Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White & Royal Blue happens to be one of my favorite books of all time. I listen to the audiobook when I need a pick me up (so constantly), I reread the book endlessly, I own every edition I could physically get my hands on, and I’ve seen the movie dozens of times. This is even the book that got me back into reading a few years ago.

Let’s all just take a moment of silence for the genius that is Casey McQuiston. They’re a legend.

Red, White & Royal Blue centers around Alexander “Alex” Gabriel Claremont-Diaz, first son of the United States (FSOTUS) and His Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. Yeah, these are two boys whose parents did not adhere to the “less is more” belief system of naming.

This is a love story. Not just any love story, but one between the First Son and a Prince of England.

Alex is the son of the first female President of the United States. He’s the closest thing to a young royal America has – charming, witty, too intelligent for his own good with an unwavering conviction to his beliefs that his country can do better. Be better. The book is entirely in his POV and I love him but he’s an oblivious little fool. Much like his older sister, June, I spend almost the whole first half of the book wanting to shake some sense into him.

You see, Alex has a long standing grudge against the darling youngest Prince of England. A fact that apparently all Secret Service Agents assigned to the first family get briefed on.

“It’s not a grudge, really. It’s not even a rivalry. It’s a prickling, unsettling annoyance. It makes his palms sweat.”

So, Alex gets drunk at the Royal Wedding he absolutely does not want to be at, attempts to antagonize Henry, who mind you is just trying to make it through the reception in peace, and in the process they knock over a $75,000 cake. As you can imagine, it’s a bit of a public relations nightmare.

The President’s right hand and Deputy Chief of Staff, Zahra, works with the palace and organizes a schedule of events for the two to attend together. Because the only way to prove there’s no animosity between them, is to set forth a narrative of friendship and paint this all as a huge misunderstanding. Alex is forced to go to London for the weekend and see Henry as a real person rather than this built up manufactured version of a prince he has in his head. They find common ground during a potential security threat and impossibly, an actual friendship begins to bloom.

They start to text from thousands of miles away – Alex saves Henry in his phone as ‘HRH Prince Dickhead 💩.’ He’s such a little shit, I adore him. Antagonistic banter turns into friendly riffing, which evolves into a true meaningful connection. Of course, that’s when Henry throws a wrench in it all and confuses my poor little baby. He kisses Alex in the White House garden, underneath a linden tree during the White House Trio’s annual New Year’s Eve party.

Then, because he’s a repressed, terrified gay heir to the throne, Henry proceeds to ghost Alex for the next month. During which time, FSOTUS speed runs a bisexuality crisis and lets the fog lift a little on the entirely less than straight behavior he’s exhibited in his life. Shoutout to Liam and all the pain and suffering you had to experience. Wish you were real so I could buy you and your man all the mimosas for your strength and bravery.

Finally, eventually, they let themselves have this. Alex insists it’s casual, that nothing has to change. Something Henry readily agrees to, but underneath it all there’s a current of something real being built.

“Thinking about history makes me wonder how I’ll fit into it one day, I guess. And you too. I kinda wish people still wrote like that. History, huh? Bet we could make some.”

Brilliantly, McQuiston finds a way to let the reader in on Henry’s mindset without ever making the book a dual POV. They have Alex and Henry write each other love letters via email with post scripts from historical figures detailing their devotion.

“Should I tell you that when we’re apart, your body comes back to me in dreams? That when I sleep, I see you, the dip of your waist, the freckle above your hip, and when I wake up in the morning, it feels like I’ve just been with you, the phantom touch of your hand on the back of my neck fresh and not imagined? That I can feel your skin against mine, and it makes every bone in my body ache? That, for a few moments, I can hold my breath and be back there with you, in a dream, in a thousand rooms, nowhere at all?”

Right… because that is a totally casual thing to say. The confidence with which Henry uses his gift for prose to sweet talk Alex without ever actually having the intention of making this thing between them official is insane. Hats off to you my man. That has to be a byproduct of that royal upbringing.

However, it’s not all just about Alex and Henry. President Ellen Claremont is fighting to get reelected for her second term, Senator Rafael Luna is trying to make a change in congress as the first openly gay senator to be elected to office (something Alex proudly assisted with), Senator Oscar Diaz is out in California being the patron saint of gender neutral bathrooms and girl chaos demon Nora Holleran, granddaughter of the Vice President and one-third of the White House Trio, is doing very tech-y scary stuff of which both Alex and I understand absolutely none of.

Maybe it’s just my niche or a coping mechanism in the hellscape that is today’s America, but a story of true idealistic politics always gets to me. Of a government that truly wants only the best for its people and is willing to fight for it no matter the cost. Of politicians who actually want to represent the people who elected them. Of acceptance and change and the belief that a better world is not only possible but inevitable. I eat it up every time. It’s why The West Wing is one of my favorite shows and why I can never quite put down this story.
It’s probably also why Alex is my favorite character. Sure, he’s a hot mess who runs at 100 miles an hour, but he’s also a snarky little cinnamon roll who just cares so much about other people. He has such faith in his country and even in his home state of Texas. He believes that even a historically red state can go blue. He believes so much that he’s willing to go to war for it. Yes, I’m looking at you WASPy Hunter.

It would be unfair of me to wax poetic about Alex and not talk about Henry. Although, I do think he’d understand my plight.

Henry is complex. He’s just a boy with the weight of centuries of legacy and tradition on his shoulders. He’s a boy who maybe not explicitly, but implicitly, has been told that under no circumstances can he be true to himself and love who he loves. That his country will never accept him for who he is. That he has to keep himself locked up tight, unable to even share his favorite author.

“For Christ’s sake” Henry says, “I’ve been trying to be happy my entire idiot life. My birthright is a country, not happiness.”

He’s grieving the loss of his father, the former James Bond actor, Arthur Fox, and the loss of his mother who shut herself off from the world when his dad died. Henry can be maudlin and depressed, yet still finds beauty in the simplest things. Still manages to stick his chin out and be brave against all odds.

“I want you-”
“Then fucking have me.”
“but I don’t want this.”

Of all the quotes, this is the one that sticks with me the most. It’s so incredibly raw. It’s Alex and Henry at their realest and most vulnerable. It’s Alex fighting for a shot to be with Henry and Henry crumbling under the pressure of every expectation that’s ever been placed on him. It’s Henry wanting to stay out of the public light and realizing that this one choice could take away any chance of doing so and make him lose his family, his country, and his identity in one fell swoop.

From start to finish, Red, White & Royal Blue fills me up with an indescribable sense of rapture. Few pieces of literature have ever come even remotely close for me. This is a big, world changing, foundation shaking kind of love. Nothing about it is understated. Alex and Henry are soulmates fated to be together. Their love is bigger than any obstacle thrown their way. As Alex would say, like Han and Leia. Something I am immensely grateful for.

“But the truth is, also, simply this: love is indomitable. America has always believed this. And so, I am not ashamed to stand here today where presidents have stood and say that I love him, the same as Jack loved Jackie, the same as Lyndon loved Lady Bird. Every person who bears a legacy makes the choice of a partner with whom they will share it, whom the American people will hold beside them in hearts and memories and history books. America: He is my choice.”

Nothing makes me sob harder than Alex’s speech to the press at the end of the book, which the movie completely changed and I’ll never forgive them for. But, I digress.

I met McQuiston back in 2022 when the deluxe edition with Henry POV chapters came out (you MUST read) and they called me a delight, which is not relevant to this review but is important to me that you know.

Please if you listen to only one of my recommendations, let this be the one. You won’t regret it. I promise.