A Royal Rom-Com
After heading off to Scotland to attend university, Prince William (Dan Amboyer - A Very Merry Toy Store) quite literally bumps into Kate Middleton (Alice St. Clair). From that meet cute a friendship starts and then a romance. But not only does the responsibility of being a Royal weigh heavily on Prince William's young shoulders but his mother's experience of a royal marriage also make him think long and hard about things especially when the press get wind of his relationship to Kate.
I will be honest "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance" was better than I had expected, but then I have had the dubious pleasure of watching "William & Kate", another made for TV movie from 2011 which like this dramatizes the relationship of Prince William and Kate Middleton. This is certainly the better of the two royal movies although that isn't really an endorsement because once again this feels like the writers have tried to turn the relationship of Prince William and Kate Middleton into a romantic comedy with the various members of the Royal household turned into comical characters.
The trouble with "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance" is that the depth of the story ends up being lost with the focus more on various humorous events. As such we have Prince William's jaw almost hitting the floor when he sees Kate in the university fashion show whilst we also have a Royal party where Prince Charles is entertaining children with magic tricks. It simply makes this feel more like it wants to be light-hearted fun than a proper drama about Prince William and Kate Middleton, well it does feature a scene of the Queen playing tennis on the Wii.
What I will say is that "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance" benefits from the casting of Dan Amboyer and Alice St. Clair as they end up delivering likeable characters. But beyond that the actual portrayals fail to ring true and this is especially the case when it comes to other members of the royal household with it feeling like Victor Garber was cast as Prince Charles because he could imitate his voice rather than for looking like him.
What this all boils down to is that "William & Catherine: A Royal Romance" is frankly weak especially if you were expecting drama rather than romantic comedy. But at the same time it is better than "William & Kate" another TV movie from 2011 which covers the royal romance.
