There are certain things that are part of the natural order of things. One season flows into another; day follows night and each generation gives rise to the next. If you work for a movie studio you can add one more thing to the list; movies that make money will have a sequel. There used to be a set of guideline to whether a flick would find new life in a sequel. It had to make enough of a return to warrant the investment in the follow up film. Now, with the popularity of DVDs and the lower cost of digital cameras the bar has been set lower than ever. Even if a movie made a marginal profit there is a hope that direct to video follow-ups will score. Some flicks like this manage to make it as a trilogy or even the Holy Grail of films, the franchise. One such film that has it made it to the trilogy level is ‘The Prince & Me’. We are up to the third installment with ‘The Prince & Me 3: The Royal Honeymoon’. So far we have had the royal courtship, the royal wedding and the royal honeymoon so can the royal birthing be far behind? As a third flick in a series goes it is not bad. As expected there is a touch of the sequel curse present here. The leads have moved from recognizable stars to unknowns, most making their debut in a feature film. The story line gets thinner with each successive movie so by this point things are pretty much predicable. Like its immediate predecessor this one is direct to DVD. The release is through First Look Studios who do specialize in quirky little independent films. While this is not exactly in the Indy category it fits in with some of their other offerings.

It is not that usual for a romantic comedy to become a series of movies like this one. First of all a rom-com is more typically self contained. You know; boy meets girl, they can’t stand each other then through a series of humorous circumstances they fall in love and live happily ever after. This was a good summary of the first ‘Prince & Me’ flick with a dedicated pre-med student ultimately falling in love with the prince of Denmark. Thankfully her prince of Denmark is nothing like Hamlet; he is handsome, fun and innovative. The Prince is also determined to make the young student his princess. In that film the young student, Paige Morgan was played by Julia Stiles. Ms Styles was already a well established and up coming actress. The titular prince was played by Luke Mably who was well known in his native England. In these films like many light Hollywood flicks an English accent is just fine to play any European country. At the end of the film she becomes a doctor and the two begin to arrange their marriage. Most romantic comedies are supposed to be like fairy tales. There has to be the implied happily ever after ending. The two sequels do have an interesting twist that happily ever after may have to wait awhile. It is sort of like the premise used by Steven Sondheim in his musical ‘Into the Woods’. There is a certain fascination with just what happens after the fairy tale ends.

The second film ‘The Prince & Me II: The Royal Wedding’ begins to tell that tale. Predictably, there is a glitch in the impending wedding. It turns out that an ancient law is discovered that mandates the prince may only marry a princess. Paige, now played by Kam Heskin, is bright, beautiful and pleasant but she is a commoner. The prince is faced with leaving the throne or the woman he loves. Well, that is finally resolved and they happy couple get married and Edward ascends to the throne as king. You might think that the happily ever after was ready to kick in but the studio executives had some more problems for the couple. That finally brings us to this flick. The story was written by Blayne Weaver who is new to the series. He has a few comedies and drama to his credit so he is not a newcomer to preparing a script. He has been a working actor for years; mostly on television. His story is light hearted and enjoyable even if you know everything that is about to happen. This is one of the most formula driven genres and it is difficult to squeeze a lot out of a screenplay by this point. To his credit Weaver does his level best to make the story fun.

Catherine Cyran is back as the director having helmed the previous wedding flick. Most of his prior experience both as a writer and director has been with action oriented dramas and mysteries. This must have been a challenging transition to romantic comedies. She does succeed in catching the right pace for the film making it flow naturally from the previous one. It does help that the lead actress and a couple of other parts are the same as before. Having a prior working relationship often translates to a better film since the director and star know what is expected.

After a little montage of shots around Denmark we see the new King going through some affairs of State with his chief of staff Soren (Jonathan Firth). There is plenty of papers to sign and other royal matters to be considered. All Edward wants to do is get going on his honeymoon with his new Queen. Paige is also extremely busy as she walks through the hallways followed by her female staff. Most of her work involves the numerous charities that she has taken on. Of course when the eyes of the king and queen meet the music rises; they are so in love. At this point Soren’s main function in the court is to interrupt Edward and Paige kissing. At the private airport the sinister figure of Edward’s chief opponent in the government, Prime Minster John Polonius (Todd Jensen). He has a little present for the queen; an old book on royal protocol; just a little dig about her not being of royal blood. He is also openly upset that she plans on starting her work as a doctor; a queen should restrict herself to queenly things I suppose. When it is clear that everyone knows where they are going Edwards instantly changes the destination. It is good to be king especially with ad hoc travel arrangements. It should come as no surprise, and I mean that literally, that Polonius is up to no good. He wants to secure oil rights for the North Country to make a killing in opposition of the king’s wishes. There is also an old boyfriend of Paige that shows up, Scott (Adam Croasdell) leading to a sword duel between him and the king; yes, a real sword fight.

This is a light and fluffy flick that will provide some entertainment but it is like a lot of the romantic comedies that have come before and will certainly come afterwards. The cast is amiable and well done. The performances are what is expected. The film is provided in both DVD and Blu-ray format so take your pick.