I discuss the ‘Gay Charming’ archetype and how his screen appearances differ vastly from his straight counterpart, ‘Prince Charming’.
We all know Prince Charming. His reputation precedes him as cool, confident and charismatic. If Prince Charming were the calm and collected oldest sibling, Gay Charming would be the rebellious younger brother with a chip on his shoulder. The ‘chip’ is that he is utterly chaotic in almost every on-screen iteration we see him in.
Yes, Gay Charming’s life is probably more exciting than his older straight brother’s. Leave that to just existing in a heteronormative culture. His apparent struggles with his sexuality and more often than not, ‘fitting in,’ make him more of an underdog audiences can root for as opposed to Prince Charming who almost always gets the girl without even having to speak (looking at you, Florian, from Disney’s Snow White).
And that’s what bothers me about this archetype. Being gay (used here as an umbrella term for anything other than straight/cisgender) is the one thing that completely sets him apart from the traditional Prince Charming archetype. Outside of his ‘otherness’ he’s still often handsome, white and wealthy.
Naturally, as with every film/TV trope, there are exceptions to the rule. I consider Emperor Kuzco from Disney’s Emperor’s New Groove to be a Gay Charming, although he’s more of a queer-coded anti-hero than anything. After all, one of the key attributes of being a Gay Charming is to be explicitly queer. And while he may be stereotypically sassy, Kuzco is never confirmed to be a part of the alphabet mafia in his movie.
I’m still waiting for a dark-skinned, gay African Prince Charming, but the chances of that happening seem further and further away. So while we wait, I wanted to discuss two of my favourite ‘Gay Charming’ iterations and what their stories tell us about finding love as gay men in a heteronormative culture.
Prince Wilhelm as 'Gay Charming'
If anyone fits the archetype of Gay Charming, it’s Prince Wilhelm from Netflix’s Young Royals. He’s a rebellious teenage prince with a perfect (probably straight) older brother. When we are first introduced to him in season one, he is disillusioned with his life as a royal public figure in the modern world. The burden of keeping up appearances and upholding tradition weighs heavy on his shoulders as he tries to carve out his path. Enter Simon.
Their ‘Prince and the Pauper ’-esque love story completely derails Wilhelm’s life, especially after he is publicly outed on social media. He has to choose between his love for Simon or denying his desires and conforming to societal norms. And as if it couldn’t get worse, after the death of his older brother, he is now the only legitimate heir to the throne which constricts him even further.
Throughout all of this, Wilhelm is still just a child and yet the world denies him his innocence and forces him to choose between happiness or a lifetime of repression. Can you say relatable?
You see, whereas the Prince Charming archetype often represents an unattainable ideal of masculinity, Gay Charming’s struggle to reconcile his true desires with his royal duties speaks to the ways queer men today might navigate heterosexist spaces.
I can’t speak for everybody, but in my experience, the weight of expectations to get a girlfriend thrown onto me by people who mean well, but ultimately have no clue is enough to make me pull my hair out. To these people, I am automatically straight and should desire to be with a woman one day. And to demand otherwise or to outright say ‘no’ to the prospect puts a twinge of judgment in their eyes. You don’t even have to be ‘out’ to them to see the way they judge people who aren’t interested in the heteronormative modes of life.
When you watch Wilhelm’s story, you don’t envy him. You feel sorry for him because you know what it’s like to feel trapped.
Prince Henry as 'Gay Charming'
Jumping off from Wilhelm to Prince Henry from Amazon Prime’s Red, White and Royal Blue, a pattern emerges. Similar to Wilhelm, he is closeted when we first meet him. Still, his inevitable romance with public figure, Alex Claremont, and subsequent ‘outing’ result in a classic Gay Charming trope.
Yet again, the external pressure from traditional royal obligations forces our Gay Charming to choose between accepting his pre-determined role or his queer relationship. And while both this movie and Young Royals depict these characters finding a way to have it all, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the real world.
Both Prince Henry and Prince Wilhelm choose to fight for their love and push back against tradition. Though we have yet to see the result in Young Royals, we can assume that if it’s anything like RWB, they will live happily ever after with their soulmates while maintaining their royal status.
And I’m not mad about that. I think we deserve our fairytale endings just like the straights have theirs. However, it does beg the question of queer people assimilating into heterosexist institutions… but that’s a topic for another day.
This was a two-parter series that I wanted to do in celebration of Valentine’s Day. I hope yours was full of love– platonic, romantic or otherwise! While I do think the narrative of Gay Charming struggling with his sexuality is important for representation, I also think we need more stories like The Two Princes which I discussed briefly in part one.
In the world of The Two Princes, the main characters being gay is not a plot point or some huge inner-conflict moment they have to resolve. This kind of representation can be empowering too, to show that being gay is just as ‘normal’ as being straight. You aren’t ‘other’ for loving someone who is the same gender as you.
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