Red, White & Royal Blue: A Queer Rom-Com for the Queers

  

First Son, Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz, and Prince of England Henry George Edward James Hanover-Stuart Fox are two young men who go from rivals to friends to lovers in the 2023 romantic-comedy Red, White & Royal Blue. Directed by Matthew Lopez, the film is an adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s 2019 novel of the same name. It follows Alex and Henry, played respectively by Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, as they navigate a relationship as two public figures intimately tied to politics. After an unfortunate mishap with a giant cake at Henry’s brother, Prince Philip’s (Thomas Flynn) wedding, Henry and Alex are forced into a fake PR friendship to appease the media and dispel any rumors of an ongoing feud. However, the two quickly overcome their differences and become quick friends. This friendship develops into something more charged when Henry kisses Alex at his New Year's Eve party. The smooch sends Alex spiraling into a sexuality crisis, but it doesn’t take long for Alex to figure out what he wants, thus starting a rapidly developing relationship that they both trick themselves into thinking is strictly casual. 

 

Red, White & Royal Blue (RWRB) is a romantic comedy in every sense of the word. It’s got all the elements that make a romcom, well, a rom-com. According to ScreenCraft, the must-need staples of any good romcom are charming leads, a meet-cute, an entertaining and interesting situation that draws the couple together, a lovable sidekick, a montage, a near breakup, an ‘oh’ moment, a grand gesture, and - of course - a happy ending (Perelman). RWRB has all of these - from a meet-cute over a toppled-over cake to an eccentric sidekick named Nora and a dramatic love confession while dripping rainwater. It upholds all these iconic tropes, without sanitizing the fact that it is a queer romantic comedy. While their intimate scenes aren’t as steamy as their book counterparts, none of the sex scenes are played for laughs or even overly sexualized. Instead, their love scenes and their other romantic interactions are captured with respect, care, tenderness, and fun.

 

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The film doesn’t shy away from the fact that it’s a love story between two men, who face direct opposition and hurdles because they are in a queer relationship. Could this idea of a First Child dating British Royalty work for a heterosexual couple? Yes. Despite that, it would still be an incredibly different film because queerness is an essential part of the tale, and of both Alex and Henry’s characters. Alex discovers his sexuality, whereas Henry discovered his long ago, but is forced to live his life in the closet. These are queer themes that cannot be transferred over to a straight film. RWRB may adhere to the tropes and clichés of the het-dominated rom-com genre, but it does so without straight-washing it. For all intents and purposes, this a queer film that is made primarily for queer people. 

 

While some reviewers feel the movie is a bit too cheesy or even cringe-worthy in it how married it is to the genre, I believe it deals with heavy topics while never falling into the over-tired trope of queer tragedy- and it’s one of my favorite things about it. “The element I was most concerned with, I think, was just striking that tonal balance,” Casey McQuiston, the author of the RWRB book, said in a Q&A at Brazos Bookstore in 2019. “[W]here it took the bad things seriously without getting too dark and revel in the good things without being too completely unrealistic or naive. That’s a hard balance to strike!” Like the book, the film balances heavier topics and the overall joy of the story. It feels realistic along with a healthy dose of idealism that underlines the importance of representing queer joy. 

 

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In terms of queer themes, one of my favorite aspects of RWRB is its bisexual main character. As a bisexual, I adore seeing bisexual characters in the media. Unfortunately, despite bisexuals making up roughly 50% of people in the LGBTQ community (Human Rights Campaign), only 19% of LGBTQ characters on broadcast television are bisexual in the 2023-2024 season (Statistica), and 21% in LGBTQ-inclusive films as of 2022 (GLAAD). There’s a lot of stigma and misinformation, or misunderstanding, of bisexuality, and while I don’t think the film can be heralded pinnacle of Bi representation, its positive portrayal of a bisexual character is refreshing. 

 

In the book version, Alex spirals a bit more after Henry kisses him and pushes him into an impromptu sexuality crisis. The film version does a speed run of this. While I think it would have been nice to see more of Alex working through his discovered sexuality, I do appreciate how accepting he and his friends and family are of his sexuality. It was a slice of comfort in a world full of homophobia and biphobia. During the coming out scene between Alex and his mother, Ellen says, “You know the ‘B’ LGBT is not a silent letter?” (1:08:46-1:10:28). While the story doesn’t go too hard into biphobia, that line is a nod to the erasure that is common for bisexual people and a reminder that they exist and are valid.

 

While I do think the film portrays Alex’s bisexuality in a positive light (by explicitly having him say the words ‘bisexual’ or ‘bi’, not having it be tied intrinsically to Henry, and by not utilizing harmful stereotypes) I do think they dropped the ball by not mentioning Nora’s sexuality. Nora Holleran (Rachel Hilson) is bisexual in the book. Because she never explicitly stated her sexuality in the film, I’m going to assume that she is still bisexual. However, the fact that they didn’t make even a passing nod to it in the movie is disappointing. She isn’t the main character of the story, but her sexuality being acknowledged is also important. Where the film reiterates that Alex dating a man doesn’t erase his bisexuality and “make him gay”, they also could have made room to reiterate Nora’s love interest being a man doesn’t erase her bisexuality and “make her straight”. Considering how hard it can be to find good bisexual representation in the media, it would have been great to have two openly bisexual characters in a relatively popular movie.

 

When it comes to Alex’s sexuality, he exists in a sphere where he’s surrounded by accepting people, meanwhile, Henry is surrounded by people who aren’t - besides his sister, Bea (Ellie Bamber), of course. This juxtaposes two opposite experiences of queer. Despite the fears his queerness may cause his mother's re-election campaign, when Alex comes out, all his immediate support systems are accepting of him - including his parents and his best friend. Henry on the other hand is forced into PR relationships with girls to uphold an image of heterosexuality. His grandfather, the King (Stephen Fry), pushes Henry to deny his relationship with Alex after their private emails get leaked. Henry is taught that his identity is not only unacceptable beyond the four walls of his castle, but that it’s something to be ashamed of. 

 

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In typical rom-com fashion, these obstacles of acceptance are overcome when Alex and Henry proudly proclaim their love at Buckingham Palace. Despite the welcome happy ending, RWRB does highlight how having an unaccepting versus accepting family can impact people. According to a study by Micheal E. Newcomb, “Family rejection is strongly associated with mental health problems and suicidality, substance use, and sexual risk.” On the opposite side, Newcomb notes, “It is important to note that those LGBTQ youth who do perceive strong support from their families tend to have better mental health and lower risk of substance abuse and (to a lesser extent) sexual risk behaviors” (140). Given the lighthearted nature of the story, they don’t delve into the darker parts of those risks, but there is a difference in how negatively Henry viewed himself versus how quick Alex was to accept his sexuality. Alex wanted to pursue a deeper relationship with Henry, where Henry, despite wanting that too, knew he wasn’t allowed to have it. Henry was constantly denying what he wanted to appease his family, and years and years of that could have easily led him down dangerous paths. Even though RWRB is a mostly happy film, it does serve as a reminder of how important it is for queer people to be surrounded by people who love and support them.

Overall, I really enjoy Red, White & Royal Blue. It’s fun, cheesy, and is such a welcome film for a girl who had been desperately searching for a mainstream queer rom-com that doesn’t rely on harmful stereotypes to appease a straight audience. I do, however, think the film fell short in several areas when going from book to movie. For one, removing June (Alex’s sister) and Alex’s parents' divorce not only erased parts of Alex’s character that made him more complex but also got rid of a beloved character who had amazing interactions with the other main characters. There were also several scenes cut out for time's sake that made the romance between Alex and Henry feel more developed and less rushed. In the book, it’s a rival politician who leaks the emails, while in the film it’s a reporter who happens to be someone Alex made out with years ago. There’s a “scorned ex” angle there that felt a little lazy. In making that change, the film was much more pro-America than its book counterpart, which was critical of both the corruption in American politics and the British monarchy. It also leaves out the discussion of queer history and figures that were present in the book. It was a nice bit of queer charm to an already charming tale, and it’s sad that it wasn’t included. That being said, I do prefer the book, but the film is still well-made with two actors who have great chemistry. Even in the face of the changes, the story still retained its charm and appeal as a lovely queer romcom.

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Works Cited

Red, White & Royal Blue. Directed by Matthew Lopez, Amazon Prime, 2023.

McQuiston, Casey. “Casey McQuiston Q&A with Joy & Cassie!” Brazos Bookstore, May 2019.

Newcomb, Micheal E., et al. “The Influence of Families on LGBTQ Youth Health: A Call to Action for Innovation in Research and Intervention Development.” LGBT Health, vol. 6, issue 4, May 2019, pp. 139-145. Mary Ann Liebert, doi: 10.1089/lgbt.2018.0157139. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.

Perelman, Britton. “The 9 Elements of All Great Rom-Coms.” ScreenCraft, 12 Feb. 2024. https://screencraft.org/blog/the-9-elements-of-all-great-rom-coms/. Accessed 14 Dec. 2024.

“2023 Studio Responsibility Index.” GLAAD, 2023. https://glaad.org/sri/2023/overview/. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

“Bisexual FAQ.” Human Rights Campaign. https://www.hrc.org/resources/bisexual-faq. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

“Distribution Of LGBTQ Characters On Broadcast Networks in The 2023-24 Season, By Sexual Orientation.” Statistica, 15 May 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/698053/lgbtq-characters-sexual-orientation/#:~:text=Published%20by%20Statista%20Research%20Department,of%20LGBTQ%20characters%20were%20bisexual. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.