2012 Drama Romance Movie called "A Royal Affair" Review.

Today I am going to explain a 2012 Drama Romance Movie called A Royal Affair.

The story takes place in 18th-century  Europe when the Age of Enlightenment  begins to spread throughout the country. Caroline writes a letter to her children,  

wanting to tell them about a man named Johann.  She wants to tell them about her relationship  with him, and why they did the things they did. Caroline wants to tell her children the truth  before it's too late. She begins by recalling  the events that happened nine years ago. 

Caroline is on a field in England with her aides.  She is about to embark on a journey to Denmark,  where she is arranged to marry the king,  Christian the Seventh. Caroline has been  

preparing for the marriage since she was young. Before she leaves, Caroline wonders what she would  

do if the royalties in Denmark didn't like her.  Her guardian tells her everything will be fine  as long as she can make the king visit her chamber  at night. With that, Caroline sets off to Denmark. Once in Denmark, Caroline is greeted by Louise,  her new aide, along with the king's private tutor.  Caroline leaves the carriage to meet Christian  and sees him hiding like a kid behind a tree. 

They greet each other, and Caroline rides  with Christian back to the palace. Caroline  eagerly waits for Christian to speak, but he  doesn't. Instead, he simply looks at her chest  

with a slight disappointment on his face. Caroline notices what he's doing but stays  silent. Christian averts his eyes, and the  atmosphere between them throughout the journey  remains tense and extremely awkward. When they arrive at the capital,  Caroline notices the terrible state of the place  and its people. On the other hand, Christian  doesn't seem to care and is simply focused on  amusing himself until they arrive at the palace. 

Upon arrival at the palace, Christian  immediately greets and plays with his dog,  Gourmand. Caroline smiles, seemingly enjoying  the sight of the king being playful with his dog. In a room somewhere in the castle,  the king's stepmother, Juliane Marie,  

spitefully watches their arrival. In the  same room, a prominent statesman named  Guldberg tutors Juliane's son, who believes he  won't have any use for what he's teaching him. Later at dinner, Caroline pulls her chair nearer  to Christian, attracting the attention of everyone  around her. She tells Christian it's because  he's too far away. The king is amused, saying  that Caroline seems to have a flair for drama. Then, Caroline asks if he will visit her bedroom  later that night. Christian consults his  tutor, and when he says it's alright,  

Christian agrees to her queen's request. Sometime later, Caroline plays the piano while  Christian and the rest watch. Juliane praises  Caroline while discreetly mocking Christian's  talent for art, leaving him irritated. As  a result, he vents his anger at Caroline,  shaming her in front of everyone. Despite that, Christian visits Caroline's  bed chamber late that night as they've  agreed during dinner earlier. They don't  waste time and simply get down to business. After that, Caroline lives her life as queen  

and puts up with Christian's antics until she  got pregnant with their child, Frederik. Since  she's already accomplished her mission, Caroline  no longer feels the need to maintain the facade. 

She distances herself from Christian. Whenever the  king tries to visit her, Louise says that they're  busy playing chess. As a result, Christian  gets frustrated with the situation and fires  

Louise. Caroline eventually gives birth to  Frederik and resigns to her fate as queen. 

One day, Christian lets Caroline know  that he'll be away for two years to tour  Europe. Caroline says she doesn't  care whether he's with her or not. In a Danish Colony in Germany later, Doctor  Johann Struensee is summoned by Count Rantzau.  

While Johann inspects the count's junk,  Rantzau tells him they know about his  revolutionary freethinking works. They use this  as leverage to make Johann do them a favor. 

It turns out that Rantzau and his friend  Brandt used to be at the top of the  Danish court. However, when the previous  king passed away, they got kicked off. 

Now, they've caught wind about the Christian being  sick in the head and needing a doctor. They want  Johann to audition for the position and help them  get their prestigious positions in court back.  Since Johann can't decline their offer and finds  himself in the doctors' tryouts a few days later. When it's Johann's turn to examine the  king, he asks Christian's tutor what  seems to be the problem. The tutor  believes Christian's mental health  issues stem from his excessive meat beating. Johann sees Christian in a terrible mood.  

When asked what seems to be the problem,  Christian implies that the court thinks  he's sick because he drinks a lot, likes  to fight, and loves women with big jugs. The two then start exchanging lines  from their favorite plays, which makes  

Christian suddenly interested in Johann. As  a result, Johann gets hired instead of the  other doctors who love wearing the same wigs. When Christian returns to Copenhagen after  he tours Europe, only Caroline and  the rest of the castle staff greet  him. Christian gets disappointed, but  before he can throw a tantrum, Johann  steps in to diffuse the situation successfully. Christian's fondness for Johann grows. He even  tells the doctor to join him at the council  meeting to prevent him from getting bored. 

In the council meeting, Johann observes that  Christian is clueless. He does nothing but  sign the laws the councilmen deem fit for  their interests and not of the people. 

As for Christian, he only thinks of it as  another one of those annoying chores he has  to do as a king. He even tells Johann that  everyone in the council thinks he is crazy. One night, Johann calls Rantzau and  Brandt to a brothel to honor their  

agreement. He lets them meet Christian,  who welcomes them back to his court. After a night of merry making, the  men return to the castle. Caroline  scolds Christian for his un-kingly behavior.  Christian simply makes fun of her in front of  the men by mockingly calling Caroline his mother. While practicing swordplay with Johann the next  day, Christian complains that of all the women  in the world, he ended up with the most boring  one. Johann says that maybe Caroline is ill. Christian thinks it might be true because no  one can be that boring. He orders Johann to  examine Caroline and turn her into a fun queen. 

Of course, Johann finds nothing wrong with  Caroline, only that she's always grumpy. So,  he suggests they move to the summer estate for some fresh air. Before Caroline leaves, she sees  and borrows one of Johann's illegal books. The royal family moves to the summer estate,  and during that time, Caroline notices  how fond Christian is of Johann. She even  

sees him emulating the doctor's actions,  like a boy looking up to his big brother. Caroline and Johann also get closer during that  time. They start getting more interested in  

each other after sharing their ideals  that follow the enlightenment path. 

One day, Johann learns that the smallpox virus  has reached the capital and is already close  to the palace. He suggests having Frederick  inoculated to protect him from the virus,  which the council members find preposterous.  However, since Caroline and Christian believe  in Johann, they agree with his suggestion. After finishing the inoculation, Johann tells  

the royal couple the only thing they can do  is wait. Christian asks him to sit with them,  and the three hold hands to calm their nerves. Frederick's inoculation is a success. Since it  could help save more lives, Caroline suggests  an inoculation drive for the people. Sadly,  the council denies her request for budget reasons. While returning to her chambers sometime later,  Caroline finds an envelope. It seems that Johann  has finally slid her a DM, flexing some of his  enlightened writings to her, which she enjoys. During a party, Brandt warns Johann for being  a fool and trying to have an affair with  the queen. He says he likes Johann and  doesn't want to mourn his severed head. Johann  uses the "no comment" technique and continues  pursuing the Caroline route. When they meet one afternoon,  Caroline makes Johann aware of his influence over  Christian. It seems she wants him to use this  influence to bring about change in the kingdom. Johann heeds Caroline's advice and decides to  give it a shot. He convinces Christian to use his  authority as king in the council and have laws  

approved. Even if Christian doesn't understand the  intricacies of the court, all he needs to do is  act and read the lines that Johann writes for him. They try their plan during the next council  meeting, and Christian surprises the council  members, leaving them in awe. He manages to  

pass the law to triple the number of waste  collectors on the streets. He also doesn't  forget to make his dog an honorary council member. During a masquerade ball, Johann and Caroline  share a dance. By the end of it, Johann gets  cold feet and leaves. Caroline follows him,  and they finally let their feelings  take control by sharing a kiss. 

The next day, Caroline is in a dazed  state from trying to figure out what  

she truly wants to do. Eventually, she decides  to slide Johann a DM. After reading her letter,  Johann goes to the palace kitchen, locking eyes  with a young boy as he enters a secret passage. The passage leads to Caroline's bedroom, and once  there, the two give in to their base desires. 

After that, Johann and Caroline continue to  use Christian to turn their revolutionary ideas  into laws in the kingdom. They also continue  with their affair, using the secret passage. 

For a while, they thought they could bring  about change, but they were mistaken. They  eventually realized that the council was  too strong. The more Christian got rejected,  the more despondent he became, making things  harder for Johann and Caroline's group. Then, one night, Caroline says it's all because  Christian is alone in the council and suggests  making Johann a member to support him. Although  Johann thinks it will be next to impossible,  

they still give it a shot since it's  their only chance against the wigs. 

Meanwhile, Juliane and Guldberg discuss  Christian's recent laws and conclude that  someone is influencing him. Guldberg believes  that it's all Johann's fault. Juliane begins  snooping around for dirt on Johann and  then exposes him to the council members. As they're on their way to the next council  meeting, Christian, who is planning to make  

Johann a council member, says something is off.  To Christian's surprise, the council already knows  

and declines his plan. They order the guards  to arrest and banish Johann from the kingdom. However, the council didn't expect Christian  to stop them. He orders the guards to release  Johann and then uses his power as a  king to dissolve the council entirely. 

Christian then replaces the council with  a cabinet consisting of him and Johann.  Johann praises Christian for what he's done and  says they can now bring change to the kingdom. 

They don't waste time and start using their  revolutionary ideas to implement laws that  improve the lives of the citizen. Hundreds of  laws were published, including the establishment  of orphanages and even the removal of  censorship. Denmark quickly turned into  a pioneering country admired throughout Europe. One day, a maid cleaning Caroline's bed smells  

something strange on her sheets. It's probably  just the mayonnaise she ate, but who knows. Elsewhere in the castle, Johann sees  a letter from Voltaire to Christian.  

Voltaire seems aware of what's happening in  Denmark and sends a letter praising Christian  for his revolutionary work as its king. Johann is excited about Voltaire's letter  and shows it to Caroline. However,  he becomes speechless after Caroline  reveals she's pregnant with his child. To salvage the situation, the two decide to  

make Christian resume his visits to Caroline's  bed chambers. They plan to make it so people  would believe Christian is still the father  of Caroline's new child. On top of that, they  also decide to stop seeing each other privately. While working, Christian tries to have some fun  as usual, but a frustrated Johann screams at him.  Quickly realizing his mistake, Johan apologizes  and asks Christian to sign a law, allowing him  to approve laws without needing Christian's  signature. He tells Christian it's a way to free  him from his boring paperwork duties as king. 

Sometime later, Rantzau and Johann have  a falling out after Johann fails to help  Rantzau with his debts how he wants him to. Then one afternoon, Juliane sees Johann and  Caroline acting a little too familiar  with each other. She realizes that they  have an affair with each other and that  Caroline's child is actually Johann's. 

She immediately starts investigating, and  one of the maids, the one who was cleaning  Caroline's bed earlier, decides  to reveal the mayonnaise incident. 

Caroline finally gives birth to a baby  girl named Louise, and everyone in the  castle is excited. She sends everyone away except  Johann so they can spend time with their child. 

Juliane and her followers spread rumors  around town about Caroline's affair with  Johann and that he's the father of her  daughter. Christian gets wind of the  rumors and runs amock in his favorite brothel. Brandt lets Johann no about it, and the two  rush to the brothel. Christian confronts Johann  about the rumor, and the doctor denies it. He  then realizes who's behind the rumors and goes to  meet Guldberg. Johann doesn't hesitate to relieve  

him of his court duties and send him away. For damage control, Johann tells Christian  to stay inside the castle. He assigns the  young boy from the kitchen from earlier  to be Christian's companion. He also leaves  Brandt with him, an idea Christian dislikes. Sadly, things worsen, leaving Caroline and Johann  at their wit's end. Johann is even forced to  reinstate censorship in the country to prevent  the spread of more rumors about their affair. 

One day, Caroline freaks out after  seeing Christian play with Louise. She  lashes out at him and tells him he'll  never be alone with the child again. Frustrated, Christian eventually snaps and gets  into a scuffle with Brandt during dinner. Johann  manages to stop them and talk some sense  into Christian. The two hug each other,  and Christian says he wants everything  to return to what they were before. 

Meanwhile, Juliane and Guldberg put their plans  to overthrow Caroline and Johann into motion.  They even manage to bring Rantzau into their  cause, promising to remove all his debt, give  him a seat at the council, and the assurance that  Johann will simply be deported and nothing more. 

They also manage to rouse the  citizens to want to see their king,  

who hasn't appeared for a long time. Johann asks  Christian to show himself to appease the people,  

but he declines. Instead, he isolates  himself and lets Johann handle the problem. 

As things start to escalate and put pressure  on Christian, Guldberg meets with him. He  manages to force him into signing the arrest  warrant of Caroline, Johann, and Brandt. Juliane takes Frederik from Caroline  but leaves Louise with her since she  still needs her mother. As for Johann,  he gets mistreated in prison until he  confesses to his affair with Caroline  and conspiring against the court. After several days, Caroline learns that Johann  has confessed to his crimes after days of being  mistreated. She sends a letter to Christian  containing a plea to pardon Johann and Brandt. Later, a priest visits Johann in the dungeons to  hear his final confession. While that happens,  Christian is uneasy while talking to Guldberg.  He's wondering where the people are going and  asks if Gulberg is sure the execution isn't  on that day, and Gulberg says he is sure. It turns out that he plans to pardon  Johann and Brandt at the last minute  to surprise them. He's wondering if they  will get mad at him, and Gulberg says no. 

Johann and Brandt get taken into a carriage  for their execution. They believe it's only  a formality since they've been made aware that  Christian will pardon them. Johann says it's a way  to show the people that their king is merciful. When they arrive at the execution site,  Johann immediately realizes they won't get  pardoned. Brandt gets executed first, and when  it's Johann's turn, he looks at all the people  in front of him before his head gets cut off. Caroline breaks down after hearing the news about  Johann's execution. Rantzau confronts Gulberg for  breaking his promise to only banish Johann and  give him a seat in the council. As for Christian,  they treat him as a decoration and ask  him to play with his companion all day. Caroline says goodbye to her daughter and lives in  Germany with her old friend, and aide, Louise. She  starts to live out her days there and eventually  gets ill. Before passing away, she gives Louise  her letters and tells her to hand them over to her  children when they're old enough to understand. 

Time passes, and as the rest of the world moves  forward to progress, Denmark regresses to the  middle ages. Frederik and Louise Augusta ride  a carriage and meet up with Caroline's aide. She gives them Caroline's letter, and they  learn the truth. When they return to the castle,  

the children talk to Christian. With the help of his father,  Frederik stages a coup d'etat and seizes power  at the age of sixteen. He also banishes Juliane,  Guldberg, and their cabinet from the court. In Frederik's fifty-five-year-long reign,  

almost all of Johann's laws were reinstated.  Frederik goes even further than Johann and  completely abolishes serfdom in the  country, liberating the peasants.