Royal-ish

7.2 stars.

There are several interesting and somewhat charismatic characters in the story, which is why I give it the above average rating. It feels like a 6.9, but something about the atmosphere raised it a little.

Don't get me wrong, the story has been beaten-to-death and this movie does not stand out as anything particularly special. I enjoyed it sufficiently for a one-and-done, but the only chance of watching this ever again is if I run out of anything better, which I doubt will happen, considering I enjoyed hundreds, yes hundreds of Hallmark films more than this one.

But if you are planning on watching every royal-ish installment from Hallmark, this one is maybe a smidge above average. You might actually enjoy it, but I feel the plot and presentation are a bit deliberate and not original by any means. They modified the music a little to give it a slightly new feeling, not so much the usual royal horns and woodwinds, more strings and piano music, but that wasn't enough to make it stand out.

Hallmark movies are where happily ever after lovers go for a guaranteed happy ending (usually in the last five minutes), and that's no different in one of their newest releases, Royal-ish. Theme park princess Lacey (Sakura) spends her days delivering magical tea parties to children in her role as Princess Sweet Pea. When she befriends 8-year-old Princess Rose (and her father and heir to the throne Prince Henry (Moseley) it sets off a romance that screams meet cute and swoon.

While the movie is very much stereotypical Hallmark in plot, it tackles some deeper issues. Lacey found work as a princess while she was working towards a graduate degree, and finds joy in bringing joy to others. She's worried about aging out of her job (which hadn't previously registered for me as an issue for theme park workers). The young princess Rose is struggling with the weight of responsibility after the death of her mother and a traumatic incident. And the romantic love interest (Prince Henry) struggles to balance his role as a father and the crown prince of a small kingdom. They did make some slight changes to the stereotypical 'royal' plot line for these movies that left me amused. And while the lines were undeniably cheesy, it remained entertaining and engaging.

Overall, this was another entertaining storyline. I didn't realize this was supposed to be another 'trilogy' movie, as they didn't connect it outright to the other movies (The Royal We and The Reluctant Royal) like they did in their other trilogies (The Wedding Veil Trilogy). I highly recommend this movie to those who like low pressure, guaranteed happily ever after stories. I don't recommend this movie to those looking for innovative, high-stakes storylines that are harder to predict.

The premise is pure Hallmark: Theme park princess meet handsome real life prince.

However, there are some very un-Hallmark issues here; the Princess is worried about aging out of her job and is frustrated by her unfinished educational goals, the prince's young daughter has emotional issues due to the death of her mother.

So, it's not perfect in this tale of fairy land meets real life fairy land.

The problem is how the Prince is portrayed. He talks in formal complete sentences and acts like his shorts are too small. A bad parody of what Americans think "Royals" are like.

Cardboard antagonists (the icy Queen and "Privy Council" head) are there to create roadblocks.

In private conversations the Prince acts and sounds entirely artificial. How about having him have two personas...one stuffy and "official" when acting in a official capacity and another where he talks and acts like a regular guy when talking to his daughter and the young woman trying to help her? The script DOES have him talk with the child and princess, but the actor uses the same tone all the time.

Do the Hallmark execs think a character with two facets (personas) is too subtle for audiences?

I hate to say it, but you have to blame the director here. A bit of subtle characterization would have done wonders here. I'm no Scorsese, but after watching a few takes I would if had the actor do the scene both ways...the traditional stilted Hallmark method, and one where the prince is acting less stereotypically "royal" when he needs to. When talking privately, make him a real person, not a stuffy stereotype.

Sakura does a wonderful job given her constraints, Moseley given his experience playing a modern prince in "The Royals" soap should have pushed his character to make him more realistic and relatable.

I hope to see more of Sakura, she comes across as much more real and worldly than the usual Hallmark lead female.

The basics were there to make it a much warmer, more dramatic and touching (but still HEA) film.

Hopefully Hallmark will let writers, directors and actors expand from their (admittedly successful) approach.

Third of a "Royal" Trilogy aired on Hallmark Channel in March 2025. Prince Henry, lead male character of this film, Prince Desmond of Androvia, lead male character in THE ROYAL WE, and Johnny Payne, heir to the Dukedom of Glasswick, England and lead male character in THE RELUCTANT ROYAL, are all cousins and referenced as such at the ends of both other films. The other two were breaths of fresh air. I already have a separate review posted for THE RELUCTANT ROYAL. THE ROYAL WE was nearly as engaging with the same great chemistry between actors, and the plot twists.

This one was just your run-of-the-mill formulaic and predictable "European Crown Prince falls for middle class American working girl" movie, specifically the variant where the prince is widowed with a young daughter who bonds with the American working girl who becomes a mentor to her. The characters have good chemistry and young Francesca Europa is particularly charming as the young princess, but it's just not something anyone who watches Hallmark Channel or Great American Family hasn't seen at least a half-dozen times before.

Oh, well, two out of three ain't bad!

Hallmark isn't good at producing "royal" themed movies, the plots and scripts are usually dumb and the dialog inane. That's the case with this movie, plus the female lead doesn't really work. William Moseley was in a far better movie "Christmas in Notting Hill" in 2023. The supporting cast were generally good.

The plot of this one is cliched, it's been done many times and most of the times they've bombed, like this movie. Hallmark really needs a new head of production who can find good scripts and good leads and make good rom-coms, their specialty. As always the filming locations in Canada are beautiful.