The Royal We

I am seriously conflicted about this movie. On paper, the concept of this story is beautiful. A Crown Prince and Crown Princess, two strangers from feuding countries, willingly agree to marry one another to bring peace and try to end a centuries-old dispute. Only they fall in love with each other without even trying. And on top of that, by the end there’s the question of do they have to get married? Do they not have to anymore? What will they do? If done right, it could be the love story of all love stories to tell their grandchildren about someday. But was it done right? I know that’s a very subjective question. There’s a lot to be said about the casting, the script, the directing style. This movie was up and down like a roller coaster for me.  I have so many thoughts and ideas to share about this one, so we’d better dive right in and get started.

Hallmark Channel aired the premiere of The Royal We, starring Mallory Jansen and Charlie Carrick, on March 1st. I loved Mallory Jansen last year in Paging Mr. Darcy. In that role she played a stuffy professor. So it was a little different to see her opening scenes in this one. I’ll get to that in a moment. 

The movie first opens with The Crown Prince’s character, Prince Desmond, having his official engagement photos taken with the Crown Princess Coralina. As you can see, that’s not Mallory Jansen’s character. You see, we find out a moment later that this princess decided to elope with a plumber instead.  

Now, the very next scene right is a good indicator of the direction this movie’s going to take. I know that humor is extremely subjective. For me, I tend to lean more toward dry humor. Not always, sometimes I enjoy physical or slapstick comedy if it’s not too silly or obvious.

So when Edwin, the prince's trusty adviser here, not only ripped the engagement photo in half but then followed up with scribbling in some devil horns, I wondered if this wasn’t going to be my cup of tea. Does anyone say that anymore? To me, that’s the kind of behavior I would expect to see in high school, not from a personal assistant to a Crown Prince. Now keep in mind while I was watching this I couldn’t help but compare it to a couple of other Hallmark “royal” movies that, for me, were amazing, like A Royal Christmas, One Royal Holiday, and Crown for Christmas. There was humor in all of these. But it was different, the kind I prefer. Truth be told, I could never picture Edwin, from this movie, working for King Maximillian. Or how about Jane Seymour’s Queen Isadora? No. Definitely not.

Anyway, let’s continue, shall we? Edwin was clearly devastated. Prince Desmond, on the other hand, wasn’t phased by it all that much. As for his father, the king? Let’s just say he doesn’t hold back much. What did you think about this style of acting? Doesn’t he seem like he’d be a good fit for a Monty Python skit? I’m just saying the son acted far more mature and dignified than his own father. That’s all.

But, I will give credit to the social media pop-ups because in today’s day and age, that is pretty spot on. Whoever wrote these hashtags must have had some fun!

Well, soon after the broken engagement Prince Desmond and Edwin were out and about discussing what his future would look like now, when suddenly, Desmond remembered that Princess Coralina had a younger sister. Princess Beatrix had left the public spotlight years ago and was all but forgotten by royal standards.

So that segues over for us to meet Princess Beatrix. Yeah, I’m afraid I thought this scene was a bit overdone, too. I understand she was depressed about a recent break-up, but this kind of response, complete with a fully-trashed apartment, was maybe fitting for a school girl.

However, I did find it intriguing when she answered a call from a +56 number and she responded in French. Now we know who’s trying to call her, but it turns out Beatrix has been keeping a huge secret from her friend, Chloe. Like the fact that her mother and father a Queen and King. Which makes her, yes, a princess.

Now, you know I try to be honest with my feelings when I talk about these movies, right? Well, let me ask you what did you think about the character of Chloe, her best friend? There was something about the way she spoke, her mannerism. She acted like a pre-teen to me. There was one scene where the two of them just finished giving a presentation to a potential investor for their foundation that helps girls in the STEM program. Wonderful idea, but I just can't see a character like Chloe being interested in anything about math or science. 

Okay, well, in this next scene Princess Beatrix meets Prince Desmond. Notice he’s wearing his formal, regal attire again.  It turns out we see this A LOT.  Now Beatrix very quickly remembers how to present herself in this formal setting. And we learn right away where the movie gets its name when she finally asks that they skip for formality of referring to themselves in "the royal we."  But I will admit, the formal banter that takes place next was rather entertaining. It’s the first scene where I thought the dialogue was actually well-written! Especially when they finally got around to discussing the real purpose of this meeting.

Yes, I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now. He proposes. But does she accept? I mean she’s never met him before. She hadn’t even considered the fact that now that her sister has abdicated the future throne to her country to marry a plumber, that that means Bea is now the Crown Princess. And it’s no longer so easy to ignore her royal heritage now.

Okay, I guess she does, which we find out in the next scenes where Desmond and his advisor discuss the aftermath of the rejected proposal. Those turned out to be some good moments.

Next we have a summit meeting between the two kingdoms. And, once again, everyone shows up in their formal attire. It seems to me this was way too overdone. Personally, I disagree with the costume choices. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me I’ve seen many photographs and videos of the British Royal Family at important events and this is not their typical attire. Isn’t this usually reserved for very special events like weddings or coronations? Anyway, let’s get back to the summit. Here we have the two kings, Winston and Richmond, trying to make an effort to resolve an age-old issue about a land dispute. And all they do is bicker like toddlers. 

So, after that abysmal failure, Beatrix finds herself reconsidering the proposal. But first, she agrees to go out with him on a date. Only his idea of a date is a little different from hers. His was very formal, private, and surrounded by his security detail. She wanted some more relaxed time to get to know him a little bit, so she comes up with an idea of her own. 

Now this was fun. You see she's been living a regular life where she can go anywhere and no one knows her as royalty. And she figures he's also from too small a country for anyone over in Boston to recognize him, especially in casual clothing. So, they ditched the security detail and snuck out in a service elevator for a much more casual night out together. This really was one of my favorite parts of the movie, right in the middle when they were getting to know each other over some pizza. Which is interesting because often that’s when Hallmark movies tend to slow down and sometimes lose my interest a bit. 

But not this one. Especially, when he notices a bowling alley behind them and decides to give it a try. I’m not even going to tell you about how that went, but it was definitely one of my favorite scenes. They also met another couple there. They hit it off really well together but never disclosed who they were. 

That was, however, their one and only night of being able to go out together and have fun without being recognized. Because the next morning the press-release of their engagement hit and her life changed, quite drastically, too.  And, unfortunately, the social media buzz was NOT kind. Especially, when their first photo-op together didn’t go too well. 

But, while things were slowly turning around for the Crown Prince and Princess, starting with when they returned to her home in Elora, the movie as a whole slid backwards again for me. 

Aside from our two main characters, I’m afraid I was not impressed with the quality of the acting this time. And I honestly felt like the drama among the supporting characters was becoming a little too much of a folly at this point. I, personally, didn’t care for Chloe or Coralina, or either of the royal families this time. 

And while I understand the two kings were supposed to be bickering, so that Beatrix could come along and save the kingdoms with her conflict resolution skills, the way the bickering came across was just too annoying for my liking. And I know that’s always subjective. But, having said all that, I actually did like the way Beatrix was able to finally get the two of them to open up and just talk. 

However,, her amazing conflict resolution skills had an unexpected consequence when the kings announced they no longer expected their children to go through with the marriage. So how does it end? Well, I’ll let you watch this one to find out. I'm curious, did you feel any emotions or goosebumps? Because you know that’s an important factor to me when I’m watching these movies. 

Personally, I did not. So, I have a strong feeling I’m going to be in the minority here when I say I’d give this a 2 ½ out of 5, or I would put it around a 6.2 on IMDB. In actuality, it’s not ranking that low at all! On the contrary, it’s sitting at a 7.2 right now, which is their highest rated, nonseasonal movie, since Branching Out last year! There were actually only two movies last year, not counting Christmas, that even ranked in the 7s on IMDB. Guiding Emily is the other one. So clearly, you must have loved this movie more than I did.

You know I can’t help but wonder how I’ll feel about it a year from now. Will it grow on me? I don’t know. It happens, though, so who knows?

Well, I think that wraps up my review of The Royal We. Next time we’ll be discussing The Reluctant Royal starring Andrew Walker and Emilie de Ravin. Andrew Walker is certainly no stranger to Hallmark, but this might be Emilie de Ravin’s debut on the network. I remember her, and she was wonderful by the way, in the TV series, Once Upon a Time as Belle. I can’t wait to see how she does in this one!

Until then, and as always, thank you so much for being here and being a part of the Magical Movie Club. We'll be back next week to chat more about our favorite magical movies!

Hallmark Channel's Original Preview:  The Royal We - Preview

Hallmark Channel Movie Site: The Royal We