Wait, is there actually a The Royal We Hallmark movie? If you've spent any time on romance bookstagram or lurking in Hallmark enthusiast forums, you’ve probably seen the whispers. People want it. They really, really want it. But here is the cold, hard truth that might sting a little: as of right now, Hallmark hasn't actually adapted Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan’s bestselling novel into a film.
It's a weird situation. Usually, when a book blows up this big—especially one that feels like it was precision-engineered for the Hallmark "royals" brand—a movie deal follows within months. The Royal We hit shelves years ago, capturing the hearts of everyone who obsessed over Prince William and Kate Middleton's university days. It’s got the St. Andrews vibe (renamed to Oxford in the book), the "commoner" American girl, the brooding but sweet prince, and enough royal protocol drama to fill a dozen tea sets.
So, why the confusion? Why do so many people swear they’ve seen a The Royal We Hallmark movie?
Basically, it's a mix of "Mandela Effect" and the sheer volume of royal content Hallmark pumps out every year. We’ve had A Royal Christmas, Royal Matchmaker, Once Upon a Prince, and roughly forty-seven others. When a title is as iconic as The Royal We, fans tend to retroactively project it onto the movies they’ve already watched. Honestly, it’s a compliment to the authors that their story feels so definitive of the genre that we just assume it exists on our TV screens.
Why This Specific Story is Different from Typical Hallmark Tropes
If Hallmark did ever pull the trigger on a The Royal We Hallmark movie, it wouldn't be your standard 84-minute fluff piece. The book is actually kind of heavy.
While Hallmark movies usually feature a prince who falls in love with a girl who owns a struggling bakery in 48 hours, The Royal We covers a decade. It deals with real-world pressures: the relentless paparazzi, the crushing weight of expectation, and the fact that "happily ever after" is actually just the beginning of a lot of hard work. It's a bit more The Crown meets One Day than it is A Castle for Christmas.
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Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (the geniuses behind the fashion blog Go Fug Yourself) wrote Bex Porter as a relatable, flawed protagonist. She isn't just a girl in a pretty dress. She makes mistakes. She gets overwhelmed. Nick, the prince, isn't a cardboard cutout; he’s a guy trying to navigate a system that wasn't built for modern love.
The Adaptation That Almost Was
There was a flicker of hope a few years back. The film rights were actually optioned by CBS Films at one point. This is probably where some of the "is it a movie yet?" energy comes from. Reports surfaced that Mae Whitman was attached to produce and potentially star as Bex Porter.
Mae Whitman? Perfect. She has that "girl next door who is actually incredibly sharp" energy down to a science.
However, Hollywood is a graveyard of "optioned" projects. Things get stuck in development hell. Scripts get rewritten. Studios merge. And sometimes, projects just sit on a shelf while the rights eventually revert to the authors. If you're looking for a The Royal We Hallmark movie on your DVR right now, you won’t find it. But that doesn't mean the "Royal Rom-Com" genre hasn't been heavily influenced by this specific book.
Movies That Feel Exactly Like The Royal We
If you are craving that specific Bex-and-Nick energy, you have to look at what Hallmark and other streamers have released in its wake. There are a few titles that clearly drank from the same fountain.
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- A Royal Runaway Romance (2022): This one hits some of those same beats about the friction between duty and desire.
- Prince & Me: The classic. If you haven't seen the original Julia Stiles version, go back. It's the closest spiritual ancestor to the book.
- Red, White & Royal Blue: Okay, it's not Hallmark, and it’s a different dynamic entirely, but it captures that same "high-stakes international romance" feel that The Royal We popularized for the modern era.
The irony is that Hallmark often plays it much safer than the source material in The Royal We. In the book, there are scandals. There’s a "spare" brother, Freddie, who is essentially a chaotic version of Prince Harry before the real-world Prince Harry became a lightning rod for headlines. Hallmark usually sands down those edges. They want the tea to be warm, not scalding.
The Challenges of Bringing Bex and Nick to the Small Screen
Let’s be real about the budget.
Hallmark movies are charming, but they are often filmed in 15 days in British Columbia. The Royal We demands Oxford. It demands Buckingham Palace (or a very good CGI version). It demands the visual spectacle of a Royal Wedding that looks like it cost millions of pounds.
A true The Royal We Hallmark movie would likely need to be a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production or a multi-part miniseries to do the book justice. You can't fit ten years of pining, breakups, and royal galas into a two-hour slot including commercials for laundry detergent.
Then there is the sequel, The Heir Affair. It gets even darker and more complex. It dives into infertility, the death of a monarch, and the reality of living in a gilded cage. It’s brilliant, but it’s definitely "prestige TV" territory rather than "Saturday night comfort watch" territory.
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Is There Still a Chance for a Movie?
Never say never. The romance genre is currently having a massive "book-to-screen" renaissance. With the success of The Idea of You and It Ends With Us, studios are looking for established IP with a built-in fanbase.
The fans of "The Fug Girls" (the authors' nickname) are loyal. They are vocal. And they are exactly the demographic that keeps streamers like Peacock, Hulu, or even Hallmark’s own "Hallmark+" service alive. If a The Royal We Hallmark movie—or any adaptation—gets greenlit today, it would likely be a major event in the romance community.
Actually, the timing might be better now than ever. With the real British Royal Family constantly in the news, people's appetite for "royal-adjacent" fiction is at an all-time high. We want to see the behind-the-scenes struggle, even if it’s fictional. Especially if it’s fictional.
What to Do While You Wait
Since the movie doesn't exist yet, you've got to find your fix elsewhere.
- Read the books again. Seriously. The Royal We and The Heir Affair hold up. The dialogue is snappy, the fashion descriptions are top-tier, and the emotional stakes feel earned.
- Watch "The Royals" (the E! series). It’s way soapier and more "Gossip Girl," but it scratches that itch for palace intrigue.
- Check out Hallmark’s "Paris, Wine & Romance" or "Royal Matchmaker." They don't have the same depth, but the vibes are immaculate if you just want to see a commoner accidentally impress a queen.
- Follow the authors. Heather and Jessica are still active and always have great insights into why certain stories get made and others don't.
It’s easy to get frustrated when a favorite book doesn't get the cinematic treatment it deserves. We want to see Bex's wedding dress. We want to see Nick's earnest face when he realizes he can't live without her. But maybe there’s something nice about the story staying on the page for now. In our heads, the budget is unlimited, the locations are real, and the casting is perfect.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you want to see a The Royal We Hallmark movie happen, the best thing you can do is show the industry there is still a market for it. Buy the books for friends. Review them on Goodreads. Tag Hallmark or production companies like Hello Sunshine on social media when you talk about your "dream cast." Studios track "social sentiment." If enough people talk about a project as if it should exist, someone eventually realizes they are leaving money on the table. In the meantime, keep your eyes on Hallmark's seasonal slate; they announce new "Royals" projects every spring and fall, and one day, the title we’ve all been waiting for might finally be on the list.