Movie Review of William & Kate (2011)

As in real life, the film telling of their meeting begins at the University of St Andrews, in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland.

We follow Prince William, as he walks with his father Prince Charles, into the campus, where all of the staff and students are gathered to meet them. Amidst the fawning hordes, the young commoner Kate doesn't appear too over-awed. 

It's not that she's completely dismissive of the royal family. On the contrary, she's thrilled to be at the same University as the second in line to the throne. But she knows that she wouldn't rank very highly on Prince William's social network. She's bound to bump into him eventually.

The implication becomes clear. While the daughters of the titled and wealthy practically throw themselves into William's arms, it's Kate's very down to Earth friendliness which attracts the prince's eye.

Her beauty doesn't go unnoticed either! In fact, it's William who's doing all of the chasing, while Kate tells him to back off in no uncertain terms!

Most of the 93 minutes of this movie follows the tribulations of a romance, which often appears more off than on.

Prince William might be royalty, but Kate isn't about to let him treat her as second best in their relationship. Kate might be feisty, but William isn't ready to give up the precious freedom of his youth to be pinned down by her.

At times, the outrage is justified. Other incidents make you want to sit them down in a room and lock the door until they talk it through. Nevertheless it adds some drama to a general tale of boy meets girl, with the complication of a crown in the background.

William & Kate is filmed as a real life fairy-tale romance. It's easy to watch and quite enjoyable, without requiring much thought on the part of the viewers.

The dramatic scenes are mere bumps, rather than the roller-coaster that they could have been. The deeper story wasn't entirely ignored, but it was skirted over rather than being the focus.

There is a comment on an Amazon review of this movie, which states that without the glamor of royalty, no-one would be interested in this story. It would remain as a fairly unremarkable telling of two young people falling in love.

I agree with that assessment as far as it goes. But I do think that William and Kate's situation is made more interesting, even in the usual royal setting, because of the history surrounding William's mother.

He has grown up knowing how dangerous the public eye can be. The hounding of the press certainly contributed to the death of Princess Diana. Now entering adulthood himself, he has to work out how to deal with that. Moreover, how does he protect his girlfriend? She is, after all, this generation's Diana.

These themes were touched upon in the movie, but very lightly. They emerged mostly in single conversations, though later scenes do show how Kate has to contend with being the new focus of the paparazzi.

Nevertheless, these emerge as mere troubles, rather than an ominous backdrop. They aren't explored too far; and they aren't used to convey any kind of warning or message.

Camilla Luddington (Kate) and Nico Evers-Swindell (William) are believable in their roles. Some of the other casting made me have a double-take. Young Justin Hanlon looked so like Prince Harry that I found myself staring at him, rather than paying attention to the scene!

William & Kate is compelling in its sweet way. I stumbled upon it by accident, while it was on the television. When I had to leave partway through, I taped it, so that I could watch the rest. Nor did I stop thinking about it once the credits had rolled.

If you are looking for an easy-going romantic film, then you could do worse than this. Though if you're after facts and nothing but facts, or an in-depth exploration of the pressures placed on young royalty, then you may want to give it a miss.