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Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 1, Episode 1

In Sweden, the school year starts in late August, and you start the three-year high school the year you turn 16. The show starts about a month into the school year, prince Wilhelm has been out partying with friends, gotten recognized, headbutted a guy who was getting too annoying, and was then promptly punched in the face. Someone filmed the whole thing, put it on the internets, so an aide from the royal court is sent along with some security to rescue Wilhelm who is hiding in the bathroom of the club...

Cinematography: Minou is trying to talk to Wilhelm, but since he has his earbuds in, listening to the song that was used as soundtrack during the intro, he can't hear her. But when he removes them, the show does a nice diegetic switch, and we hear the music come out of his earbuds instead.

Subtext: This is the first time Wilhelm hears of this, but the statement still says that he has been a part of the decision. This is obviously false, it was decided without him.

Culture: Even though high school is a large break from primary school, it's common that some of your friends choose the same high school as you, allowing you to keep seeing them. But by moving Wilhelm out of his normal high school, he will lose all of his friends.

Subtext: We're less than two minutes into the show, and we're already seeing the main conflict of the season spelled out! Everyone keeps telling Wilhelm what he must do, does it matter what he thinks? Does his opinion count?

Culture: The royal court is a large organization consisting of the royal family themselves, and also all the various aides and assistants, and all the personnel needed to keep all the royal castles and other properties running. PR is of course an important part of maintaining their image, so what we're seeing here is the internal "backstage" preparations for the scripted press conference they're about to give.

Subtext: The queen is pissed and all business, and is telling Wilhelm that no, his opinion doesn't count, he should shut up about what he wants, and go out there and obediently read his lines.

Culture: With the backstage preparations done, everyone pulls themselves together and goes out to meet the external press people who will record the actual statement and maybe do a simple scripted interview with the family. Also, this scene is shot at Stora Sundby Castle, which is one of the largest non-royal castles in Sweden. The woman in the painting is the baroness Ulrika Vilhelmina Teresia Charlotta Silfverschöld, an ancestor of the castle's current owner, baron Johan Klingspor.

Subtext: Erik and Wilhelm being asked to change places is of course foreshadowing.

Culture: Sweden is predominantly a culturally protestant Christian nation, which means that many Christian traditions are still being observed, even though almost no-one actually believes in Christianity. Confirmation is a rite done at 14-15 years old where you are supposed to confirm your faith, but these days it's mostly done as a sort of becoming-a-teenager rite.

Subtext: Wilhelm is obediently reading his lines, and lying about having been part of the decision to enroll at Hillerska.

Cinematography: Throughout the speech, Wilhelm is looking into the press conference camera, but at the end he breaks the fourth wall and looks at us, the viewers. This is to remind us that this is a show that is very much about being in the public eye and being watched, as well as a bookend that is going to be re-used in the final episode.

Subtext: The title card shots of Wilhelm being all alone on the sofa is of course foreshadowing that he is going to be abandoned and left alone by everyone by the end.

Culture: The intro shots of the school look like a promo video for it, rowing, horses, happy students in school uniforms showing you how much fun you're going to have here! Funnily enough, the show's version is eerily similar to how the real deal advertises itself.

Culture: The headmistress is formally addressing Erik as "the crown prince", while he's addressing her by her first name. Because he's no longer a student, he now "outranks" her. On the other hand, Erik and August are much more familiar with each other, because they're family.

Subtext: August's exposition might seem unnecessary, but he's also hinting that Alexander is noveau riche and not from the nobility, which is why he's basically treating him like an errand boy. Remember that status is more important than money, so even though Alexander's family is rich, August has more status.

Subtext: Erik and August knows how the PR game works, which is why they're posing for the photo-op, essentially using the suitcases as props. Wilhelm on the other hand wants to be seen as normal, as someone who can carry his own suitcases.

Lost in translation: Englund actually introduces himself as Magister Englund, which is the formal Swedish title for a male teacher.

Culture: Just like in the first scene we see an excessive uses of titles. The aide who is organizing the photos doesn't use any first names, but references people by their titles, so she's not saying "Anette" or "Wilhelm" but instead "the headmistress" or "the prince".

Blink and you miss it: The actual first time Wilhelm smiles in this episode is when he sees Felice, and not when he hears Simon singing.

Cinematography: Erik and August are sitting awfully close, so Wilhelm is physically being crushed by toxic masculinity.

Subtext: For all his professionalism, Erik has also learned how to cope with the endless attention and scrutiny, and his way seems to be to occasionally prank people. I pity his security guards who have to keep up with him.

Culture: The word August uses is nollning, which literally translates as zero-ing. New students at both high school and university are called nollor - zeroes, because they won't be real first-year students until they've passed the initiation.

Culture: The little booklet Wilhelm is holding says Vett & Etikett which means "sense and manners" or "code of conduct". An important part of acculturation into the upper class means learning proper manners, and this is one way the school teaches it.

Subtext: The main theme of this episode is about keeping up appearances, about maintaining a facade. Erik who's been crown prince since birth has had this drilled into him, and he's now trying to drill it into Wilhelm in turn.

Subtext: But the sad reality is that Erik has basically surrendered to his circumstances. He has learned not to protest, not to voice his real opinion, and to play the part he was assigned to at birth. So his advice to Wilhelm is basically to do the same, adapt to make things easier. Stop struggling against the system.

Cinematography: The ending shot and the focus pull makes it look like the walls are closing in on Wilhelm, which is exactly how he feels.

Lost in translation: Sweden, like most other European countries have had long periods of rule by a democratic socialist party, and the word August uses - sosse - is slang for someone who is a member of this party in Sweden, or votes for them, or sympathizes with them, which is obviously a substantial part of the population. Since this party is the champion of the working class, using the word on someone also implies that they are of a lower socioeconomic class. This can of course be interpreted as a badge of honour, or as a slur, much like how for example "liberal" in the US has way different connotations depending on how it's used and by whom.

Subtext: No, Simon really doesn't think it would be fun to party with a bunch of stuck up assholes like August.

Subtext: When Sara asks Felice if she should pick the hooves, Felice sarcastically replies that she should, because so much dirt would have gotten stuck after five minutes of riding. However, when Sara starts doing it, Felice says that "she said no", which strongly hints that Sara is incapable of picking up on sarcasm and other social cues.

Cinematography: As the school year progresses, we'll see nature changing as the seasons change. This first episode takes place in early September, which is when summer starts to transition into autumn, and some leaves have started falling off the trees. We'll see this shot a couple of times more in later episodes.

Subtext: We're learning that Sara was bullied at Marieberg, her old high school, which is why she transferred to Hillerska. And we're also learning that the real reason Simon started there is because he wants to be close to his sister and try to protect her.

Subtext: Felice is now voicing what I talked about in the intro post, she's chasing status, and getting together with Wilhelm will give more status to her and her family, than what getting together with August would, and that is why she's pursuing him and why she's masturbating to a picture of him, because she "wants to" be attracted to him.

Subtext: However, this is eating disorder territory. She's skipping dinner because she thinks she needs to lose weight to grab Wilhelm's interest.

Subtext: And speaking of keeping up appearances, it's not just the royals who are playing this game, here we see Felice doing the exact same thing, lying about her day, posting a photo that makes it appear as if she's super close to her horse and loves riding him.

Subtext: This entire scene is meant to show the difference between how Simon and his family is living, compared to how Wilhelm and the rest of the boarders are living. Hillerska is also starting to rub off on Sara, which is why she's trying to teach Ayub how to properly set a table, and why she's nagging everyone to have some manners. Not that it works, because Simon and Ayub are eating like complete slobs.

Subtext: Simon is lying to his mom. Sara was never invited, and he still has to get the alcohol to get invited, but he saw how much Sara actually seems to like the school, so in order to help his sister and his mom, he's decided to try to get Sara into the party as well.

Subtext: Meanwhile, at Slytherin, it's proper manners all over. The table is set correctly, everyone's waiting politely, and the housemaster is even referring to this bunch of boys as "gentlemen". The contrast to Simon's cozy family dinner couldn't be bigger.

Culture: Saying grace is extremely uncommon in Sweden, but boarding schools like this are strong on keeping older traditions, which is why they're saying a prayer over the meal, even though it's very likely that every single kid is a non-believer.

Subtext: The frog with a crown on his head is a reference to The Frog Prince, an old fairytale about a prince who was transformed into a frog, and the only way to break the curse was by him getting kissed. The snow globe symbolizes how trapped Wilhelm himself feels, he's the frog, but maybe if someone kisses him he'll become free? Real subtle there, show.

Culture: The royal court receives a grant worth about $17 million in tax-payer money each year, making them the family that receives the most welfare by far. On the other hand, the money is also meant to be used to keep the royal court functioning so they can perform their duties such as going on state trips, representing the country at home and abroad.

Culture: Swedish schools are required by law to provide free lunch for all students, and have been for the last 80 years. Hillerska gets no exception for this, non-boarding students have to get their lunch somehow, which is why they're eating together with the boarders. But note the difference in table manners, Wilhelm is doing it properly, while Simon's manners are terrible, fork in the wrong hand, elbows on table, slouching. Manners! Sit up straight! What would the housemaster say?

Culture: The monarchs of constitutional monarchies are supposed to completely stay out of the political discussion, and in Sweden the royal family is not allowed to publicly favour or promote any political party. This means they can't voice any political opinions at all, other than platitudes about national unity and similar.

Subtext: There's so much to unpack from this first visit to Simon's dad, Micke, and so much unsaid, but we can figure out quite a lot. It's after school, but he's at home, looking unkempt, wearing dirty clothes. The place is a mess, but he's trying to clean it up, and to get rid of the bottle of vodka that was on the floor. It all paints a picture of Micke being unemployed and an alcoholic.

Subtext: Back pain is the number one reason for being prescribed painkillers, so this hints that he also has a substance abuse problem.

Subtext: But for all his flaws, he's not homophobic. He has absolutely no problem with Simon being gay, and even apologizes for forgetting it. We're also learning that Simon is gay, and out to friends and family.

Subtext: Throughout the visit, Micke keeps asking how Linda and Sara is, but Simon refuses to answer. So we can piece together that Micke was kicked out of the family for his problems, and the rest of them have promised each other not to contact him. He thinks Simon's visit is the start of a reconciliation, but heartbreakingly enough, Simon is just there because he needs booze.

Culture: The whole initiation is for the boy's house, Forest Ridge. They're doing this to build loyalty among themselves as I explained in the intro, but the whole thing would make a bit more sense if there were more houses at Hillerska, but there aren't for obvious production budget reasons.

Culture: Regalskeppet Vasa was a royal flagship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628 because of unreasonable engineering demands from the king, and was then promptly forgotten until it was found and salvaged in the 1960's. It's the world best preserved 17th century warship, and the museum is Sweden's most visited.

Subtext: Simon deflects Wilhelm's question by asking it back, and even though Wilhelm says yes, his body language clearly says otherwise. Both boys actually do not want to be at this school, Simon is just here because he wants to protect his sister, and Wilhelm is forced to be here.

Subtext: I already wrote a longer piece on the end scene, but in summary, it's only when Nils puts words on it that Wilhelm understands that he might actually have a crush on Simon. And it doesn't click for Simon until Wilhelm really looks at him. There's a lost in translation in here as well: In English, the present continuous form, which indicates an ongoing activity, is formed with the helper verb be, e.g. I am writing this explanation. In Swedish, and other Scandianavian languages, the same form allows more helper verbs indicating the position of the subject. Nils is actually saying "han ligger och strular", which means "he's lying down and fooling around", which is much more sexual than for example "han står och strular" - "he's standing up and fooling around".

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