I can only say bravo all around. I have to admit that the royal genre is not my favorite in these rom-com offerings, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's a little less unrealistic than most and the family dynamics made you see the members as real people with real problems rather than a fairytale setting. This is a solid cast that works well together and involves you in the plot so well that you overlook the places where reality is stretched a bit. Rachel Skarsten is such a capable actress and this may be one of her best roles yet. The filming location of Brussels was close enough in overall look to fool a non-Londoner and the British accents were quite plausible. It's a bit of a spoof on a spy movie (that's where the fun comes in). Overall this movie holds its own against other holiday favorites and will become one of mine. It is worth the watch.
The Royal Nanny
2022
Comedy / Drama / Romance
The Royal Nanny
2022
Comedy / Drama / Romance
7.1
Plot summary
Three weeks before Christmas, MI7 has credible evidence that there is a potential security breach at Kensington Palace and thus a threat on its residents: Princess Rose, first in line to the throne, her military husband Prince Edward who is away on a secret mission and thus may not make it home for Christmas, and their two adolescent offspring, second and third in line Princess Elle and Prince Robert. Taylor, the head of MI7, wants to insert agents working on the file undercover into the palace without the royal family being aware of the potential threat against them, the only two available positions being Protection Officer, assigned to Agent Wallace, and Royal Nanny, assigned to Agent Claire Champion. Claire does not believe she the best person for this specific undercover assignment in knowing nothing about children and raising such in a nurturing environment having been raised in an orphanage herself and having no children of her own or in her life, something to which MI7's case specific advisor Juliet Lansbury concurs, she who has trained and provided the nannies for the royal family for a generation. With no other agent as an alternative, Mrs. Lansbury has twenty-four hours to train Claire, who will go by the name Claire Carter, to be the proper nanny, the end goal, both as a nanny and as an MI7 agent, to protect Princess Elle and Prince Robert at all cost. Claire will discover that the biggest threats against her as a person are her charges, who have taken it upon themselves to prank their previous nannies to the point of they wanting to quit. The Princess and Prince have as their biggest ally their uncle, Princess Rose's younger brother, fourth in line Prince Colin, who does not live at the palace but visits frequently, he the head of the royal family's Christmas charity of providing toys to children at orphanages. Beyond the issues with the Princess and Prince which relates directly to Princess Rose's self assessment that she wants and needs to be a more present part of her children's lives, difficult with all her royal duties, Claire has the difficulty of dealing with Prince Colin in those nanny/agent duties. In spending time with them, Claire is able to break down the defenses of her two charges and their uncle, Claire and Colin who seem to be falling for each other. A problem arises when Taylor receives further evidence that Prince Colin himself may be that threat against the royal family, his own family.
November 25, 2022 at 10:59 PM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Clever, fun and way above the norm
Fun Pleasant Evening
We enjoyed the characters and the actors and actresses very much. The story, although a little off, followed along naturally in a typical pleasant Hallmark fashion. It was a cozy evening, easy to watch movie. The children actors were not obnoxious and actually knew their lines. The Royal movies often go astray with an abundance of awful uniforms, mean old fathers or grandmothers, protocol, and newspaper headline catastrophes. We were glad the bypassed the, oh you screwed up - breakup routine in favor of an actual story. We'd like to see more stories without the misconstruance by one or both primary actors.
More Cloak and dagger than you'd expect
This movie is as much a cloak and dagger story as a Christmas Romance, perhaps even more so. The suspense of a plot against the royal family runs throughout the movie with the climax being focused entirely on that. There are clues and red herrings sprinkled into the story.
I was surprised to see Rachel Skarsten as the lead, Claire, because I almost didn't recognize her. I was totally impressed with her in Marry Me at Christmas and her performance here shows a different side of her, although both characters have a reserved personality. Skarsten establishes a good working relationship with all the major actors playing characters in the royal family including Dan Jeannotte as Prince Colin.
Given that to all appearance, this Royal story is set in a country we know to be real, it was distracting to me trying to keep putting down that nagging demand for some reality check especially regarding romance between an orphan and a Prince. I kept thinking "No way", but any viewer already knows that such expectations don't apply in this kind of movie. Most Royal stories are set in a way that the prince or princess is not from a real country.
In the beginning there are several practical jokes attempted both against Claire and even by Claire which help create a light heartedness in the atmosphere. (I am irritated once again by network previews showing a little too much, not in terms of spoiling the plot, but taking the impact out of at least one of the funnier scenes.) Getting deeper into the movie, the tone moves more to the sentimental as Claire bonds with the family, especially the children. I already mentioned the cloak and dagger suspense.