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The young Prince Henry of Wales grows up under immense pressure from his family, and as a member of the monarchy, he is often required to keep up appearances at all costs. Though Henry is gay, his grandmother and older brother are extremely traditional and want Henry to present himself as straight, to uphold stereotypical ideas of masculinity, and to hide his true self from the public eye. Henry struggles, lonely and trapped within the palace, with his sister Bea as one of his only confidantes. His obligation to obey his family causes him to long for a different life. This struggle is freighted also with grief, as Henry constantly mourns the loss of his beloved father, who died when Henry was a teenager. When Henry meets Alex, he begins to take the risks that he has always wanted to take, and he can no longer keep up the charade that his legacy has always required.
For Henry, it is love at first sight with Alex, but he doesn’t believe that Alex will ever love him back. As a result, when Alex is about to confess his love to Henry, Henry panics, flees the country, and goes silent. Alex fights for their relationship, flying to London to get him back, and Henry finally gathers the courage to go for what he wants most, no matter what his family thinks.
In the past, Henry went on heterosexual dates just to appease the crown and play to the press. But once he falls for Alex, play-acting for paparazzi and lying to the public is suddenly painful and untenable. Once Alex and Henry are publicly outed, Henry refuses to bend to the Queen’s pressure to lie about his sexuality. Henry and Alex come out and own their love, and Henry joins Alex on the stage in the most public way possible as Alex’s mother accepts her reelection to the presidency. Through their relationship, Alex discovers that Henry is a different person than he thought he was, and Henry discovers he has the courage to set aside secrecy and lies and be exactly the person he has always known himself to be.
