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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Red, White & Royal Blue, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sexuality, Desire, and Duty
Media, Public Relations, and Gossip
Family and Support
Friendship and Honesty
National Politics and Social Issues
Summary
Analysis
Nobody knows who etched the message under a bit of loose paneling on the White House roof, but it was likely a presidential son or daughter. The message reads, “RULE #1: DON’T GET CAUGHT,” and Alex found it during his first week at the White House. Alex and June’s rooms are across the hall from each other on the second floor, just like they were back in Texas. Alex still wears the key to his family’s house in Texas on a chain around his neck. Though presidents’ children don’t normally live at the White House after turning 18, Alex and June both live there in their 20s. Alex attends Georgetown, so it just makes sense. June moved in after she graduated from college to keep an eye on Alex. He loves being in the middle of the action and dreams of being the youngest elected congressman in modern history.
The novel’s opening establishes Alex as something of a troublemaker—he finds the message, which would officially be considered graffiti, because he’s poking around. It implies he may have done, or will go on to do, something that he won’t want to get caught doing. The rest of this passage seeks to characterize Alex as extremely connected to his home state of Texas (by wearing the key) and to his family, since he lives at the White House with his parent and sister. Additionally, he has big dreams for himself, suggesting that at this point, he has a good idea of who he is and where he’s going—something the novel will interrogate going forward.
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Now, June enters Alex’s room with two iPhones, tabloid magazines, and stolen donuts. She settles on Alex’s bed to peruse coverage of the siblings in the tabloids, joking that this is why she got a journalism degree. US Weekly reports that Alex might be back together with Nora Holleran, the vice president’s granddaughter. They briefly dated, but they’re friends now who sometimes drink champagne in hotel rooms and moan to throw off the paparazzi—it’s entertaining. June changes the subject to the royal wedding, which they’re supposed to fly to attend tomorrow. Alex totally forgot about it (he’s been too focused on papers for his class on Roman political thought). June accuses him of just not wanting to see his “archnemesis,” Prince Henry, who Alex insults. All he has to do, she insists, is not cause a scandal at the wedding.
It's hard to tell here whether June is being facetious or genuinely joking—studying coverage of oneself when one has a journalism degree seems more disheartening than anything. Still, the reporting on Alex and Nora’s fake relationship introduces the idea that as famous First Children, Alex, June, and Nora are part of a complex media ecosystem that they sometimes mess with for their own amusement. Being so famous comes with its downsides, though—Alex will have to see Prince Henry at the royal wedding which, according to Alex, is a terrible thing to have to do.
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Alex’s family started out poor, so flying on a private jet the next day is still cool. He can’t focus on his school paper. Nora is racing a Secret Service agent, Cash, to finish a crossword; Amy, another Secret Service agent, is embroidering flowers on a napkin; and June is reading People. Alex isn’t impressed with her reading selection, but she shares that the cake for the royal wedding cost $75,000 and everyone is shocked that Prince Henry is attending his brother’s wedding without a date. Alex gripes that that’s because “he’s as compelling as a wet ball of yarn” and declares monarchies “trash.” Among White House staff, it’s well-known that Alex and Henry are rivals. The tabloids have pitted them against each other for years. If you ask Alex, he’s winning. Henry has no charisma.
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Alex finds the ceremony “sort of nice,” but boring. Finally, he finds himself at the banquet alongside Nora and June. As he drinks champagne and jokes with his friends, a royal attendant appears and says that Prince Henry would like to ask June to dance. Nora accepts for June, and Henry walks up moments later. He barely looks at Alex as he sweeps June away and begins to waltz. Nora jokingly comforts Alex, who decides to spend the rest of the evening getting drunk. As he drinks, he thinks back to how he first saw Henry when he was 12. Henry was the centerfold picture in one of June’s magazines, and as Alex’s parents became increasingly politically prominent, Alex wished he could look as confident and warm as Henry. Alex would touch the picture all the time. Then they met, and Alex realized the truth about Henry.
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Alex drinks and dances, ruminating about Henry, until he notices Henry standing next to the cake. Henry is too perfect, and Alex can’t resist. He approaches and suggests that Henry have two champagne fountains when he gets married. Henry smiles a perfect smile, and Alex asks if it’s tiring to act like he’s above everything all the time. He suggests that Henry might try looking like he’s having fun. Henry, however, notes that Alex is drunk and is clearly obsessed with him—after all, Henry never approaches Alex, when Alex regularly approaches Henry to insult him. Then, Henry walks off. Upset to not get the last word, Alex grabs for Henry, and Henry tries to throw Alex off—and both men topple into the wedding cake. Henry is bleeding. He curses, and Alex knows his mom will kill him. Cameras flash.
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