Young Royals (TV series)
Young Royals is a Swedish teen drama streaming television series set at the fictional elite boarding school Hillerska. The plot revolves around Prince Wilhelm of Sweden, his budding gay romance with a fellow student and the drama that comes with it. The six-episode series was created by Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung and Camilla Holter, and premiered on Netflix on 1 July 2021. On 22 September 2021, it was announced that a second season would be released in 2022. Plot. Season 1. After getting in a fight at a club, Prince Wilhelm, second-born son of  Queen Kristina of Sweden, is sent to the elite boarding school Hillerska, located near the town of Bjärstad, where his elder brother Crown Prince Erik also studied. Fellow student August, the princes' second cousin, watches over Wilhelm as he starts his studies. Other students in Wilhelm's class include nobles such as Felice or other Swedish land owners' sons. Bjärstad locals Simon and his sister Sara, the working class children of Latina immigrant single mother Linda, are non-boarding students and travel to the school by bus every day. While initially not keen to study at Hillerska, Wilhelm soon starts  to enjoy the school life, making friends in August's “secret societies” and the rowing club. As Felice tries to start a relationship with Wilhelm, he instead falls in love with Simon, who shows Wilhelm a different, non-elite life, watching football matches or riding motorcycles at night. Sara, who has Asperger's and ADHD, becomes friends with Felice, as she helps Felice in the school stables, because Felice does not actually want to ride her horse, but only does so because her mother wishes so. After Crown Prince Erik dies in a car crash, Wilhelm suddenly becomes first in  line to the throne, but continues studying at Hillerska. One night, Simon and Wilhelm are secretly filmed by August being intimate. While August initially contemplates what to do with the video, he shares it publicly after Wilhelm discloses to their “secret society” that August's family is broke and he can't afford to study at Hillerska anymore (unbeknownst to August, Wilhelm had already arranged for August's tuition to be paid for by the royal family). An international scandal erupts and Wilhelm is forced by Queen Kristina to deny being in the video. Wilhelm eventually denies that it's  him in the sex tape, hurting Simon, who thought Wilhelm was accepting their love and coming out of the closet. Wilhelm goes to visit Simon at home and apologize, saying they can still be a couple if they aren't seen together, but Simon refuses to be his secret and the two break up. The final scene is during their school Christmas ceremony where Simon leads the choir. Wilhelm has always loved his voice, and when it's over, Wilhelm hugs him before leaving, admitting that he loves him. Simon wishes him Merry Christmas. Production. Filming. The series was mostly  filmed at Kaggeholms gård, a manor-style building located in Stockholm County that is operated as a conference center. The scenes that took place at the royal palace were filmed at Stora Sundby Castle. In February 2022, Netflix began filming a second season. A promotional video was released on Instagram. Casting. In January 2021, long before the announcement of the series' release date, Edvin Ryding, Pernilla August, Malte Gårdinger, Frida Argento, Nikita Uggla and Omar Rudberg were announced to have been cast in the starring roles while Nathalie Varli, Felicia Truedsson, Mimmi Cyon, Ingela Olsson, Rennie Mirro, Livia Millhagen and  David Lenneman were announced to have been cast in the recurring roles. Ryding was cast as Prince Wilhelm and August was cast to play his mother, Queen Kristina of Sweden. It was later announced that Rudberg would play Simon, Prince Wilhelm's love interest. Marketing. The series' official teaser was released on 19 May 2021 with the official trailer released on 17 June 2021. Reception. "Young Royals" received critical acclaim and positive responses from audience. The series has been praised for its fidelity to real life in casting teenagers for teenage roles and showing skin textures with blemishes. Some critics  and audiences compared the series favorably to similar shows such as "Elite", "Gossip Girl", "The Crown" and "Skam". David Opie of "Digital Spy" praised "Young Royals" for "cast[ing] actors who actually look the age they're supposed to be playing" and "portray[ing] teenage life with some much-needed authenticity". He described the series as "an updated version of the classic Cinderella story" and concluded that the series "excels most [...] when it comes to the central romance between Wilhelm and Simon". TV critic Flora Carr of "Radio Times" in a review of the first two episodes described the series as "predictable  but heartfelt". She criticized the series' "checklist of teen-romance visuals" and "the plot's reliance on characters like August", but ultimately concluded that "the authentically teenage cast may also prove a breath of fresh air" for younger viewers.