Crown for Christmas Parent Guide

It’s a hard knock life for Allie (Danica McKellar). Orphaned young by the death of her parents, she quickly became the de facto mother for her younger brother and sister. Her dreamed-of art career sputtered, and now she’s working as a chambermaid for a swanky NYC hotel and desperately trying to get caught up on a never-ending pile of bills.

Life gets worse when she accidentally runs her cleaning cart into a handsome guest on the VIP floor, and then fails to clean the most expensive suite on time. She’s fired, but before leaving points out that the handsome guest left a watch behind in the suite. Luckily, virtue is sometimes rewarded. The watch turns out to be a family heirloom belonging to King Maximilian (Rupert Penry-Jones) of the obscure kingdom of Winshire. His retainer, Fergus (Pavel Douglas) finds Allie, initially to give her a reward but eventually to offer her as a job as governess to Theodora (Ellie Botterill), the widowed king’s firecracker of a daughter.

The governess gig is a temporary position, just to get the palace through the holiday season until a permanent solution can be found. And given Theodora’s past record for chasing away governesses, no one believes that Allie’s going to last. It turns out, though, that Allie is able to empathize with the little girl who’s missing her mother and can also bring some spontaneous fun and Christmas joy into Theodora’s life.

Allie also brings some warmth back into the king’s life. He’s expected to propose to Celia, an aristocrat from Belgium, but with the bubbly Brooklynite cheering up the cold castle, Max isn’t sure he can settle for an “arrangement” anymore. Can the King listen to his heart or will he follow the lonely path of duty?

Regular viewers of Christmas royal rom-coms will have no trouble answering that question. But, the question of how the plot works out isn’t the right one to ask. After all, “happily ever after” endings are mandatory in these films. The real questions are about how satisfactorily the movie makes the journey to the expected conclusion. Thankfully, Crown for Christmas is the equivalent of a sleigh ride across fresh snow. It’s sweet, clean, sparkling and surprisingly fun.

Credit for the movie’s success must go to its cast (it’s certainly not the script). Danica McKellar provides the right combination of apprehension, spontaneity, genuineness, and warmheartedness to account for the king’s attraction. And Rupert Penry-Jones is gob-smackingly good looking, able to ride a horse, and capable of delivering his lines with a straight face. As a bonus he also manages to look vulnerable and troubled when needed. (But why he takes so long to get his chancellor under control is the big question in the plot.) Most surprising is Ellie Botterill, who delivers an unusually good child performance for a Hallmark rom-com. Her woebegone little face is enough to melt the hardest heart and her smile brightens the entire screen. There’s no Oscar-worthy work here, but these actors feel like they care about the story and the supporting cast are better-than-average.

It’s always fun to find an unexpected gift under the tree at Christmas. Crown for Christmas is a delightful surprise for romance fans – and a badly needed break for weary critics. Let’s grab a blanket and snack and settle down for this royally fun brain vacation.