Red, White & Royal Blue

By day three, Alex has stopped texting Henry. Henry never texts Alex, and Alex feels like he’s losing his mind. He watches the news, breaks things, dreams about Henry, and drafts and deletes emails. After seeing Luna stump for Richards on TV, Alex smashes his phone. Seven days after Henry left, Alex discovers the kimono from Pez and a note from Henry in its pocket. The note, addressed to “Thisbe,” reads, “I wish there weren’t a wall. Love, Pyramus.” Alex googles and finds that Thisbe and Pyramus were mythical Greek lovers from rival families, but they were forbidden from being with each other and could only speak through a crack in a wall. Following this, Alex essentially blacks out. He texts Cash and purchases two tickets to London. Their flight leaves in a few hours.

Alex calls Zahra from the runway and asks her to secure a car. He and Cash land in London nine hours later and drive to Kensington, where Shaan is waiting for them. Shaan has an umbrella, Cash and Alex do not, and Shaan refuses to let Alex in and accuses him of “making a scene.” Alex curses at Henry’s windows and suggests his yelling will attract reporters. But a minute later, Henry appears in a doorway and grudgingly leads Alex up to his rooms. He looks awful, and he insists that when Alex has said his piece, they’re done. Incredulous, Alex asks if Henry really doesn’t care, and he shouts that he loves Henry, as hard as that is. Looking miserable, Henry insists this is exactly why their relationship can’t continue—Alex knows why.

Alex asks if Henry really doesn’t want to try to be happy and throws the note from the kimono at him. Henry snaps. He’s been in love with Alex from the beginning. The problem, he spits, is that Alex has choices—he can choose a private life—but Henry will never not be a prince. He always figured Alex would get tired of him and he’d never have to make this impossible choice. Alex insists the choice isn’t so impossible, but Henry loses his composure again. His family doesn’t and won’t support him, and he doesn’t want the criticism if he and Alex are open about their relationship. Alex reminds Henry that Henry doesn’t really like his life as it is, and he suggests that they’re actually very similar. They both want to make the world better, and they can do that together.

Henry, however, says he can’t—so Alex tells Henry to tell him to leave. Henry can stay here and be miserable and write sad poetry. At this, Henry pins Alex and kisses him. They have sex, and Alex has never felt more in love. When Alex wakes up in the morning, Henry is gone, and Alex is certain they’re breaking up today. It surprises him when Henry enters with two mugs—he knows exactly how Alex likes his coffee. Henry agrees he was a jerk last night and explains that he went for a run and ran into Philip. Philip ate plain toast—who does that?—and then droned on about land holdings and having children even though he hates kids. It made Henry realize that Alex is right, and he doesn’t want that. Alex has helped him see that he can choose—and has the right to choose.

Alex is stunned. Henry says he panicked at the lake, when Alex almost said he loved Henry. He’s afraid, but he’d like to be honest about his identity someday. Henry says he’s in if Alex is and if Alex can be patient. Alex agrees, and they spend the morning kissing and watching Bake Off. Alex eventually checks his phone and finds dozens of incredulous and supportive texts from June. As soon as he texts back, she calls him. Once they’re done, Henry calls Shaan and asks him to arrange with Zahra for Alex to stay until tomorrow. Alex chooses not to listen to the voicemail from Ellen, and he tells Henry about Ellen suggesting that he break things off if he wasn’t totally sure about Henry.

Henry asks if their relationship is going to ruin Alex’s dreams of being elected to Congress by 30, but Alex insists that while there are definitely things to figure out, they can figure them out. With prodding, Alex admits he’s been thinking about this in some capacity since their first kiss. Henry shares that he’s been thinking about it since they met at the Olympics. When Alex acts incredulous, Henry tackles him. In their scuffle, Henry accidentally plays Ellen’s voicemail. She calls Alex a hopeless romantic, says Henry “had better be forever,” and tells him to be careful.

That night, Henry suggests that he and Alex sneak out of Kensington Palace. Bea helps, and after running for a bit, Henry reveals that he has a key to the Victoria and Albert Museum—people will give polite princes keys to all sorts of things. The security guard greets Henry, accepts some cash, and leads Henry and Alex to the Renaissance section. Henry shares that Arthur and Catherine used to bring him. Pointing to a giant sculpture of a tiger eating a European soldier, he shares how Catherine used to say the tiger was eating the soldier because England stole this piece from India—and the Queen won’t let them give the piece back. He loves this museum, Henry says, because there’s always more to discover, and everything has meaning.

Finally, they reach Henry’s favorite room, which is a reproduced city square from Florence. One whole wall is taken up by a Gothic choir screen. With Alex’s prodding, Henry explains each piece in the room to him and details how James I commissioned the King James Bible because the Church of England was so upset that he was open about his boyfriend. One of Henry’s favorite pieces, a Giambologna sculpture, was a gift to James’s lover. The sculpture, Henry insists, should be a national gay landmark. Alex and Henry joke about how much Henry’s “homophobic forebears” would hate Alex and their relationship. Then, Henry leads Alex behind the choir screen, where there’s a reconstructed altar. Henry shares that he’s always dreamed of dancing with his lover here, and he plays “Your Song” on his phone. He and Alex dance and kiss.

Henry arranges a private plane for Alex to return to D.C., and he gives Alex his signet ring on the runway. He says he’s sure. Alex hugs Henry, despite the security risk, and says he loves him. In the air, Alex puts the ring on the chain with his house key.