'Red, White & Royal Blue' Star Nicholas Galitzine Reveals If His Character Is Based on Prince Harry (Exclusive)

The actor plays Prince Henry in the new rom-com, based on Casey McQuiston's 2019 novel

Did the Red, White & Royal Blue cast and crew take notes from the real-life British royals when making the charming new rom-com?

Nicholas Galitzine, a Greek-British actor and singer, plays Prince Henry in the film, which is adapted from the 2019 bestselling novel by Casey McQuiston. Galitzine's character struggles with balancing royal tradition and honoring his true self, particularly his unprecedented relationship with the son of America's president, Alex Claremont-Diaz, played by Taylor Zakhar Perez.

While Galitzine, 28, understands comparisons between his fictional Prince Henry and a royal "rogue" like Prince Harry, he tells PEOPLE the character is "his own entity."

"I feel like, especially in the last five years, Prince Harry and Prince William have been so in the public eye. Harry, especially being this kind of rogue amongst these very uptight, duty-bound royals, is maybe a comparison people will make," says Galitzine.

"But," he adds, "to be honest, I feel like Henry almost has more of William in some sense. For a large part of the story, duty comes first. This responsibility that has been bestowed upon him since childhood comes first and he can't put his love, who he really is, before that."

Galitzine says, though, "I wouldn't say I did too much research into one royal in particular."

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In the movie, Henry is the "spare" after older brother Prince Philip (Thomas Flynn) and is affectionately dubbed "the Prince of England's Hearts." There's also younger sister Princess Beatrice (Ellie Bamber) and their grandfather, King James III (Stephen Fry).

Author McQuiston previously addressed whether any real-life figures informed the characters. "Most of my characters are pulled from a mixture of my brain, people I know, people from history and tropes I love," they said in an interview for the Los Angeles Public Library's blog back in 2019.

"I’m more of a casual fan of the royal family than you might think, but they have always been part of my pop culture landscape," added McQuiston at the time. "I remember my sister having pictures of Prince William on her bedroom door in high school, and I definitely woke up at the crack of dawn to watch both royal weddings. ... My favorite royals would definitely have to be Duchess Meghan and Princess Diana."

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The film, directed by Matthew López, relied on a royal etiquette advisor to get its depictions of royal protocol as accurate as possible.

William Hanson, who's made a career out of coaching clients on royal etiquette do's and don'ts, says the Red, White & Royal Blue cast was "incredibly receptive" to his notes, including Galitzine.

"He's a Brit, he gets it. He's watched the royal family growing up, he clearly knows how they behave, so there wasn't an awful lot of melding to do," Hanson tells PEOPLE. "But I was there and indeed did answer his specific questions about, 'How should I react when this person bows or curtsies to me? Would I be doing this? Would I not do that?' "

"Details that, as he's not a member of the royal family — princely and handsome as he is — he wouldn't know," says Hanson. "But his general demeanor, to be honest, the moment we saw him in costume, I mean, there's Henry."

Galitzine, who also starred in Netflix's 2022 hit romance Purple Hearts, says Prince Henry is "so completely different to me in so many ways."

"As an actor, the key thing is to be able to empathize. And I think immediately from reading on page, Henry, he puts other people before himself and he's very selfless and he's very, very feeling. And I'd say I'm a very feeling person, as well."

Will the real-life royal family tune in to Red, White & Royal Blue, now streaming on Prime Video? Hanson thinks yes.

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"Unlike The Crown, which is obviously based on them and their family and people they know, this is not based on anyone they know. Although it's a similar setting and there are certain personality traits, certain names that are very similar, it's not them," says Hanson.

"I absolutely think younger members of the royal family will watch it, and I hope they enjoy it because it's a love story and it's a happy love story," he says. "It's also hilarious in parts and it's got huge pathos. So, yeah, I think they will watch it at some point if not on release day."

Red, White & Royal Blue is now streaming on Prime Video.

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