My Red White and Royal Blue Sequel

 

[I've been completely smitten by Red White and Royal Blue and do think that a sequel is possible. Here's my ideas of the flow. Note that succession like things and royal protocols is definitely not my strong suit so it's more the ideas here. The time line is probably dodgy here too.]

Henry: I have been smitten by you from the first time we met. Charming. Insufferable. Impossibly handsome. Impossibly impossible. You rescued me from my agony and hopelessness and dared to love not just the man you thought I was, but the man that was actually there. Vulnerable. Trapped. I have never been so happy in my life or even dared to believe I could be. You are my prince charming, and I want to live happily ever after with you. Will you marry me?

Alex: I have been obsessed with you since I was 13. I didn't know why and I didn't understand my feelings. I projected my obsession onto you in the worst possible way. Then when we were forced to make good I finally saw you for who you really were. Beautiful. Warm. Giving. That our bromance turned into romance surprised me. And I loved everything about it. I grew as a man and I knew that I needed to protect and free you so that I could have the man I fell in love with. My forever. Will you marry me?

Cut to: another royal wedding, this time with Prince Henry and Alex a year after the election. Who will be in attendance from the royal family? Phillip shows, but very grudgingly. Set it in America to bookend the first wedding. The King has kept very distant. Drama: minimal, though everybody drew a deep breath at the cake feeding ceremony. Alex was very dainty with Henry causing everybody to exhale. We finally meet Henry's mother.

They've mainly been living together in America though Henry still keeps up with his royal duties. Alex has been working both behind the scenes and doing outreach and campaigning building on his success in Texas. Basically climbing the ladder for his ascent into politics. Henry is enjoying being less in the bright light of the public eye, though obviously not completely. A little bit of domestic bliss that he thought he could never have. He has even started to learn to cook. He can finally say that he as at peace and is happy.

A month later, Henry is summoned to Buckingham Palace. The news is not good: the king has lung cancer (those ciggies were foreshadowing!). The prognosis is unknown, but lung cancer is never a good thing. He will undergo surgery and radiation therapy and more will be known after. 

Alex finally decides to take the plunge into elected politics and run for congress. Henry is wary of this as he told Alex before of trading one prison for another. Plus it's pretty much a no-no for royals to be part of politics, though being American politics makes it a little easier to bend the rules. Henry makes it clear to Alex that he doesn't want to be used as a prop. His inclusion in the presidential race was a fluke due to the circumstances of being outed. They have to work out boundaries and the friction that causes. 

The campaign is underway in earnest. The good thing about it just being for congress is that most of the time the campaigning is local, but duties both from the White House and the Palace drag them apart more than they'd like. They start talking about having kids, something that Henry could never have dared to imagine other than through some sham marriage. They find out there is a new somewhat experimental procedure that allows both of them to donate their DNA into an egg so the child would be completely their blood. They then playfully banter about who would donate the X and who would donate either the X or Y.  Should it be a boy or a girl? Who will be the surrogate? 

The news from London is not particularly good. Nothing is imminent, but lung cancer is a bitch. The king is becoming more frail due to the ravages of treatment and the disease. The nation and world hold their breath. 

Then disaster strikes. Prince Phillip had a diving accident in the Maldives that has left him in a deep coma and most likely brain dead. The horror sets in for Henry: he may be king. In fact he will be king, it's just a matter of time. He is inconsolable as much as Alex tries. Alex is completely torn between his ongoing campaign which is nearing election day and Henry's existential crisis. Henry knows that this will destroy them and the only happiness he's ever known. Alex ever the optimist says they'll just have to figure it out. Alex reaches out to his mother but all she can do is offer a shoulder to cry on. He has to contemplate whether he's willing to give up the career he's always wanted to be with his man. Henry on the other hand never expected or wanted to be king. Should he abdicate? 

Election day. Alex wins handily. The charming young congressman and the face of the new generation of democrats. A very bright future lies ahead. Or does it? Henry shrinks into his cocoon rattled by the fear of what lies ahead. Alex brings up kids again. He thinks they should do it. Henry desperately wants this too, but just can't reconcile it with his reality. In the context of mostly being in America and living a mostly normal life, that made complete sense. Now though? He's back in the trap of not thinking about the future because there is no future that Alex freed him from before.

Phillip is indeed brain dead. The painful decision to remove him from his ventilator is made. Henry is officially next in line to be king. Media explodes and his and Alex's lives are thrown into complete chaos.  On the bright side, the king has stabilized and although the prognosis is not great it's not grim either. The king summons both of them to Balmoral where he has been recuperating. It's never been entirely clear what the king thinks about the two of them. He was taken aback by the support Henry received but beyond even his homophobia he has been very wary of being intertwined with American politics -- the less the better. The king makes it clear that it is duty before love as it has been for centuries. Henry must have a plan and that plan must include being king.

Alex makes plain that he will give up everything to stay with Henry. It's that important to him. And oh by the way? This settles who gives the Y chromosome. Succession demands it. Instead of comforting Henry it sends him into a funk anew. He knows the life that Alex is setting himself up for and knows that it will probably defeat him. Alex is hopeful though and after all a lot of politics is cutting ribbons and the like too. And by the way, what would his title be? Could he be the first male queen? His gay friends would be howling in laughter. 

Henry approaches Bea about the prospect of carrying their baby. He's trying to be hopeful and allow himself a future again, though he doesn't know what it might be. Bea says she'd be honored and when does he want to do it? Alex is ecstatic about the news and is insistent about doing it right away. They make the arrangements at the fertility clinic and the treatment will soon start.

Alex is inaugurated and is now officially a congressman. The in vitro fertilization was successful. But being crown prince means that he has many more duties than the spare and that is eating into their together time. Of course the life of a congressman is no cup of tea either. The king is still hanging in there so nothing is imminent. Henry is doing a better job of allowing life to happen rather than brooding about the future. Henry likes to razz Alex about how much better he is at schmoozing since that is basically his job title. So it's working. Kind of. One of the first orders of business is where the baby will reside when he's born. He will be the second in line to be king, after all. They decide that it would be in DC so Henry can spend as much time with Alex as possible, but the Palace is very not happy. They will have the proper English royal nannies as a compromise.

The baby is born and the media goes completely nuts on both sides of the Atlantic. He will be Prince Richard. As with life as a congressman, when the baby is born, Alex is in full campaign mode with the election being about a year away. But Alex has also been busy with his day job. He and others bucked the past and actually picked up enough seats to retake the House. This has allowed him to introduce legislation that actually has a chance to pass. He picked one sore point for gay people and especially young gay men to make PrEP freely available on demand along with the testing required. This covers the trap a lot of young gay men find themselves in when they are closeted to their parents and are on their insurance. He works his fellow congressmen for sponsors and gets solid support. This will be a solid achievement for his reelection. He has also excelled at constituent support holding many town halls and coffees. His biggest achievement is bringing much needed infrastructure investment back to his district and especially with renewables with batteries for Texas's notorious grid. Henry is deeply proud of Alex even though he is ridiculously busy. Henry even with his duties back in England has been the one who has the most time to spend with Richard.

It's September and the campaign is nearing the end. Alex's PrEP bill passed and made it through the Senate on reconciliation which allows an appropriation bill to not be filibustered along with his infrastructure investments. His mother signs the bill at the White House Lawn with Alex, Henry and Richard in tow. The dads are beaming with pride. Grandma is pretty proud too.

Back in London, things have taken a turn for the worse with the king. Henry is terrified because he knows that he will have to make a decision soon. Henry is crying uncontrollably as Alex tries to comfort him reiterating his promise that he will do anything to be with Henry. 

It's election night and the results are streaming in. Henry has been back and forth between the US and UK constantly leaving very little time to be together with Alex, but he promised that he'd be with Alex for this no matter what. Unsurprisingly the race is called for Alex: his hard work has paid off. Then the news starts to trickle in: King James has died. Henry is now king. Henry is both ecstatic for Alex and in complete dread of his worst fear coming true. The time has come. 

Alex prepares a resignation speech in anticipation that he will have to be the full time consort to King Henry. Unknown to Alex, Henry has written an abdication speech. Alex gives Henry his speech to read. Henry then gives Alex his speech. Alex says "I love you". Henry says "I love you more" making clear that he intends to abdicate. England can deal with a caretaker in the time in between when Richard is old enough to reign. It is, after all, an archaic institution says Henry. 

On New Years day, Henry delivers his speech. In it he says although he grew up knowing that it was duty and country first, he cannot give up the thing that he never thought he could have: a family and love. It's too much to ask of a person who has gone through what he has gone through. He can't destroy Alex and his life to be consort to a figurehead. Alex beams with pride and love for Henry. He whispers in Henry's ear: "Love you more more!"