A Christmas Prince: The Holiday Romance You Never Knew You Needed

After a solid week of Netflix promoting A Christmas Prince in the spotlight section of my account, I finally caved. And by caved, I mean had a free day in which my husband was out of the house and I finally could enjoy a film I was very eager to watch in peace. I’ll be honest: I haven’t watched that many made-for-TV Christmas romance movies. But every one that I have watched following A Christmas Prince really has not measured up. 

A Christmas Prince starts by introducing us to aspiring journalist Amber Moore (played by Rose McIver, The Lovely Bones). The poor thing is stuck on the copy desk at her magazine job, editing inferior writers’ work (we’ve all been there, Amber). Suddenly, all of the “real writers” are unavailable, and there’s an urgent press conference in Aldovia regarding the crown prince. Since the King of Aldovia’s death, the prince has been MIA. Fast approaching a royal deadline, he has until Christmas to claim the throne—or else it will be passed on to his snake of a cousin. In case you are wondering, Aldovia (much like Genovia) is not a real country. 

Moving right along…So Amber flies all the way from New York to Aldovia (which, though it’s not a real country, we’re going to assume is somewhere in Europe). Once she and the other journalists get to the palace, they learn that the press conference has been cancelled. You know Amber didn’t fly all the way to Aldovia just to be turned away, so she goes snooping for some dirt. This leads to a case of mistaken identity, and away we go. 

I won’t ruin the plot for you, but Amber inevitably meets the dashing Prince Richard (played by Ben Lamb—Divergent, The White Queen), who is uncertain about taking his father’s place on the throne. Though he has a reputation for being a playboy, we soon learn that he’s truly a family man at heart, something Amber (and I) find most endearing. Though the plot of this movie is much like that of all romance movies involving royalty—specifically harking back to both The Princess Diaries and A Princess for Christmas (do all princes know how to properly use a bow and arrow?), I thoroughly enjoyed the predictable story and the HEA ending we all deserve this holiday season. 

I wouldn’t say A Christmas Prince is Netflix’s finest work. (This is the same Netflix that produces The Crown and Stranger Things, right?) But to be perfectly honest, it provided me with some cheesy laughs, a hot prince, and hope for the ultimate dream of becoming a princess. While it obviously could have given us a little more in the quality department, there’s something so good about a bad Christmas film. And if we don’t see a sequel next holiday season, well…nothing will actually happen because no one is ever going to give up their Netflix accounts in protest. 

If you’ve already watched A Christmas Prince (and then watched it again, and maybe once more), Netflix just released A Christmas Inheritance on Friday, December 15 . It has Pete from The Office in it, so you know it’s going to be great. 

Featured image from "A Christmas Prince" via Netflix