Red, White & Royal Blue is making a big splash. The film is based on Casey McQuiston's 2019 novel of the same name. It tells the story of Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of America's first female president, and England's Prince Henry.
Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine star in the film, playing the respective roles. The film has done so well, it became the number one movie on Prime Video worldwide and attracted a "huge surge of new Prime membership signups directly correlated to the film's release."
Unlike The Crown, this story is entirely fictional. Still, there has been a lot of speculation that the real-life royal family were the basis for the characters in the film. Many people have noted the similarities between Prince Harry and Galitzine's character in the film.
This is something the actor himself spoke about, where he shared his own surprising opinion.
The Book's Author Previously Spoke About Their Own Interest In The Royal Family
Author Casey McQuiston wrote the novel "Red, White & Royal Blue," which was published in 2019. They previously spoke with the Los Angeles Public Library's blog that year about their own interest in the royal family.
"Most of my characters are pulled from a mixture of my brain, people I know, people from history and tropes I love," McQuiston said.
"I’m more of a casual fan of the royal family than you might think, but they have always been part of my pop culture landscape," they added. "I remember my sister having pictures of Prince William on her bedroom door in high school, and I definitely woke up at the crack of dawn to watch both royal weddings. ... My favorite royals would definitely have to be Duchess Meghan and Princess Diana."
McQuiston also talked about the origin of their love story in an interview with SheReads.
"I came up with the idea for the book while obsessively following the presidential election in early 2016, but that’s only part of it," McQuiston said. "That spring, I was also watching a new season of Veep and alternating between reading a dense Hillary Clinton biography by Carl Bernstein and 'The Royal We' by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan."
They continued, "I was so intrigued by these incredibly high profile worlds that are still very exclusive – everyone sees everything you do, but there’s a whole other story happening behind closed doors. So I knew I wanted to do a first family story or a royal family story. And then I realized – if I had a member of the first family fall in love with a member of the royal family, I didn’t have to pick just one!"
The Film Had An Etiquette Expert Give Notes In Order To Accurately Portray The Royals
The film had several people working behind the scenes to ensure the final result was just right. One of those people was etiquette expert William Hanson. Hanson has spent his career coaching his clients on the dos and don'ts of royal etiquette and worked with the Red, White & Royal Blue cast on the film.
Hanson told People the cast was "incredibly receptive" to the notes he gave them.
"He's a Brit, he gets it. He's watched the royal family growing up, he clearly knows how they behave, so there wasn't an awful lot of melding to do," Hanson said of Galitzine. "But I was there and indeed did answer his specific questions about, 'How should I react when this person bows or curtsies to me? Would I be doing this? Would I not do that?'"
"Details that, as he's not a member of the royal family — princely and handsome as he is — he wouldn't know," he continued. "But his general demeanor, to be honest, the moment we saw him in costume, I mean, there's Henry."
Hanson even said he believes there's a chance the real-life royals will watch Red, White & Royal Blue.
"Unlike The Crown, which is obviously based on them and their family and people they know, this is not based on anyone they know. Although it's a similar setting and there are certain personality traits, certain names that are very similar, it's not them," Hanson said.
"I absolutely think younger members of the royal family will watch it, and I hope they enjoy it because it's a love story and it's a happy love story," he continued. "It's also hilarious in parts and it's got huge pathos. So, yeah, I think they will watch it at some point if not on release day."
Nicholas Galitzine Said His Character Is Actually More Similar To Prince William Than Prince Harry
Galitzine's role of Prince Henry in Red, White & Royal Blue has attracted a lot of comparisons to Prince Harry. For starters, Henry and Harry are both "spares" in their family, the younger brother of the heir. They also both entered into relationships that could be seen as different and progressive for the royal family.
There's also the fact that Henry is Prince Harry's actual birth name. So on top of all the other similarities, the two share a name as well.
Despite this, however, Galitzine told People the character of Prince Henry is "his own entity."
"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 said.
"But," he continued, "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."
Galitzine added, though, "I wouldn't say I did too much research into one royal in particular."
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