A Royal Affair (2012) on Netflix
R20122h 17mBiographyDramaHistory
In 1767, Princess Caroline of Great Britain is betrothed to Christian VII, the mentally ill king of Denmark. At court she grows close to the royal physician Johann Friedrich Struensee.
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- IMDb7.5/1054,503 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes90%
Trailer
Plot summary
Caroline of Great Britain is betrothed in 1767 to Christian VII, the king of Denmark, whose mind is unstable. At the Danish court she learns that many of her books are banned, and her marriage to the erratic monarch leaves her isolated and miserable. The German doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee is recruited as the king's personal physician. Trained in Enlightenment thought, he keeps his views secret from the state, which accepts him because his father is a priest. Christian takes a strong liking to him and makes him a confidant. When Struensee inoculates Prince Frederick against a smallpox epidemic, he wins respect at court. The king has little influence in the Privy Council, so Struensee urges him to act, writing speeches that carry progressive ideas into law. Caroline and Struensee discover shared liberal views and fall in love.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Royal Affair (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Before Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg could adapt Per Olov Enquist's 1999 novel The Visit of the Royal Physician, they found its exclusive film rights held by a company that had spent over a decade trying to make an English-language version and would not sell to Zentropa.
- The film was credited to Bodil Steensen-Leth's erotic novel Prinsesse af blodet, told from the queen's viewpoint, but its take on Struensee owed so much to Enquist's novel that the production hired someone solely to compare the two and make sure they were dissimilar enough.
- The real Johann Friedrich Struensee did not speak Danish and persistently used German, which helped turn Danish society against him, yet the film shows him speaking fluent Danish.
