Young Royals
Welcome to the weekend frenzy. Each week, we’ll bring you a compelling title designed to keep you from going too crazy. Check back throughout the weekend for even more gloriously queer entertainment.
The hormonal: young royals
Mix Love, Victor with The Crown and you might have a series in the style of Young Royals, the Netflix show that originated in Sweden. The story follows Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding), Sweden’s youngest prince sent to a prestigious boarding school following a party scandal. Of course, he finds himself miserable, despite the presence of his cousin August (Malte Gårdinger). Wilhelm’s older brother, Crown Prince Erik (Ivar Forsling), also studied there as a school hero, also adds to Wilhelm’s warm welcome … and his pressure to excel. Wilhelm immediately crosses paths with Simon (Omar Rudberg), a local middle-class student who only attends school for lessons, rather than boarding. Wilhelm begins to feel a deep attraction to Simon, who already lives as an openly gay student.
Teenage romance is very much present in Young Royals, although the series also delves into deeper issues of classism, wealth, bullying, and, of course, growth. Amid the romance, Simon begins selling drugs to help pay for his education, while August does his best to cover up both his drug use and the fact that his historically wealthy family may in fact be broke. . A mid-season plot twist also turns the story upside down; we won’t reveal too much here, other than to say that chaos is engulfing the romance between Wilhelm and Simon on a much larger scale than expected.
Young Royals mixes the usual teen soaps tropes of secret romance, backstabbing, parental alienation, and insecurity with a new layer of political intrigue to keep things interesting. In another refreshing twist, the series eschews the usual American convention of using makeup and digital technology to “erase” teenage skin problems. As a result, the characters in the show look and feel a lot more like real teenagers, not amazingly pretty idols.
Thoughtful, creative, and with a juicy queer streak to boot, we bring Young Royals for viewing this weekend. Many queer people have wondered what it would be like to fall in love with a beautiful royal. This series knows that “fairytale romance” isn’t always magic.
Streamed on Netflix.
