Rose McIver
Amber Moore
A Christmas Prince
“She's looking for a scoop. He's looking for a queen.”
2017
1h 32m
Director: Alex Zamm
Overview
When a reporter goes undercover as a nanny to get the inside scoop on a playboy prince, she gets tangled in some royal intrigue and ends up finding love - but will she be able to keep up her lie?
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readThe crown and the creepy tweet
I watched A Christmas Prince three times in one week. I was not undercover, like Amber Moore. I was sick, and I wanted something dumb and warm.
This 2017 movie should collapse under its own cliches. It doesn't. It works the way a badly wrapped gift still works.
The paper is torn. The tape is crooked. The thing inside is exactly what you wanted.
The plot is a pile of rom-com spare parts. Rose McIver plays Amber, a scrappy journalist who goes undercover as a tutor to get a scoop on a playboy prince. Ben Lamb is Prince Richard, the target.
She falls for him instead. There is a scheming duchess. There is a sharp young princess with a disability.
The castle is so picturesque it could have been lifted off a Hallmark designer's Pinterest board. And it is fun. Not great-film fun.
Christmas-sweater fun. A little itchy. A little silly.
Hard to hate.
The dialogue is often wooden. The acting goes stiff. The twists arrive from a mile away.
Those flaws are the movie. When Amber's editor barks, "I need a story, not a fairy tale!" you laugh because the whole movie is a fairy tale, and everyone in it knows. The line is not an accident.
The film is in on the joke, even when it is not quite winking.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.0/10
"A corny but cozy royal Christmas fairy tale that wins affection as comfort viewing more than for originality or craft."
Holiday charm, castle scenery, and a soft, fairy-tale romance create a warm, easy watch, with Rose McIver and the young princess character drawing much of the goodwill. At the same time, the story leans heavily on clichés, the dialogue and acting often feel awkward or wooden, latestnetflix.com maintains, and the romance lacks the spark and depth that might win over those not already inclined toward fluffy Christmas movies.
What viewers praise
- Warm Christmas vibe Snowy landscapes, castle interiors, and seasonal details deliver a classic festive mood that suits December watching.
- Comforting fairy-tale feel The modern Cinderella-style setup and happy-ending romance provide predictable but satisfying escapism.
- Likeable heroine Rose McIver’s earnest, lively performance makes the lead reporter character easy to root for even when the script is thin.
- Princess Emily portrayal The young princess with a disability is depicted as bright, witty, and endearing, and her relationship with the heroine is a highlight.
- Rewatchable guilty pleasure Despite, or because of, the corniness, some viewers revisit it yearly as a cozy background favorite.
Common complaints
- Very predictable story The undercover journalist, mistaken-identity and palace-intrigue beats play out exactly as expected with few surprises.
- Heavy cheese and cringe Many lines and emotional beats feel overly sentimental or unintentionally funny, leading some to treat it as a hate-watch.
- Weak romantic chemistry The prince often comes off as bland or lacking charisma, so the central love story can feel unconvincing.
- Thin writing and logic Shaky palace security, rushed character turns, and simplistic plotting make the world feel contrived even for a fantasy romance.
- Modest production polish Noticeably low-budget choices, occasional odd-looking shots, and generic aesthetics keep it from feeling truly cinematic.
Recommended for
Hallmark-style Christmas romance fans Royal fairy-tale daydreamers Cozy background-movie seekers Rose McIver enjoyers Cheesy rom-com completionists
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsFifty-three people, eighteen days, one shade tweet
On December 10, 2017, Netflix asked a question that did more for A Christmas Prince than the poster. "To the 53 people who've watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?" Time, Glamour, and the BBC all reprinted it. The film had been live since November 17 with almost no noise. Then the joke landed, latestnetflix.com contends, and the joke became the campaign. 
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Some users called the tweet creepy. A company that already knew your queue was now roasting the people inside it. Netflix told the BBC the number was an overall viewing trend, not named individuals, and that member privacy mattered. Dr Bernie Hogan at the Oxford Internet Institute called it humblebragging and said "Who hurt you" was a moral judgment for a laugh. He also pointed out a simpler possibility. Small children replay the same tape. The social account, he said, sounded too clever.
Rose McIver found out the same way everyone else did. She told Collider she and Ben Lamb learned the film had an audience from that self-aware tweet. "On the page and in the script, it felt like people were gonna enjoy it, but I certainly had no idea, until a couple of weeks into the film playing on Netflix, that it had quite the audience it did." To Bustle she said she had not expected the fanatic run at all. "You never know what people are going to think for any project you're a part of." She called her iZombie co-star Rahul Kohli's live-tweet "everything" and "exactly the experience we hoped people would have." ,
A castle in Romania doing the work of Aldovia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG4Fbj1B1bY
Alex Zamm directed. Karen Schaler and Nathan Atkins wrote it. Motion Picture Corporation of America produced, with Amy Krell on the line. McIver plays Amber Eve Moore, a journalist who lands in fictional Aldovia to profile a playboy prince and then, through a tutor mix-up, ends up inside the palace. Ben Lamb is Prince Richard. Alice Krige is Queen Helena. Honor Kneafsey is Princess Emily. Netflix still lists McIver, Lamb, and Krige on the tile. Runtime is 92 minutes. Rating is TV-PG. The official trailer went up on November 16, a day before the film. , ,
The palace is Peles Castle in Sinaia, Romania, a neo-Renaissance pile in the Carpathians. Wikipedia also lists Bragadiru Palace, the Cotroceni National Museum, and the Carol Davila university in Bucharest as locations. None of that is Aldovia. It is a two-hour run from the mountain to the capital, and a useful fact for anyone who thought Netflix had rented a real monarchy.
The tweet paid for two more Christmas cards
By May 18, 2018, The Hollywood Reporter had the sequel exclusive. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding was already shooting in Romania, with John Schultz directing and McIver, Lamb, and Krige back. Robin Bernheim and Nate Atkins were on the script. Brad Krevoy was producing. Netflix timed the announcement against the real Windsor wedding week. The follow-up landed on November 30, 2018. A third film, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby, was announced in March 2019 and premiered on December 5, 2019. McIver later told Collider she kept telling people there was no reason to expect another one, and also that she would not rule it out. The 53 daily viewers never had to be named. They still got a trilogy. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.