Red, White & Royal Blue: All the Differences Between the Book and Prime Video's Movie Adaptation

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Red, White & Royal Blue, both Casey McQuiston's book and the Prime Video film.

Break out your Union Jacks and American flags because Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry are officially movie stars.

Prime Video's film adaptation of Casey McQuiston's New York Times bestselling book Red, White & Royal Blue tells the enemies-to-lovers story of Alex (Taylor Zakhar Perez), the son of the first female President of the United States, and Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), the spare heir to the British throne.

For fans of the book, though, the new film will look a little different.

In adapting the book, director and co-screenwriter Matthew López had to take more than 400 pages dripping with rom-com fodder and turn it into a two-hour movie. Naturally, some things were going to change. As López told TVGuide, his priority was preserving Alex and Henry's journey from sworn enemies to history-making partners, global politics be damned!

But just how different is the movie from its beloved source material? Here's some of the major changes made from page to screen.

Missing Characters

Perhaps the biggest change and toughest adjustment to get used to for those who read the book is the absence of June, Alex's sister. June's sizable role in the book is not just as the third member in the White House Trio with Alex and their best friend, Nora (played by Rachel Hilson in the movie). She is Alex's right hand and most trusted confidant. She encourages him, scolds him and keeps him grounded as he repeatedly says in the book. In the movie, she doesn't exist –– and Alex's parents (played by Uma Thurman and Clifton Collins Jr.) aren't divorced either, for that matter. 

Movie Alex's inner circle is far more condensed, with him now exclusively seeking out Nora's opinion when he needs a sounding board. Luckily for fans, Nora's unvarnished frankness remains unchanged. She gives it to Alex straight –– no pun intended. This also means that Pez (Malcolm Atobrah), Henry's best friend and Nora's love interest, is far more present in the film, including filling June's spot on the crucial Texas vacation the gang takes.

Another character from the book that is absent in the movie is Alex's former best friend, Liam. As he comes to realize, Alex's adolescent sexual encounters with Liam weren't as casual as he clearly thought. Making sense of that and amends for that is a huge part of Alex's story. But Liam is not in the movie, replaced instead by a more recent hookup with slimy Politico reporter Miguel Ramos (Juan Castano), which gives Alex some indication his feelings for Henry aren't totally out of nowhere.

Henry's Perspective

Speaking with TVGuide, López says he framed the movie from Alex's perspective like in McQuiston's book –– except for one pivotal moment. In the book, the revelation that Alex and Henry's private emails have been leaked to the world is seen through Alex's panicked and heartbroken perspective. The White House goes into damage control mode and gets radio silence from Buckingham Palace. The reader doesn't know what Henry is going through. But Lopez wanted to see Henry's side of the story.

"That was a very specific filmmaking decision," he says. "Now is the moment when we need full and total access to Henry. We understand Alex implicitly by that point in the movie. Now we need visual and emotional insight into Henry."

The sequence gives Henry time to digest not only the devastating news but also show his own longing for Alex. When Alex finally heads to London –– on Nora's advice, which is different from the books as well –– his reunion with Henry is felt even more deeply because the audience just saw what his absence meant in Henry's time of need.

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Politician Alex

In the book, Alex works for his mother's reelection campaign as he continues toward his political science degree at Georgetown. In this capacity, he starts compiling the Texas Binder, his strategies for turning his home state blue for the first time since it voted for President Jimmy Carter in 1976. But Alex's strategies remain a secret and represent his own faith that his fellow Texans will buy his mother's platform of progress and acceptance. Fortunately, his instincts were right when Texas helps carry his mom to re-election.

However, in López and Ted Malawer's script, the politically hungry Alex gets to lend a hand to the campaign only after he pushes his Texas memo on Zahra (Sarah Shahi) and others, with a specific plan to register a million voters. The film's change puts Alex on the ground on his home turf. The audience sees his passion for the cause, which effectively makes it far more believable when Texas is the deciding factor in winning the Claremont-Diaz family another term. In other words, the movie let Alex put in the work!

Sexy Time

When Amazon first announced the film adaptation of McQuiston's book, fans were perhaps most protective of the novel's unapologetically spicier moments. The movie does feature some of Alex and Henry's more iconic private moments, however not all of them made the cut. Sadly, the incredibly heated encounter at Wimbledon is missing, likely because that would have been a logistical nightmare to film.

But thankfully, the sex isn't gone. In fact, López reinforces its importance by switching the first time Alex and Henry have sex from a hotel room after a drunken night of karaoke to a quiet evening in Paris. The scenic change allows Alex time to vocalize his nerves about how it will all go down –– to which Henry kindly and hilariously makes it clear he knows what he's doing because he went to an all-boys boarding school. The scene is sensual and luxuriates in the shared experience in a way the book doesn't, something López says was a personal and intentional choice to ensure there was no confusion for the audience about what is happening between them and that a queer filmmaker was behind the camera calling the shots.

A Royal Switcheroo

In the book, Henry has long dealt with the pressure of his royal name and the disapproval he knows he would receive from his grandmother, the Queen of England, should he come out as gay. The eventual confrontation with the Queen is when Henry (and his mother Catherine, who sadly doesn't appear in the movie beyond a mention) finally stands up to his grandmother with Alex at his side. 

But in an odd instance of foreshadowing, the film switches this role to be King James III, played by British acting legend Stephen Fry. The film shot in the summer of 2022, before Queen Elizabeth's passing in September, which left her son King Charles to take the throne. Although unexpected, the film Red, White & Royal Blue is actually politically accurate in 2023.

A Piece of Each Other

While this one isn't all that big, it will mean something to book fans. When Henry and Alex part ways after reuniting in London and visiting Henry's safe place at the Victoria & Albert Museum, he gives Alex his signet ring so that he has a piece of him while they are apart. Alex puts it on the chain around his neck, where he wears the key to his family's home in Austin. However, in the movie, the same thing happens except Alex returns the favor, giving Henry the necklace and key, so he also has a part of him. Cue the tears!

History, Huh?

Book fans watching the movie were probably on the edge of their seats waiting for this last one. In the book, Alex responds to one of Henry's many heartfelt emails by saying, "History, huh? Bet we could make some." When their emails are leaked, "History, huh?" becomes a viral rallying cry of support for the couple that proves Alex was on to something.

In the movie, visually typing out emails wouldn't be all that romantic or dramatic, so their communications come alive in some very clever ways thanks to López's direction. But it also means this exchange never happens in the digital space or gets leaked. Instead, López lets Alex and Henry share these words between just the two of them while dancing in the museum, fulfilling Henry's dream. It might not become the global slogan for their relationship, but this way it's something better –– a moment that is truly theirs, as it was always supposed to be.

Red, White & Royal Blue is now streaming on Prime Video. For more on Red, White & Royal Blue, read our interview with director Matthew Lopéz.