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rickyphuong · 1 year

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Storming of the Kensington Palace: a catharsis.

Henry Fox vanished from the Texas lake house. Alex woke up to an empty bed and a broken heart. He would've confessed his love to Henry the day before if Henry had allowed him that moment. Henry abandoned Alex at one of his most vulnerable moments. It takes great courage to confess one’s love and unrequited love is the worst kind of love. You still love that person. They haven’t given you any reason to fall out of love with them. You can never hate them even if they don’t reciprocate. You can’t force someone to love you. They either love you or they don’t.

Alex is in a turmoil. Henry is not responding to his texts or calls. He wonders if everything they shared was just a mirage. There is an ocean of distance that’s separating them. Alex doesn’t know how to handle it. With a bit of nudge from Nora, he makes the trip to confront Henry, to find out the answers.

He reaches Kensington Palace tired from a transatlantic flight and wet from the London rains. He WANTS answers. He NEEDS the answers. Henry is shocked to see Alex. He never expected Alex to show up and fight for their relationship. He thinks if he doesn’t let Alex confess his love, they can somehow move on from this relationship. Oh! How wrong he was!

Alex: *makes puppy eyes* “Can we please talk?!”

Henry: I’m going to let you say what you want to say and then I’d like you to leave. (Ha ha ha Henry!!! You are so cute when you think you stand a chance against the Cat-5 hurricane that Alex is)

Alex’s flabber is gasted!! You want me to fucking LEAVE?!? BOOM!! Alex goes off… no holds barred!

Alex: “What’s going on Henry? A week ago, we were happy and then you disappear without saying a word?! I think you at least owe me an explanation.”

Henry is confused. He feels that Alex will understand his predicament of being a Royal Heir and the impossibility of a long-term relationship between them. But how would he understand when Henry never showed him his princely side?! Henry has always been Henry Fox to Alex. Yes. Alex knows he is a prince and knows all the baggage that comes with it. But Henry never showed off his princely authority with Alex and Alex never flaunted his First Son privileges with Henry. They were just two men falling in love with each other. As simple as that.

Henry feels that their year-long relationship would make it clear to Alex the impossibility of it. Henry feels that their bond is precarious at its best and ready to snap at a moment’s notice. Henry is prepared for this from day one of their courtship. He told Alex during their first hook-up after the White house Party… that he can’t afford for Alex to fall in love with him. It was more of a reminder to himself than a warning to Alex. Its true Alex thought that Henry was being arrogant and presumptive. But Henry knew that he can’t reciprocate a love like the one he has for Alex. But he fell for him anyway.

This was Henry’s thought after seeing Alex for the first time (Melbourne Climate Conference/Rio Olympics). “I thought, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen, and I had better keep it a safe distance away from me. I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire. And then I was a careless fool, and I fell in love with you anyway.” Henry didn’t know that this fire would consume them both.

Henry never meant for Alex to fall in love with him. “It was never supposed to be an issue, I thought I could have some part of you, and just never say it and you’d never have to know, and one day you’d get tired of me and leave, because I never thought I’d be stood here faced with a choice I can’t make, because I never…I never imagined you would love me back.” Alex says… “I do. And you can choose.”

Alex made his choice by flying to London. “I’ve been losing my mind because the man I *love* vanished from my life without an explanation. I flew across an ocean. I stormed a fucking castle to look you in the eye and tell you that *I love you* knowing that you wouldn’t say it back. So, no Henry. In fact, it costs me everything. If this is over, I at least deserve to know why!!” Oh Alex, my baby. You were a brave lil thing that day... with your fierce love and your ferocious heart filled with passion.

Alex forgot what Henry told him in Paris. Henry tells him that “Henry Fox has to belong to himself, or he will vanish.” Alex innocently asks…” Can he ever belong to someone else?” Alex is already trying to claim Henry Fox for himself. And Henry goes, “Only momentarily.” Henry Fox did belong to Alex momentarily. The Henry Fox who came to Alex’s bedroom at midnight for a hook up. The Henry Fox who invited him to a Polo event and tackled him in a tack room. The Henry Fox who took him to Paris, Henry’s dream city to live in. The Henry Fox who came to surprise him after the DNC in Brooklyn. The Henry Fox who came to Alex’s Texas Lakehouse to spend time with him.

Henry reacted to Alex on the pier in the only way he knew Henry Fox would react. By vanishing. The moment he realizes that Alex has fallen in love with him, and that Henry has a chance to belong to Alex, he jumped off that pier. He fucking vanished. We were left standing on that pier along with a heartbroken Alex watching a desperate Henry swimming away.

Back to the Kensington Palace…

Henry is losing it. He must make the choice he never wanted to make in the first place. He goes… “Oh for Christ’s sake Alex!! For once, I wish you could see me as who I am (Prince Henry) and not who you want me to be (Henry Fox). Sometimes I don’t think you know me at all.” Oh Henry! He knows you. He knows you as Henry Fox. You will always be Henry Fox to him. He wants a future with Henry Fox, not Prince Henry. Henry is at a crossroads, and he must choose... if he wants to be Prince Henry or Henry Fox.

He never thought it would come to this. He thought he could have a fling with Alex, quench his forbidden needs before Alex decides to move on. He never imagined Alex would love him back. He never thought he’d be stood facing a choice he can’t make. The crown or his love? Can he ever have both? Can he choose either without losing his sanity?

He is weighing his options. “My life is the crown and yours is politics. And I will not trade one prison for another. I can love you and want you and still not want that life. I’m allowed, alright? And it doesn’t make me a liar. It makes me a man with infinitesimal shred of self-preservation. And you don’t get to come here and call me a coward for it.” Oh Henry! You are projecting yourself. Alex never called you a coward. YOU are calling yourself a coward for not choosing love, my poor self-sacrificial lamb. Alex is quick to reassure Henry… “I would never call you a coward.”

Alex doesn’t capitulate. He knows he must push Henry. He must choose him on purpose. No one has chosen Henry and his needs ever in his life. His wishes and needs have always been brushed under the Royal Carpet. Henry needs to hear from Alex that they could have a life together in their own terms. “We can figure out a way to love each other on our own terms and no one else’s.” Henry is on the verge of giving up. “Its simply not possible and you know it.”

Alex is back on that cliff again. He needs to jump off the cliff again, hoping again that Henry will be there to catch him. “Fine. I’ll leave. And you can live in your tower and protect your heart for the rest of your life, and nothing ever will happen to you. But Henry, NOTHING will ever happen to you. So, if you want me to go, you have to tell me to leave.” Is this the final push that breaks Henry?!

Henry cracks. His voice, barely a whisper… “Please… don’t make me.” Alex perseveres… “It is the only way you are getting rid of me. Because I would never leave this room if I didn’t think there is any hope of holding on to the happiness that I have found with you. If you think otherwise, then you don’t know ME. So, tell me to go, Henry and I promise I will walk out that door and trouble you no longer.”

Henry capitulates. This is the moment he realizes that he can't imagine a life without Alex in it. He says... “Wait. there is something I want you to see.”

Minor rant: I so wish they didn’t leave this moment open for ambiguous interpretations. I shall explain my interpretation below. Did Henry take Alex to the V&A to break up with him but then change his mind?(Not my interpretation. read on the internet) Or Did Henry choose love and then took Alex to the V&A, the only place sacred to him in London. Here is another take by @bsloths : Henry doesn’t know much, but he knows he doesn't want Alex to leave. So he decides to live in denial a little longer and take him to his favorite place, living a fantasy like he did in Paris. I think he makes the decision to choose love for good when they dance and he says he wants history to include his love for Alex. A kiss or even a hug would’ve cleared it up for us. But I guess Matthew wanted us at the edges of our seats biting our nails to the quick till the end.

I interpret it thusly. He chose Alex. He chose what matters to his heart. He finally feels deserving of the burning love he feels for Alex. He wants to take Alex to that one place that is precious to him. He doesn’t know what the future holds for them. But he wants Alex to know that he will find a way to make their relationship work. It’s his promise.

And Alex? He just sweetens the pot by fulfilling Henry’s daft pubescent fantasies. He is ready to make history with Henry.

And, they MADE history!

Thats it, folks. I'm emotionally drained after writing this. This is my favorite scene from the movie, right up there with the lake scene on which I wrote an essay here: The lake scene: happiness to heartbreak in three minutes

This is a huge ass essay... If you read till here, I am so fucking grateful to you. Leave a note or reblog if you liked this essay. ❤️

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