The Prince and Me II is Superfluous But Entertaining

This year, the world watched as Prince William and Kate Middleton tied the knot. Royal weddings have a way of capturing the public’s imagination. That’s certainly the case in The Prince and Me II: The Royal Wedding. In this 2006 sequel to the charming Julia Stiles rom-com The Prince and Me, Paige (now played by little-known Kam Heskin) is happily engaged to Prince Edvard (Luke Mably) of Denmark and studying at a Danish university while wedding preparations proceed. But complications are about to come her way…

The Prince and Me II is the first of three superfluous sequels to a cute stand-alone film. The premise is a fairly tired one. A scheming relative digs up an obscure law necessitating that the prince marries someone of royal blood. Edvard already is feeling the pinch because law also dictates that he must marry by his next birthday, which is coming up quickly. He knows who he wants to marry. But will the tug of duty lead him instead into the arms of his conniving cousin Kirsten (Clemency Burton-Hill)?

While Heskin is not as nuanced as Stiles, she does what she can as her decent stand-in, and she and Mably make a fairly convincing couple. I wouldn’t say the sparks are flying, but at least it’s plain they like each other. Catherine Cyran, who also directed the third and fourth movies, takes over the franchise here, and the movie has a definite made-for-TV quality about it. While none of the major characters are children, this definitely feels like more of a kids’ movie, with abundant slapstick and a very simple storyline.

Burton-Hill alternates between extreme sweetness and cattiness as the comely woman who used to be the prince’s closest friend. While her father is clearly only interested in power and money, it does seem as though Kirsten might have genuine feelings for her childhood chum, so I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for her, though her behavior become increasingly abhorrent as the story progresses. Still, I found her performance the most engaging in the movie. I also enjoyed Jonathan Firth as Soren, Edvard’s personal assistant and Paige’s devoted friend, and his down-to-earth kindness and clever ideas come to the rescue on more than one occasion. He’s played by a different actor this time around too, but the change is not as noticeable, at least without having seen the first one in several years.

The movie is quite pleasant to look at, with plenty of views of royal architecture and gardens and the recurring appearance of blue butterflies. I don’t know enough about Denmark to be able to say whether there was much accuracy in the portrayal; perhaps it would have been better to invent a country, as Meg Cabot did with The Princess Diaries. It does make aspects of the country look a bit silly, but the cinematography presents Denmark in a favorable light, though it was filmed in the Czech Republic.

The fact that Paige is still studying to be a doctor is an interesting point. The implication is that when she becomes queen, her duties will be extensive, but nobody seems to think that serving as both doctor and monarch will be too much to juggle. The movie is careful to balance the traditional fairy tale notion of a prince sweeping an ordinary girl off her feet with a more modern sensibility, allowing Paige to continue pursuing her long-held career goals. Paige never needs to choose between dreams, but if Edvard truly loves her, he might need to abdicate. But can he bear to relinquish his duty to his country if it comes to that?

The Prince and Me II is a rather silly movie with several over-the-top sequences involving a series of calamities. These are probably funniest for younger viewers, who might also take away a worthwhile message about the value of education and diligent study. While there’s a reason this went directly to video, it’s still a fairly fun and family-friendly modern-day fairy tale. For what it is, I’d say it works pretty well.

Fairy Tale Meets Reality in The Prince and Me

I am a sucker for sappy movies. I’ll just say that up front. Thought-provoking is fine, but movies that tug at my heart strings are more likely to win me over completely. So when my mom and I went looking for a couple movies to rent recently, my eyes settled upon The Prince and Me, and when we finished watching it, I heaved the sort of happy sigh brought on by warm fuzzies. In other words, I approved.

I did a bit of searching after the movie was over and found it had been panned by critics and general audiences alike. I had to admit it was derivative, containing echoes of Coming to America, Son-In-Law and The Princess Diaries, among others. But that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the film. In fact, I would say it was one of the sweetest movies of its genre that I have seen. With its PG rating, it manages to be almost entirely inoffensive. There were a few times when I feared it might be heading into PG-13 territory, but these scenes always were cut short before any real impropriety could occur.

The basic story is an old one. A privileged boy used to being fawned over goes incognito and falls for a girl who initially hates him. The animosity breeds passion that will eventually be refocused as they get to know one another better and discover that they actually enjoy spending time together. The boy in question is Prince Edvard (Luke Mably), whose early scenes indicate that he is a reckless, sophomoric playboy. His motivation for attending a university in the United States is a commercial he saw for a video featuring wild American college girls. He covers this up well in his explanation to his parents, but his laconic lackey Soren (Ben Miller) knows the truth and seems both amused and gratified by the fact that reserved, focused Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles) refuses to give Eddie the time of day.

The two are thrown into association with one another. They are lab partners and co-workers at the student eatery. Eddie is thrust into collegiate life, learning how it feels to be an ordinary student struggling to get by. He is humbled by the valuable life experience he gains, and his party boy demeanor dissipates surprisingly quickly. Meanwhile, he helps Paige to loosen up and have a little fun while also encouraging her to give her heart the attention she generally reserves for her mind. The seeds of romance are planted, and they begin to blossom as Eddie assists Paige in appreciating Shakespeare and Paige shows Eddie the joys of farm life back home. All the while, his true identity is hidden, but it must emerge at some point, and when it does, both of them have choices to make. It plays out in largely fairy tale fashion, but there’s enough reality in there to make us believe it could actually happen, enough chemistry between the leads that we actually want it to.

Stiles has impressed me wherever I’ve seen her, and this film is no exception. She starts out so hardened, unable to really embrace life, and slowly drops her defenses. In moments when Paige allows herself some vulnerability, Stiles is radiant. Mably is a newcomer who I expect we’ll be seeing more of. For a start, he’s in the sequel – though I’m a bit leery of that, since two of the major characters – one of them Paige – are played by different actors the second time around. At any rate, though, he starts out seeming a rogue and grows increasingly uncertain, and his charm increases spectacularly in these moments. Particularly sweet are his Shakespeare lessons, in which his courtly upbringing gives him an exquisitely old-fashioned air. He has grown up with the Bard and truly understands him – yet even as he reads passages with stirring eloquence, his emotional investment prevents him from coming across as though he is in a superior position.

Supporting cast do a fine job, particularly Ben Miller, whose Soren seems at first to loathe being forced to babysit a hopelessly immature prince. I was reminded of Hugh Laurie’s performance as Mr. Palmer in Sense and Sensibility; so few words, but such a powerful presence, and we always knew exactly how irritated he was by his bubbly, gossipy wife. Like Mr. Palmer, though, Soren is a very decent fellow, as people in sophisticated servile positions always seem to be in this type of film, and he is ultimately very likable. Paige brings out the best in him as well as the prince. Miranda Richardson turns in a mostly icy performance as Eddie’s extremely proper mother, though she thaws a bit before all’s said and done. James Fox is warm throughout as Eddie’s ailing father, and I was amused by Devin Ratray, who plays Eddie’s burnout, video game obsessed roomie Scotty.

All told, The Prince and Me is just a very sweet story simply told. There is some attempt at modernization. This is first and foremost Paige’s story, and the director was determined not to see the movie end with her giving up her dreams for the sake of a fairy tale romance. But such is the bond between these two characters that we are determined to see their relationship survive, even if a royal wedding doesn’t occur before the credits roll. I saw the alternate ending and must say I am very satisfied with the chosen finale upon comparison. Prince Edvard’s coronation speech fulfills the director’s wishes for female empowerment with abundant elegance and emotion but leaves the door open for a cathartic conclusion that contains just enough happily ever after to satisfy a sap like me.