On December 5, a new movie (and country, and baby) joined the Christmas Prince cinematic universe. Everyone with access to Netflix and a willing suspension of disbelief is familiar with Aldovia, the European country ruled by Queen Amber (Rose McIver) and King Richard (Ben Lamb). Of course, Aldovia isn’t real, but the trilogy was filmed in a real castle in Sinaia, Romania.
Peleş Castle was commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and finished in 1883, according to Romania’s tourism website. A Christmas Prince was not the first movie to be filmed at the castle: a Carol I biopic and The Brothers Bloom, an action-adventure film starring Rachel Weisz, were both shot there, along with the Hallmark originals A Princess for Christmas and Royal Matchmaker. Peleş hosts 2,000 pieces of artwork, and it is open to visitors six days a week. The hours and ticket costs are listed on the castle’s website (although you will have to translate the information from Romanian).
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Other filming locations in Romania included Bragadiru Palace, the Cotroceni National Museum, and the Carol Davila Medicine and Pharmacy University, all of which are located in Bucharest, the Romanian capital, which is about two hours from Sinaia. These spots all welcome visitors, so you can easily recreate some of your favorite A Christmas Prince, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding, and A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby scenes. Maybe you can even try to meet a charming young royal while undercover as a tutor. The descendants of Romania’s last king, Michael, no longer have royal titles since he abdicated after increasing pressure from communists, but the family still regularly hosts events at Peleş Castle.
A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby, the series’ third installment, is more chaotic than A Christmas Prince and The Royal Wedding combined. In the latest film, another set of royals from the fictional country of Penglia visit Amber and Richard, who are expecting their first child. The couples are planning on renewing a 600-year-old treaty, but when Amber realizes that the document has gone missing, she fears her baby might be cursed.
Where could the franchise possibly go from here? McIver told Vulture she would love to see a fourth Christmas Prince movie. Maybe, she joked, “The Royal Couple’s Counseling would be a good installment for next year.”
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