The Prince & Me

The Prince and Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Martha Coolidge
Written by	Mark Amin Katherine Fugate
Produced by	Mark Amin
Starring	Julia Stiles Luke Mably Ben Miller Miranda Richardson James Fox
Cinematography	Alex Nepomniaschy
Edited by	Steven Cohen
Music by	Jennie Muskett
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures Lions Gate Films
Release date	April 2, 2004 (2004-04-02)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English

The Prince and Me is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, and starring Julia Stiles, Luke Mably, and Ben Miller, with Miranda Richardson, James Fox, and Alberta Watson. Though its title recalls that of The King and I, the film is a loose adaptation of The Student Prince, a 1954 MGM musical, which was in turn an adaptation of the 1924 operetta, The Student Prince which was in its turn an adaptation of the German play, Alt Heidelberg.

The film focuses on Paige Morgan, a pre-med college student in Wisconsin, who is pursued by a prince posing as a normal college student.

The film marks the return of Martha Coolidge to the big screen after a 7 year absence, and her service as the first female president of the Directors Guild of America. It also features a cameo by Eddie Irvine, a retired Formula One driver.

Plot

Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles) is a pre-medical student at a university in Wisconsin.

Denmark's Prince Edvard (Luke Mably), on the other hand, shirks his princely duties (including opening a cabinet meeting) by instead racing sports cars.

While watching television after a cabinet meeting, Edvard sees a commercial for a reality show set in Wisconsin called College Girls Gone Wild, featuring drunken co-eds flashing their breasts. After meeting with his parents, King Haraald (James Fox), and Queen Rosalind (Miranda Richardson), Edvard announces his intentions to attend college in America - specifically, Wisconsin. While his parents do not want him to go, Edvard tells them he will go with or without their consent, and that he does not want any help or money. The King then dispatches Edvard's assistant, Søren (Ben Miller), to chaperone the trip to America.

When Edvard arrives at the university, he orders Søren keep his identity a secret, and to call him "Eddie." Also, his limo nearly hits Paige. Later at a bar Eddie sees Paige again, where he flirts with her. Eddie then asks Paige to take off her shirt, like the girls in the college girls gone wild advertisement did. Paige angrily drenches Eddie with the drink hose, and bouncers escort Eddie (and Søren, who came to his rescue) from the bar. After running out of money, Eddie gets a job in the deli section of the bar, even using Paige as a reference. Paige reluctantly helps him during his first day. Eddie later asks her out, but she refuses.

After Eddie helps Paige learn how to interpret Shakespeare, Paige is goaded by a friend to invite him to her home for Thanksgiving. While there, Eddie takes part in a lawn mower race, even beating the Morgan family's rival. However, a fistfight ensues. After patching up his wounds, Eddie and Paige kiss.

Back at school after the Thanksgiving break, Eddie and Paige sneak off to the library stacks to pursue a romantic encounter of unspecified nature. While there, the Danish paparazzi appear, begin taking photographs and reveal his royal identity. After confronting Eddie, Paige leaves him.

At the end of the day, Eddie is notified by his mother that his father is very ill, leading him to return home. While Paige faces a panel of professors questioning her about Shakespeare and love, she realizes that she loves Edvard and runs to find him, only to discover that he has already left for Denmark. She goes after him, and upon arriving in Copenhagen her trip is delayed, as a parade honoring the royal family is blocking traffic. Paige is recognized by the crowd, and Edvard finds her and takes her to the castle on horseback.

The queen objects to Edvard's choice to marry Paige, but the king tells him that if he loves Paige, he should marry her. Edvard proposes and Paige accepts.

Paige struggles with conforming to the lifestyle of royalty, however, the queen warms to her. During the coronation ball, Edvard and Paige sneak off together. After being left alone, Paige remembers her dream for Doctors Without Borders. When Edvard returns, she tells him that she does not want to sacrifice her dreams, and that she cannot be queen. She then returns to Wisconsin and graduates from college, where she has been accepted to Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Edvard arrives after the graduation, where he admits that he would be willing to wait to marry her until she finishes medical school and achieves her dreams. She confesses that Denmark may not be ready for a queen like her, but he says that he is, leading them to kiss.

Cast

• Julia Stiles as Paige Morgan
• Luke Mably as Eddie, Prince Edvard
• Ben Miller as Søren
• Miranda Richardson as Queen Rosalind
• James Fox as King Haraald
• Alberta Watson as Amy Morgan
• John Bourgeois as Ben Morgan
• Zachary Knighton as John Morgan
• Stephen O'Reilly as Mike Morgan
• Elisabeth Waterston as Beth Curtis
• Eliza Bennett as Princess Arabella
• Devin Ratray as Scotty
• Clare Preuss as Stacey
• Yaani King as Amanda
• Eddie Irvine as Himself
• Angelo Tsarouchas as Stu
• Jacques Tourangeau as Professor Amiel
• Stephen Singer as Professor Begler

Soundtrack

The Prince and Me: Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the movie The Prince and Me released on March 30, 2004 in the United States by Hollywood Records.

Track listing

1. "Everybody Wants You" - Josh Kelley
2. "Just a Ride" - Jem
3. "Fire Escape" - Fastball
4. "Man of the World" - Marc Cohn
5. "Calling" - Leona Naess
6. "Good Intentions" - Jennifer Stills
7. "I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You" - Marc Cohn
8. "Symphony" - Jessica Riddle
9. "It Doesn’t Get Better Than This" - Katy Fitzgerald
10. "Freeway" - Scapegoat Wax
11. "Presidente" - Kinky
12. "Drift" - Forty Foot Echo
13. "Party" - The D4
14. "Bloodsweet" - Scapegoat Wax
15. "Separate Worlds" - Jennie Muskett

Reception

Critics gave the film mixed reviews and Rotten Tomatoes rated it 27% based on 116 reviews giving it a overall "rotten" rating. They describe the film as "bland, fluffy, and predictable bit of wish fulfillment". Metacritic reported the movie had an average score of 47 out of 100, based on 31 reviews. The Christian Science Monitor's David Sterritt gave the film a good review, stating that the movie was "quite appealing, thanks to good-humored acting and to Martha Coolidge's quiet directing style." Meanwhile, Manohla Dargis of The Los Angeles Times criticised the movie, calling it "a blandly diverting, chastely conceived and grammatically challenged fairy tale" USA Today commented that The Prince and Me was overall "well-meaning, cute, sweet" but that the film could have been improved with "a bit more quirkiness and a little less formula."

Filming locations

• The opening Copenhagen scene was in fact made in the Jewish Quarter of Prague, with the tower of Jewish Town Hall clearly visible in the background.
• The University of Toronto was where the actual filming was done rather than the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The stacks kissing scene was filmed at E.J. Pratt Library.
• York University was where the bar scene was filmed. The bar at York University is named The Underground.

Discrepancies between the movie and reality

• Though the plot revolves around the Danish royal family, very little information provided in the film seems to be factual, and places such as Folketinget and Amalienborg look nothing like they do in reality.
• The name, King Haraald, is not a real name. Similar real names, however, are Harald (see Harald V, the king of neighbouring Norway), and Harold I (Harold Harefoot) and Harold II (Harold Godwinson), kings of England in the 11th century.
• The names of Danish crown princes, and hence kings, have by tradition alternated between Frederik and Christian ever since the 15th century. Therefore, there was never any King Gustav in 1507 as mentioned by Søren. Gustav in fact is a Swedish royal name.
• As opposed to what the plot claims, Denmark did not have a parliament in the 13th century.
• The film depicts the Royal Family as having a substantial political influence. In reality, Denmark is a constitutional monarchy where the monarch and the royal family are above party politics.
• The movie was released one month before the real life marriage of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and an Australian, Mary Donaldson. Mary did not know that Frederik was a prince when they first met, which was in a bar during the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
• There are no more coronation ceremonies in Denmark, instead the words "King/queen [name] is dead, long live king/queen [name]" are shouted from the parliament balcony.

Parallels and differences with The Student Prince

The film was a loose adaptation of The Student Prince, a 1954 MGM musical.

Both feature a prince of a small European country (the fictional Karlsberg, a fictionalized Denmark) who briefly attends university in a foreign land (Heidelberg, Wisconsin) in order to broaden his horizons. However, Edward goes voluntarily, whereas his predecessor, Prince Karl of Karlsberg, is ordered to do so by his father. Edward is something of a playboy, who often appears in his country's tabloids; Karl, by contrast, is interested exclusively in military affairs.

Both Karl and Edward are sent to university in the company of a valet (Lutz, Søren) who provides comic relief. Edward's classroom scenes show him studying organic chemistry; Karl seems to have followed a liberal-arts curriculum.

At univerity, both princes find themselves attracted to a barmaid (Kathie, Paige), with whom they fall in love. (Women were not customarily accepted as university students in the Germanic countries of a century ago, but Paige as a pre-med student reflects a more modern ideal.) The Student Prince emphasizes the great role played by beer-drinking fraternities in German university life at the turn of the 20th century. While similar institutions exist in the United States, Prince Edward was not depicted as joining any, perhaps due to concerns about glorifying underaged drinking. Also, rather than accept a challenge to a duel by fencing, Edward instead brawls with competitors in a lawnmower race. (A line in the latter film, however, alludes to the fencing scene in the former.)

An ongoing subplot involves the failing health of the prince's father (King Ferdinand of Karlsberg, King Haraald of Denmark). In The Student Prince this culminates in the king's death, and the accession of Prince Karl to the throne of Karlsberg. Karl's song "How Great Thou Art" (sung by Mario Lanza) was a musical high-point of the original. In The Prince and Me King Haraald passes on the crown while he is still alive, although it is hinted that he may have a terminal disease.

Both romantic relationships are frustrated by the prince's royal duties. (In The Student Prince Karl must marry a princess in order to salvage his kingdom's finances.) However, The Prince and Me tacks on a happy ending in which the couple appear to reconcile. Paige's underlying dilemma—how to reconcile her duties as royalty with her dreams of becoming a doctor in the Third World—is never addressed.

Sequels

The film was followed by a straight-to-DVD sequel, The Prince and Me 2: The Royal Wedding (2006), starring Mably and Kam Heskin and 2008 sequel The Prince and Me 3: Royal Honeymoon, starring Chris Geere as Prince Edward and Heskin as Paige. The Prince and Me 4: The Elephant Adventure was released in the UK on DVD 15 February 2010 and March 23, 2010 in the U.S.

External links

• The Prince and Me at IMDb
• The Prince & Me at the TCM Movie Database
• The Prince & Me at AllMovie
• The Prince and Me - official website
• Official site of Danish Crown Prince