The Reluctant Royal (2025)

Recently, Hallmark Channel premiered its new movie, The Reluctant Royal, and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. In it, a Pennsylvania mechanic discovers he is a duke's son and is about to inherit the duchy when his absent father decides to retire. It’s the usual meet your father, change his ways, fall in love along the way type of movie. It’s Hallmark, so it doesn’t break the mold of cinema, but it was a way to spend a Saturday night in comfy pajamas lounging on the couch.

I went into this one with high expectations as it stars one of my favorite Hallmark hunks, Andrew Walker, but even he wasn’t enough to save this one. There was a weird subplot of his character wanting to start a juicing company, which does come full circle, but also seemed a bit unnecessary. It’s mentioned once in Philadelphia and then he just magically starts a company with some of the local farmers in order to make the duchy profitable again. Good thing they just randomly have a bunch of beets no one else wants and along comes Johnny with a grand idea…Also, the attempts at jokes often fell flat. When someone mentions his hairstyle, the response is “Thanks, I grew it myself” followed by silence when the audience is supposed to laugh. I didn’t. He also has a short karaoke session that seemed strange as it never came back as an important part of his personality. The movie seemed to spend a lot of time trying to be funny and not enough time on trying to be good.

On the other hand, I will say that the scenery was beautiful! The movie was filmed in Ireland and the rolling hills, majestic castle, and small town vibes all almost made me enjoy myself. Also, the interactions between Johnny (Walker) and his mother were extremely sweet. It’s the kind of relationship that comes from being a single parent to a rebellious kid. The side characters also made the movie a bit more enjoyable for their realism and dry humor. Calling the duke the “old crust” because he has squandered all the duchy’s money, never socializes with the locals, and is just antisocial overall was my favorite recurring joke. These few redeeming qualities made the movie bearable enough for me to finish.

As for the romance, Johnny falls for the duke’s advisor, Prudence. It’s a side note to his new relationship with his father, so it seemed a bit of an afterthought. Kind of like this is Hallmark, so we have to throw in a romantic plotline. However, I had more fun watching Johnny and his father fix up an old car together than I did watching Johnny and Prudence wander through the duchy. The ending when Johnny calls her the most beautiful girl and everyone looks surprised is the most realistic part of their relationship. If I hadn’t known it was a Hallmark movie that was going to end with a romance, I too would have been surprised. Also, after they admit their feelings, they go outside and then just run off together into the distance. Not to anywhere specifically decided or towards the next scene. Just randomly running off camera in their fancy attire.

Then the dreaded end scene comes again. We have to connect every single one of the royal movies, so a horse is being sent to next week’s couple, and a joke about terrible cousins, which calls back to last week’s movie. It’s completely unnecessary and just seems forced that they’re making these movies intersect for no reason other than to make viewers go watch the other royal weekend premieres. Ultimately, the acting was stilted, the romance barely existed, and the ending predictably wrapped up in a neat bow.