All the major differences between the Red, White and Royal Blue movie and the original novel

Red, White & Blue is now available to watch on Prime Video, with hardcore fans finally being able to see their favourite book characters brought to life by Nicholas Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez.

The movie is based on the New York Times best-selling novel, of the same name, by Casey McQuiston. Red, White & Royal Blue is an LGBT romance novel and centres around Alex, the first son of the US president and his romantic relationship with Prince Henry, a British prince.

Like with any book to movie adaptation, not everything makes it to the film or moments are often changed to fit the movie. So, what’s different in this movie? Here are the biggest differences between the Red, White & Royal Blue book and movie.

Alex’s sister is completely absent in the film

One of the biggest book differences in Red, White & Royal Blue is Alex and Henry’s siblings. In the film, Alex’s sister is completely absent, which is miles apart from what goes down in the book. In the novel June Claremont-Diaz, Alex’s supportive sister, pretends to date Henry when rumours about her brother’s relationship start to spread.

June is Alex’s closest confidant, along with his friend Nora, but we don’t get to see June in the film at all.

Both of Henry’s siblings, Philip and Bea, remain in the film but their roles are fairly reduced. In most scenes involving Prince Philip, he publicly shames Henry for not finding a proper wife while he and Alex attend Wimbledon.

Alex’s sexuality isn’t explored as much in the film

In the book, after Alex shares a kiss with Henry, he finds himself in an internal struggle over his sexuality but this isn’t the case in the film.

In the movie, Alex has had more experience and is more rattled by kissing his sworn enemy rather than a man, like he is in the book.

“I can wrap my head around being low-level into guys, but what I’m really confused about is being into Henry,” he says.

Ellen doesn’t make a Powerpoint presentation in the movie

While this isn’t a huge difference, it still stands! After Alex comes out to his mother Ellen, she says: “I mean if I’d had more warning, I could’ve made you a Powerpoint presentation.”

This actually happens in the book. Ellen creates a presentation and schedules a debriefing to cover the threats Alex’s romance with Henry could post to her getting re-elected.

In the movie, Ellen is more positive and urges him to use protection. “You need to figure out if you feel forever about him if you take this any further,” Ellen tells her son. “A relationship like this will define your life.”

Alex and Henry’s relationship being leaked is a little different

Rafael Lunda doesn’t exist in the movie, so there are not parts of exposing Ellen’s opponent as a sexual predator or evidence the Richards campaign leaked private correspondence.

In the movie, a Politico journalist catches onto Alex and Henry’s relationship and breaks the story.

Alex’s parents are happily married in the film

In the book Alex’s parents are divorced, but instead they are happily married in the film. Henry’s parents get a mention in the film but it doesn’t explore the details behind Henry’s father’s death and his distant mother.

The ending is kind of the same but it’s been changed ever so slightly

In the final parts of the book, Alex and Henry return to Alex’s childhood home with the key he gifted Henry and this also happens in the film, but there have been some changes.

Henry’s grandfather is his grandmother in the book, Alex and Henry’s connection over Star Wars isn’t a thing in the film and Rachel Maddow declares Ellen’s presidential victory, not Anderson Cooper.

For all the latest reality TV and entertainment news and gossip, like Pop Culture Shrine on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Here’s where you recognise the cast of the ‘beautiful’ Red, White and Royal Blue from

• Heart of Stone is Netflix’s new spy thriller, here’s what the cast have been in before

• Here’s where you recognise the cast of Netflix’s opioid crisis drama Painkiller from

Featured image credit via Amazon.