Alex and Henry are heading to another royal wedding, and their next chapter comes with an R rating. Consider our interest renewed.
Red, White & Royal Wedding, the follow-up to 2023’s Red, White & Royal Blue, has received its U.S. classification for “sexual content/nudity and language.” Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine return as Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry, the couple who turned a very expensive cake mishap into a transatlantic love story.
The rating offers a small update for fans waiting to reunite with the pair. Naturally, the wording invites a closer look. We have time. There’s still no release date.
Same Rating, Slightly Different Wording
The original film also received an R rating, so the sequel is staying in familiar territory. However, the Motion Picture Association describes its content differently.
Red, White & Royal Blue was rated for “some sexual content, partial nudity and language.” The sequel’s classification reads “sexual content/nudity and language,” leaving out “some” and “partial.”
A few missing words don’t make it a scene-by-scene preview, and the description doesn’t establish that the new film will be more explicit. We’ll have to see the movie before making that comparison.
Still, for a fandom waiting on its next glimpse of Alex and Henry, even a ratings update gives everyone something to discuss. The first film balanced its romantic comedy setup with physical intimacy and the vulnerability of two young men figuring out what they wanted. Their chemistry was a major part of the appeal. A second outing gives that relationship room to grow.
About Those Wedding Bells
Before anyone starts choosing Alex and Henry’s first-dance song, revisit an important detail: The wedding in the title belongs to Henry’s sister, Princess Beatrice.
Galitzine and Zakhar Perez clarified that point in a video celebrating the start of production in January. Ellie Bamber is returning as Bea, meaning Henry’s sister will once again be part of the royal proceedings.
That puts Alex and Henry back in an environment where they have historically struggled to behave themselves around a wedding cake. Someone might want to give the catering staff a heads-up.
Beyond the wedding reveal, the larger plot remains under wraps. The title sets the scene, but it leaves plenty of room for questions about how the couple is navigating their relationship now that the world knows.
From Damage Control to Dating a Prince
The first film introduced Alex as the bisexual son of the U.S. president and Henry as a British prince with an impressive ability to get under his skin.
After their confrontation at a royal wedding ended in a cake-covered publicity disaster, the two were pushed into a friendship for the cameras. The performance gradually gave way to something real, with private messages, secret meetings and a romance complicated by family expectations and public scrutiny.
By the end, keeping their relationship quiet was no longer an option.
That gives the sequel a different starting point. Audiences have already watched Alex and Henry fall in love. Now, they can spend time together as a couple, beyond the stolen moments and carefully managed appearances that shaped their first movie.
Of course, exactly what that looks like is still a closely guarded royal secret.
The Director Behind ‘But I’m a Cheerleader’ Takes Over
Jamie Babbit is directing the follow-up, bringing the filmmaker behind queer comedy favorite But I’m a Cheerleader into Alex and Henry’s world.
Original director Matthew López remains involved as a producer and co-writer. He shares screenplay credits with Gemma Burgess and Casey McQuiston, whose 2019 novel inspired the first movie.
The sequel continues beyond that original adaptation, with no published follow-up novel as its source material. McQuiston’s involvement means the author is helping shape where the characters go next, even as longtime readers enter a story they cannot simply flip ahead to finish.
For book fans who usually pride themselves on knowing what happens next, welcome to the waiting room. We’re all here together.
The Royal Guest List Is Growing
Alongside Zakhar Perez, Galitzine and Bamber, the returning ensemble includes Uma Thurman, Sarah Shahi, Rachel Hilson, Stephen Fry, Clifton Collins Jr., Thomas Flynn, Aneesh Sheth and Malcolm Atobrah.
New cast members include Lena Headey, Chloe Fineman, Henry Ashton and Alex Høgh Andersen. That is a substantial group of arrivals for a movie whose central couple already has enough family, political and royal obligations to fill several calendars.
The familiar faces also give the sequel a chance to revisit the people who helped, challenged or occasionally interrupted Alex and Henry the first time around. A royal romance is rarely private, especially when one person’s mother occupies the White House.
When Can We Watch?
Production began in January and wrapped in March. Amazon MGM Studios has not announced a release date, so fans are still waiting to learn when Red, White & Royal Wedding will arrive.
Until then, a returning couple, a wedding invitation, and an R rating will keep the conversation going.
Bea can have the ceremony. We’ll be watching what Alex and Henry get up to at the reception.
