Red, White & Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They attended a private evangelical Christian school from kindergarten through 12th grade and later went on to earn a journalism degree from Louisiana State University. McQuiston got the idea for their debut novel, Red, White & Royal Blue, while following coverage of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It received rave reviews upon publication and is being adapted into a film by Amazon. McQuiston, who is nonbinary, has said that they write queer romances specifically due to the trauma they experienced as a closeted queer child and teen attending a conservative religious school—Red, White & Royal Blue is something they would’ve wanted to read as a teenager. While it’s officially marketed to adult readers, Red, White & Royal Blue has also earned an Alex Award (which is awarded to adult books that appeal to young readers) and has been widely read by people of all demographics.

McQuiston was inspired to write Red, White & Royal Blue while following coverage of the 2016 presidential election, in which Republican Donald Trump ran and won against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton, who would have been the first woman elected to the presidency, had a long history in politics and was widely favored to win. Trump, like the fictional Richards in the novel, has faced accusations of sexual assault. The novel also references the changing electoral map, particularly the hope on the left that Texas might become a swing state due to demographic shifts. However, while (unsuccessful) Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, for instance, set a record in 2018 for earning the most votes for a Democrat in Texas, Texas has remained reliably red. Across the Atlantic, Henry speaks frequently in the novel about England’s gay history and its history as a colonial power. He references the theory that King James I was gay or bisexual and the controversial practices of museums like the Victoria and Albert Museum, which hold artifacts and artwork from formerly colonized countries that some advocates believe should be returned to those countries. Finally, Red, White & Royal Blue is deeply influenced by the time period in which it was written and set (though as it was published in 2019 and takes place in 2020, it of course doesn’t mention the COVID-19 pandemic). The young characters, all Millennials or Gen Z, are deeply invested and well-versed in internet culture and social media platforms like Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. They also mention various popular TV shows and movies, including The Great British Bake Off, Jurassic Park, and the Star Wars series.

While writing Red, White & Royal Blue, McQuiston consulted and was inspired by books as varied as the romance novel The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan; A Woman in Charge, Carl Bernstein’s biography of Hillary Clinton; and All the Truth is Out by Matt Bai, which covers Gary Hart’s sex scandal in the 1980s. McQuiston’s other books all feature queer characters and have, like Red, White & Royal Blue, been well received by fans and critics. One Last Stop is another offering for adults with an all-queer cast of characters, while her YA debut, I Kissed Shara Wheeler, is set at a private Christian school in the South and was heavily influenced by McQuiston’s upbringing. The fictional Prince Henry bears resemblance to the real-life Prince Harry, who in addition to marrying an American woman (Meghan Markle) in 2018, ultimately stepped down as a working royal in 2020 to focus on philanthropic pursuits. He published his memoir, Spare, in 2023, in which he details some of the trauma he suffered growing up in the Royal Family. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is another gay romance that begins with the couple fake dating. Within the novel, Harry and Alex discuss numerous literary figures, including Charles Dickens (Bleak House), Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice), and George Eliot (Middlemarch).