal We goes the most in depth about the process of marrying into a royal family and the ways in which one has to be reshaped in order to appear suitable. Bex has to give herself to this family and leave her old world behind. Nick has far less to loose as this is the world he knows and has no choice but to follow.
While I was on board with them as a couple, I remember being less invested due to the world of supporting characters around them and what seems to be a lack of support. Everyone wants something from them once the engagement is announced whether that’s Lacey who wants publicity and the chance to shine outside of Bex’s spotlight, and to wear her clothes; there’s Clive who bemoans that he hasn’t broken juicy stories about the family out of loyalty but that he deserves a lead otherwise he won’t be taken seriously by the other papers; and then there’s Joss who wants to dress Bex in her outlandish designs as a way to gain publicity and sales, which is a very real thing that happens. Everyone, even their nearest and dearest, see this relationship as something to be gained. I can only imagine how real those conversations must be and how the pressures of balancing two worlds - the one before and the one after - can be incredibly trying for a person who has suddenly become known across the world based on who they’re dating. I found Bex to be sympathetic when faced with these dilemmas but then my sympathy would wane based on the actions of the people she chose to spend her time.
People don’t usually get to take stock of the exact second everything changes; by the time they catch up to it, like a breeze, it has passed. But as we reached the door, the world slowed down so my artist’s mind could engrave upon itself every sight and smell and sound of what I was doing. The light spilling through the open doorway. The roar of the villagers. The clammy, nervous sweat starting to form under my arms. The tie Nick chose, the exact shade of his blue suit, the heaviness of his ring on my finger. For years we’d walked the razor’s edge between public and private, together and apart, and as we stood there on the verge, I was struck hardest by the power of what it felt like to decide. To take an outstretched hand knowing it would lead me on a journey I could not reverse. And when I let out that breath and followed Nick into the glare, I left a part of myself behind (320).
So much of my impressions of the book were planted from my first read years ago. Revisiting passages now, I found that my impression has changed slightly as I could feel the weight put upon Bex and Nick in a different way. Bex struggles to embrace her new life while also mourning the loss of her old anonymity and then the very real loss of her father. Nick has had to hide his true self in favor of his royal persona. We see him put on his armor before social gatherings in much the same way that we see Henry do the same. Nick’s mother has been hidden away from public view as she’s been dealing with mental health issues and is no longer the bright woman she once was. He’s the one that wants to tell the country the truth and the responsibility of speaking about this stigma lands heavy on his shoulders. He doesn’t want to hide behind his family’s lives anymore. The authors make this fairy tale experience feel human and relatable in a way that the reader can hold onto. And it feels like some of these experiences could’ve been endured by a young Kate before her engagement could be announced and before she was accepted by the family, and later, her country.
There are many similarities between these three titles but I think what is most striking is the way in which each author has chosen to depict the romance. Alex and Henry are doing the long distance thing in which they rely heavily on social media to keep them connected and flights to each other, when possible. This felt realistic as so much of a long distance romance are the moments spent apart followed by the few minutes or hours when you’re on the same schedule. Then there’s the lead-up to the days where you’ll actually be in the same place. Whereas Bex and Nick, and Flora and Millie have the opposite dynamic where they are in the same circumstances and location before they become romantically involved. I think those two are much more built on a history of friendship first, whereas Alex and Henry only briefly flirt with being friends. The royal families that the writers have created are partially influenced by the Windsors, except for Her Royal Highness. The Royal We has created a new family with its own last name and historical figures whereas RW&RB uses the Windsor name in Henry’s last name. His name draws comparison to the real Prince Harry though Freddie’s actions are much more in line with the former wild prince.
All in all I think the appeal of these romances is the fantasy that something magical could happen to you when you least expect it. There’s an adventure to love finding you. There are so many other details and story points within each book. This is only a small sampling so as not to ruin the surprises but rather to entice you to read more. All three couples have their ups and downs and yet I think it is the small personal moments that really define who they are and why we care. Most of all I had a lot of fun reading these titles and found myself not wanting the story to end, which is what you want in a good book. Though there are royal elements, and rabbit-holes to dive down to figure out what is based on reality and what is purely fiction, I think the books can also stand alone and be enjoyed for their story and romance without having any previous interest in the royals. If you need a pick me up, a joyful read, a dive into the world of foreign affairs then I would recommend all three.
If this category of romantic comedies appeals to you, other titles that might be worth checking out are: American Royals by Katherine McGee, Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory, The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory, and of course The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. The films The Prince & Me, the Christmas Prince trilogy, or Ever After would all be worth checking out.
