Review for Red, White & Royal Blue: A Romance of Burberry and Emails

Hello to May and hello to the gays, I guess! Last week, I finished Casey McQuiston’s electric debut novel, Red, White & Royal Blue, and honestly, didn’t want it to end. I started it only because I heard that it was an LGBTQ+ novel but in finishing it found the book to be much more than just a story about representation. As I’ve said a few times on both this blog and the Instagram account attached to it, I haven’t historically been the biggest fan of romance novels because there’s something about the way that everything in the protagonist’s life will always come back to romance and overall horniness that just doesn’t sit right with me. There is more to life than a sex drive and, essentially, I’ve never found literary porn to be believable (and yes, I know that’s the point and I’m definitely not one to talk as a fantasy fan). However, and a big however at that, McQuiston’s novel completely shifted my perspective on the genre, if only for their work alone thus far.

An absolutely brilliant concept, Red, White & Royal Blue follows the life of a young First Son of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz, as he navigates the political theatre of the country. He is obsessed with upholding ideal approval ratings for his family as his mother is the first woman President with another upcoming election to win, but also never fails to come off as the rebel child. As McQuiston states in their acknowledgements, it is an escape into a world that could have been possible with adverse 2016 results, and armed with southern charm, flirtatious humour, and good looks, Alex makes a beguiling protagonist and complex subject of romance for all McQuiston’s readers. In contrast, our romantic interest is born into a public discourse that the press can only speculate at in its authenticity: the English Crown. Prince Henry (who doubles nicely as an alternate universe Prince Harry) is young, shy, beautiful, and constantly dressed in head-to-toe Burberry; a nod to this world’s royals as Burberry has previously been given two Royal Warrants of approval. The constant references to the fashion company began to irk me until I realized that it is yet another motif of constraint, which is one of the most prominent themes of the novel next to, you know, love (is love is love is love is love).

This brings me to one of the main reasons I loved this novel so much despite my normal aversion to romance, as McQuiston smoothly takes the normal issue of forced discretion for gay folks and turns it up to max volume on the international boombox. For the average queer couple, it’s often a given that their first relationship is something that needs to be hidden from the public (ergo the need for something like “lesbian day of visibility” that just passed), and with this story, McQuiston shows just how intricate that process of coming out and being authentic is. For Alex and Henry, even with all the private security and unlimited funds available to them, it is still a constant anxiety to know that their relationship must remain a secret from everyone at all costs.

Further, with the addition of trans and pansexual characters like Amy and her wife, McQuiston illustrates how heteropatriarchal systems, like the U.S. Democratic party and British Crown, often show that they will hire a diverse staff to keep a good reputation while simultaneously blocking that diversity from existing within the core of the institution. It’s easy to see this in real life examples, like with the treatment of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle and Vice President Kamala Harris, only because race cannot be kept confidential like gender identity or sexual orientation. I also loved that McQuiston thought to bring up rumoured gay Kings through Henry’s love of English history, as well as referencing the gays of American history, like Alexander Hamilton.

Overall, this story is sweet, extremely steamy, and features left-leaning Texans which always makes my heart sing. McQuiston has a beautiful understanding of love languages and, of course, easily ensnares their audience with a classic “enemies to lovers” trope that so many adore. That said, all this happens while keeping each character grounded, reminding readers that there is an importance to every aspect of life, like family, career, and duty, that doesn’t have to be separate from romance to enhance it and make life fun (something I’m hoping we can all get back to soon). Here’s hoping McQuiston writes a sequel with Alex and Henry sometime in the future, but for now, go enjoy this one and wait with me for their upcoming June release, One Last Stop.