This post contains spoilers for Red, White & Royal Blue.
“It’s absolutely undeniable that the fans love the book for the same reasons that I do, so I think of myself as one of them,” Red, White & Royal Blue director and co-writer Matthew López told Vanity Fair of how he approached Casey McQuiston’s New York Times best-selling novel. His adaptation of the book is now streaming on Prime Video. “You could argue that I’m such a rabid, passionate fan that I made the most expensive bit of fan fiction ever. I hope the fans take solace from the fact that one of them has made this movie.”
Given López’s reverence for the source material, much of the original enemies-to-lovers story between British prince Henry (Cinderella’s Nicholas Galitzine) and American first son Alex Claremont-Diaz (The Kissing Booth’s Taylor Zakhar Perez) remains the same. They still connect over a royal wedding gone wrong, quote Sense & Sensibility via text, and consider a polo match as foreplay. But the film isn’t completely beholden to the book on which it’s based. Ahead, a look at the biggest differences between RW&RB book and movie, from missing characters to a completely changed coming-out scene.
Alex and Henry’s Siblings
With any adaptation, inevitably a few characters’ arcs will be scaled back or downright stripped from the narrative. The victim in this book-to-film transfer is June Claremont-Diaz, Alex’s unfiltered but supportive sister, who pretends to date Henry when rumors about her brother’s relationship start to circulate. In the novel, she’s Alex’s closest confidant, along with his friend Nora (played by Rachel Hilson), granddaughter of the Vice President. And it’s in the pages of her teen magazine that a 12-year-old Alex first spots a photo of Henry. In the film, she’s completely absent.
While both of Henry’s siblings—Prince Philip (Thomas Flynn) and Princess Bea (Ellie Bamber)—remain in the film, their roles have been largely reduced. Gone is Bea’s cocaine addiction—in the book, tabloids call her “Powder Princess”—and most scenes involving Prince Philip, who publicly shames Henry for not finding a proper wife while he and Alex attend Wimbledon.
The Political Intrigue Ratio
The political machinations surrounding both men, but particularly Alex, go far deeper in the book than the film. Many of them surround the character of Raphael Luna, a gay US senator and family friend of the Claremont-Diaz clan who shocks everyone when he joins the campaign for Republican presidential candidate Jeffrey Richards—the opponent of Alex’s mother, Ellen (played by Uma Thurman). We eventually learn that Rafael only jumped ship to expose Richards’ sexual misconduct—but more on that below. Rafael is missing from the movie, seemingly replaced by Miguel Ramos (Juan Castano). Miguel is a Politico journalist and Alex’s former lover who pulls a similar betrayal later in the film.
Alex’s Romantic History
Alex’s journey to acknowledging his bisexual identity is truncated to fit within the span of a two-hour film. In the film, he’s had some more experience and is less rattled by the fact that he kissed a man than by the fact that said man was his sworn enemy.:“I can wrap my head around being low-level into guys, but what I’m really confused about is being into Henry,” Alex says. In the novel, his kiss with Henry catapults Alex into a more in-depth internal struggle over his sexuality, and even a Google search on the presidential views of bisexuality.
The Details of Alex’s Coming Out
There’s cheeky acknowledgment of one book-to-movie difference in the film. After Alex comes out to his mother Ellen, she quips, “I mean, if I’d had more warning, I could’ve made you a Powerpoint presentation.” That is, in fact, exactly what happens in the book. The president creates a PowerPoint and schedules an official debriefing to cover the threats Alex’s romance with Henry could pose to her re-election. She also yanks her son from the campaign trail. In the movie, Ellen’s reaction to Alex’s reveal is far more positive. She urges him to use protection both actual— anyone who’s been yearning to hear Uma Thurman say “Truvada,” you’re welcome—and metaphorical. “You need to figure out if you feel forever about him if you take this any further,” Thurman warns in a Southern drawl. “A relationship like this will define your life.”
How Alex and Henry’s Relationship Is Leaked
With the character of Rafael Luna axed, there’s no subplot involving him exposing Ellen’s opponent as a sexual predator or evidence that the Richards campaign leaked our couple’s private correspondence. Instead, it’s that pesky Politico journalist who catches on to Alex and Henry and breaks the story of their relationship.
The Ending (Sort Of)
The final moments from the book, where the couple returns to Alex’s childhood home in Austin with the key he gifted Henry, remain intact. But a few tweaks have been made in setting up their fairytale ending. First off, Henry’s grandfather King James III (played by Stephen Fry) is his grandmother, Queen Catherine, in the book. Alex and Henry’s connection over Star Wars has been nixed from the film, meaning the mural painted of them as Han and Leia by the public is also gone. And it appears Anderson Cooper wasn’t available—so instead, it’s Rachel Maddow who declares Ellen’s presidential victory.
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