8 Differences Between The Red, White and Royal Blue Book And The Movie
Where's June?!
The Red, White and Royal Blue movie is a fairly faithful adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s book. It keeps the essence of the story and many major moments that define this love story. However, the team behind this Prime Video original does make some significant changes from the book to the movie. Let’s discuss some of the major and important changes in the Red, White and Royal Blue movie. (Spoilers from the book and movie ahead!)
By Jerrica Tisdale
1. There Are Characters Not In The Movie That Appear In The Book
In the book, Alex is not the only child. He has an older sister named June. In fact, June, Nora, and Alex are a pretty famous trio in the book. Their dynamic is part of Alex’s identity. Unlike Alex, June doesn’t have political ambitions. She wants to be a journalist. The film completely eliminates June from the story, and basically combines her storylines and personality with Nora.
In the Red, White and Royal Blue movie, Nora acts as a replacement sister for Alex. She also takes June’s place in the movie as Pez’s love interest. June is one of the most significant character absences in the movie, but she is not the only major character not in it.
Rafael Luna also doesn’t appear in the Red, White, and Royal Blue movie. Luna is an openly gay politician who acts as a mentor and role model for Alex. He’s also very close with Alex’s family, especially his father. He has a big part in the political aspects of the Red, White and Royal Blue book. He’s also just a key figure in Alex's life.
I really liked the trio and Luna, so it was disappointing not seeing these characters in the Red, White and Royal Blue movie. However, the story doesn’t change much without them.
2. Miguel Doesn't Exist In The Book
The Red, White and Royal Blue movie got rid of two significant characters in Casey McQuiston’s book but added one that only slightly has a purpose. The journalist Miguel (Juan Castano) is not in the book. His main purpose in the movie seems to be to act as a way to leak the letters in a more personal way. Additionally, he’s a character to allow viewers to understand Alex’s sexuality early in the film.
He’s not a terrible movie character, but if I had the choice between having Rafael Luna and June in the movie over Miguel, I would pick Rafael and Luna. They at least have more of a purpose and are enjoyable characters.
3. Alex Obsesses Over A Magazine Photo Of Henry In The Red, White And Royal Blue Book
In the Red, White, and Royal Blue book, Alex talks often about how the first time he saw Henry was in a magazine. He used to steal the magazine from June and stare at it and touch it. This is one reason why he was so excited to meet Henry, and then let down when Henry immediately dismisses him. The movie makes no mention of the magazine photo and Alex’s fondness for it.
This isn’t that relevant of a detail, so it makes sense why the movie omits it. However, it is an interesting detail because it showcases Alex’s obliviousness to his own attraction to Henry and men in general. It demonstrates that both of them were drawn to each other long before they became fake friends turned real friends turned boyfriends. The photo also helps create their enemies-to-lovers trope. Without Alex’s obsession with the photo, he may not have been as hurt by Henry’s actions after their first encounter.
4. Alex Doesn't Panic About His Bisexuality In The Movie
Movie Alex is a lot more comfortable with his sexuality. He mentions having two encounters with men before: One in high school and another with Miguel. Alex seems at least aware and accepting of his sexuality. His confusion comes from his attraction to Henry. However, in the book. Alex doesn’t realize he is bisexual until Henry kisses him. He did have encounters in high school with his male best friend but kind of just thought of it as a thing that happened, not a defining moment.
Like many other great LGBTQ+ novels, Alex’s discovery, understanding, and acceptance of his sexuality play a major role in his character development. This is one of the book-to-movie changes that I wish didn’t happen. It felt important to the story for Alex to explore how the kiss helped him define his sexuality. Therefore, the film not including it felt like a missed opportunity to show self-discovery through sexuality. His bisexual awakening is part of his coming-of-age journey.
5. Alex's Parents Are Divorced In The Red, White And Royal Blue Book
Another interesting change from the movie to book is the status of Alex’s parents’ relationship. In the book, they are divorced. His mom is also remarried. Additionally, Alex’s parents are very combative in the book, and that contributes to part of Alex’s personality and mission to defuse conflict. He has a happy and loving family, but it’s not perfect.
The Prime Video movie makes Alex’s family more ideal with his parents still being happily married and unified. This isn’t a breakup movie, so it doesn’t necessarily need his parents to be divorced. It doesn’t affect Alex and Henry’s story, but it definitely plays a part in Alex’s personality in the book.
6. Alex Only Goes On A Campaign Tour In Texas In The Movie
Alex gives a major speech at the end of the Red, White and Royal Blue book that helps sway Texas to vote for his mother. In the movie, Alex goes on a campaign in Texas to get votes on her side. Both acts help influence the Texas vote, but one shows Alex being more of an active force in changing the votes.
He’s kind of more reactive in the book, as he gives the speech only when his mother may lose the race because of Texas. The film needed this sort of moment because it feels a bit anticlimactic when Ellen (Uma Thurman) is losing the race, then suddenly wins it. We do hear that Alex’s Texas campaign is the deciding factor, and then we get the nice shot of Henry on stage with Alex’s family moment, but the final plea to Texas at the end could have really driven home Alex’s impact on the race.
7. The Emails Are Leaked In A Different Way In The Movie
In the movie, Miguel plays a major part in leaking the letters. It’s shown that he suspects something is going on between Alex and Henry. Then he decides to hack and leak the emails. The email leak is a lot more devious and calculated in the book.
Ellen’s presidential race opponent Jeffery Richards is the one to find and leak the emails. He has Alex watched by a third party and hacks his emails to dig up this information to try to make sure Ellen loses her re-election.
8. The Red White And Royal Blue Book Has A Queen, Not A King
It’s clear that Red, White and Royal Blue takes some influence from real-life political events. One of them being the 2016 election and another being the real-life British monarchy and their complicated relationships. This is likely why Henry has a grandmother, the Queen, who isn’t happy with him causing a scandal by having a relationship with an American public figure, especially a male one.
In the movie, it’s his grandfather, The King (Stephen Fry) who runs the royal family and hates Henry possibly causing scandal.
Red, White and Royal Blue is not a perfect adaptation and makes many changes, some major ones like the ones listed, and some small ones like Alex kissing random women on New Year’s Eve. However, overall it gets the tone right, the leads have great chemistry, and it doesn’t shy away from the book’s embracing of sex and sexuality.
The Red, White and Royal Blue movie makes some major changes from Casey McQuiston's book. Here are the big differences in the Prime Video original.