There are several moments in Amazon's new queer rom-com Red, White & Royal Blue that have set the internet aflame (including a potshot at a certain aftershave that we'll defend to the death). One scene, however, has made a bigger impression than any other.
The movie, based on the 2019 YA book of the same name by Casey McQuiston, follows second-in-line to the British throner Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine) and Alex Claremont Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), son of the US president, as they go from hate-at-first-sight enemies to soulmates. They keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps for the sake of their families – but while Alex eventually comes out as bisexual to his mum, Madam President Ellen Claremont (played by Uma Thurman), Prince Henry tells Alex that his prominent role in the royal family means that it's unlikely he'd be able to do the same.
Alas, the decision is taken out of his hands when someone hacks their intimate emails, which are then splashed across global media. Henry is shamed and told he must deny their relationship by the royal family (with Stephen Fry playing his grandfather, the homophobic King James III). That’s when Alex steps up. Addressing the American public via a video message, he embarks on a galvanising monologue that captures his utter dismay at the situation and pushes home the important of letting queer people live their own lives, in their own time and space. Maybe Alex’s rallying moment has been so well-received because it serves as a real-life reminder that LGBTQ+ rights still need to be fought for. “Privacy and the fundamental right of self-determination," he says, "are exactly the principles on which the struggle for queer liberation has always been fought.”
So is it happy ever after for the two guys? Go on, take a guess. Social media isn’t calling “Alex for President” for nothing.
Here’s Alex’s speech in full:
“Good morning.
Henry and I have been together since the beginning of this year. As many of you have already read, we’ve struggled everyday with what this means for our families, our countries and our futures. And while neither of us is naive about what it means to be public figures, we never imagined our most private and intimate thoughts, fears and truths would become fodder for public examination.
What was taken from us this week was our right to determine for ourselves how and when we should share our relationship and queer identities with the world.
The truth is every queer person has the right to come out on their own terms, and on their own timeline. They also have the right to choose not to come out at all. The forced conformity of the closet can not be answered with the forced conformity in coming out of it.
This isn’t about shame. This is about privacy and the fundamental right of self-determination which are exactly the principles on which the struggle for queer liberation has always been fought.
But there is another truth that is much simpler: I fell in love with a person who happens to be a man and that man happens to be a prince. He has captured my heart and made my life immeasurably better.
I love his Royal Highness, Prince Henry George Edward James Hanover-Stuart Fox. I hope one day we’ll have the opportunity to be public about our relationship on our own terms.”
Red, White & Royal Blue is streaming on Amazon Prime Video now.
