Things Only Adults Notice In Netflix's Christmas Prince Franchise
Let's face it — no one watches campy Christmas movies about a royal family for the stellar plot and impeccable characterization. We watch holiday movies of any kind for an escape from reality. So why not tune in to a series of movies that take place at a Christmas-obsessed kingdom? You get exactly what you expect from films like these, and they're a cutesy break from the daily grind.
When it comes to holiday romance films, there typically aren't a whole lot of nuances and adult topics that kids won't pick up when they tune into Netflix's latest Christmas specials. However, when it comes to the reality of adult careers, heavy geography, and royal decrees, there are quite a few things that likely go over the heads of any children binging "A Christmas Prince" movies on their parents' Netflix account.
While nothing in the series is too salacious, quite a few of the series' plotlines would never pan out in a real royal world — or your local news organization, for that matter. Between a 2004 movie series with a suspiciously similar plot, some career clarifications, and real-life royal realities, here are some things that children may not have noticed in Netflix's "A Christmas Prince" movies.
Hollywood's skewed portrayal of journalism
"A Christmas Prince" isn't the first movie that made getting your foot into the door for writing careers look way too easy, and it won't be the last. When it comes to the journalism or publishing grind, there are very few positions available for a massive amount of people who want to make writing their career. So when it comes to opportunities of a lifetime, journalists don't exactly turn down career-making royal events because they don't want to work during the holidays. Amber's editor hands her a shiny piece on the future king's coronation with the explanation that no one else is available.
Sorry, what? You're telling us that no one wanted to delay their holiday plans for one of the most grandiose assignments of the year? Aldovia may not be the most well-known kingdom, but there would be at least one seasoned journalist who would jump on this train. Moreover, in a cutthroat field like journalism, a writer with zero bylines would never get a piece like this. An editor would surely threaten to replace their writers if no one stepped up to the plate. It wouldn't exactly be a difficult feat to find an experienced freelancer to take on the assignment, either, if no one was willing to take it on.
At the end of the day, however, an editor would be more than happy to replace their core writers over something like this — no matter how shady that might sound. It's not that easy, Amber.
You probably can't find Aldovia on a map
Calling all world history buffs: Aldovia isn't actually real, is it? A kingdom whose most significant decision each year revolves around what Christmas tree to choose seems like a fairy tale, and that's because it is. If you take out a map of the world and scan it for the Christmas kingdom, you're not going to find one. That is, unless you have a handy Marauder's Map of Santa's Village.
Kids watching the series might be inclined to beg their parents for a trip to Aldovia for the holidays this year, but they'll be pretty bummed when they realize it's utterly made up. In fact, Aldovia's ally Panglia is also a fictional location created for the movie. So don't go searching your history books for information on the esteemed treaty between the two monarch-ruled countries.
Either way, if Aldovia did exist, the charming nature of the kingdom would get immediately overrun by tourists, and all of the locals would avoid leaving their snug fireplaces during the holidays to avoid the voracious tourists. Just ask anyone from New York City how often they venture into Times Square.
Wait, doesn't this seem familiar?
Did anyone get some prickling feelings of déjà vu watching the "A Christmas Prince" series? If you did, you might just be a '90s kid. Anyone who watched "The Prince & Me" franchise back in 2004 may have noticed more than a few similarities between the sequence of events in both movies. Sure, "The Prince & Me" may take place at college in the U.S., and it's not exactly a Christmas movie, but the similarities remain hard to ignore.
In the early 2000s series, playboy prince Eddie comes to the U.S. to experience college life, where he quickly meets the career-oriented Paige. Drama and romance ensue, of course, and Paige has to put many of her career ambitions aside for a life with Eddie. Key plot points appearing in both movies include a family member attempting to steal the crown, a prince who doesn't want to be king, a monarchy stifling the ambitions of an American love interest, an ex-flame stirring things up, and a future queen who almost bails on their relationship when the throne gets to be too much.
However, the most significant similarity comes from each franchise's girl power ending, where each woman (and queen) changes the status quo to pursue their respective careers. So, if you need more of "A Christmas Prince," head back to 2004 and watch Julia Stiles become royalty.
New king, who dis?
Despite what cutesy Christmas movies may tell you, it's not exactly easy to enact new laws — even when you're a king. The premise of the first "A Christmas Prince" movie hinges on the revelation that Queen Helena and the late king adopted Prince Richard when he was a baby, unbeknownst to him. By Aldovian law, that makes him ineligible to claim the throne as blood ties are all the rage when it comes to monarchies. In typical movie fashion, though, Amber discovers a legal loophole in a Christmas ornament, of all things. You heard that right. Before the king died, he decreed a loophole for the blood relation law, stamped it with the royal seal, and hid it in an ornament.
However, a king can't just secretly decree a new law, put it in an acorn Christmas ornament, and call it a day — seal or no seal. Anyone in his family with access to his office could have forged the decree and used his seal. The king's makeshift law allowing non-blood members, specifically, his adopted son, to gain legal succession to the throne would likely not be honored at the last second during the new king's coronation.
New laws need witnesses to be official — not a random seal and the word of the queen whose son stands to directly benefit from this last-ditch attempt to keep a royal cousin from sitting on the throne. The king should have formalized these documents when he was still alive instead of sending his family on a scavenger hunt they very nearly failed to solve.
That's not how royal life works
Anyone who follows the British Royal family can tell you that monarchies do not take kindly to people coming in and defying their traditions. Just ask Meghan Markle. We see this play out time and time again. The monarchy forces individuals born outside of their bubble to conform to stifling rules and regulations. At the same time, the family ignores any mental or physical health issues within its ranks to curate a shiny wholesome image in this week's tabloids. Given the reality of monarchies, there's no way Aldovia would bend on many of the rules they change for Amber.
When the monarchy tries to stifle Amber's individualism and journalistic pursuits (which primarily involve blogging her daily royal life), she wins. In reality, she would never get her way with this particular issue. If there's one thing a public royal life prohibits, it's commenting to the press, let alone being a member of it. We've seen the British Royal family deal with this issue multiple times. Between Princess Diana and Markle, if a family member refuses to submit to the status quo, they're ousted and often made out to look like the villain in the tabloids.
Royals are not keen on giving up their control or image, which is why they do everything within their power to control the narrative in the press. There's no way that Aldovia would allow Amber to blog about kingdom exploits unfiltered. While she may have eventually won them over on certain modernizations and wearing Converse shoes, being this dismissive about secrecy and the royal image would be a dealbreaker in any actual royal court.
King Richard? More like King Failure
Between the late king's ornament-hidden law decrees and some kingdom-wide financial issues, Aldovia isn't exactly coming across as a very competent country. When King Richard seeks to establish some modernizations in Aldovia, money goes missing — a lot of it. The country's financial situation becomes so dire that Aldovia is nearing bankruptcy, and people are losing their jobs left and right. King Richard knows that his changes should lead to more jobs and increased revenue, yet he does precisely nothing to get to the bottom of the kingdom's evaporating funds.
You don't have to have a degree in economics to determine that something here just isn't adding up, but apparently, the king is incapable of hiring someone new to look at finances. When there's kingdom-wide fraud that's almost certainly coming from your own ranks, it's absurd to stick your fingers in your ears and pretend like nothing is wrong when treason could be afoot.
Not looking into the country's dwindling finances is beyond negligent and makes Richard a pretty awful king. He's so hell-bent on living up to his father's legacy that he doesn't delegate or hire anyone competent to look into any of the country's issues. His American pseudo-journalist wife should not be better equipped at uncovering fraud than any financial expert in the entire kingdom. Still, no one thinks this is an issue or holds King Richard accountable for nearly bankrupting his country.