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The Super Six
Alex Claremont-Diaz
The only son of the first female President, Ellen Claremont, and her ex-husband, Senator Oscar Diaz, and the younger brother of June Claremont-Diaz.
- Adaptation Deviation: In the books he's shorter than Henry by a significant amount. In the movie he's taller than Henry by at least an inch. This is waived away in the movie with a line from Henry implying that Alex is wearing lifts due to his Height Angst.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Henry, at first. To the point that he used to do things like "hate-read" Henry's Wikipedia page.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: He's been in denial about his attraction to men since at least high school. In fact, what clues Alex into realizing that he's not straight after his first kiss with Henry is that he's spending so much time trying to convince himself he is.
- Height Angst: Is at first very fixated on whether or not Henry is truly 6'2".
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The foolish to June's responsible. Alex is arguably the more ambitious and driven of the two of them, but he's highly opinionated and reckless, with his relationship with Henry being the most obvious example. June, meanwhile, lives at the White House specifically just to keep an eye on him and act as his support, and is generally the more sensible of them both.
- Hidden Depths: Despite seemingly immature and reckless, deep down he cares deeply for his family and has a genuine wish to do something to make the world a better place.
- Mr. Fanservice: In the movie, as Zahra forces her way into his hotel room to find out who he hooked up with (not knowing it's Henry yet), she catches him fully naked for a brief moment, much to her embarrassment.
- Oblivious to Love: He's very obtuse when it comes to romantic matters. In addition to missing Henry's attraction to him (and his own attraction to Henry), it took him years to figure out he was bisexual even after he spent a good portion of high school watching porn and fooling around with his very male best friend Liam. To say nothing of how he obsessed over June's J-14 magazine picture of Henry for several years, before he even got the chance to meet Henry himself. Tellingly, his eventual relationship with Henry comes as absolutely no surprise to June or Nora, who are the two people closest to him and are implied to have been aware of his non-heterosexuality long before he was.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Henry's Blue. He's extroverted, confident, irreverent and much more easygoing.
- Tsundere: To Henry. Declares his undying hatred for him but obsessively seeks him out whenever they're in the same vicinity of each other and engages in near-stalkerish behavior such as hate-reading Henry's Wikipedia page. At the same time, once they really have the chance to talk he starts confessing his insecurities to Henry rather easily and takes comfort in his presence and words. What is really going on is that he has a massive crush on Henry and doesn't know how to deal with it until they're basically forced to make nice with each other and become friends.
Prince Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
The spare to the throne to the United Kingdom.
- Adaptation Name Change: The movie changes his last name from Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor to Hanover-Stuart-Fox, possibly to avoid any connotations to the real-life British royal family's surname.
- Age Lift: The youngest of the Royal children in the novel, made into the middle child in the movie.
- Character Tics: Whenever he is nervous or worried, he has a habit of rubbing the ring he puts on his left pinky finger.
- Closet Gay: He's spent most of his life stuck in the closet because, as Nora puts it, "princes aren't allowed to be gay." It's only after meeting Alex and falling in love with him that he starts gathering the courage to finally come out so they can be together in the open. Unfortunately, the email leak takes away his chance to finally come out on his own terms.
- Closet Key: His mutual attraction and eventual relationship with Alex is what helps the latter come to terms with his bisexuality.
- Conflicting Loyalty: Upon realizing that Alex is about to confess his feelings, he abruptly leaves as he suddenly feels torn between his status as royalty and his wish to be with Alex openly. He eventually decides to stand up to his family (particularly his grandmother (book)/grandfather (film) and his brother) and chooses Alex after seeing the outpouring of public support for their relationship.
- Generation Xerox: His romance with Alex echoes his mother Catherine's relationship with his father Arthur. Both he and his mother fall in love with what are considered completely unacceptable suitors by the traditionalist monarchy (Alex because he's a man, Arthur because he's an actor with no pedigree). However, they're both too in love with their respective love interests to back down and fight for their right to be with the person they love.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: He clearly hates being a prince. In the Collector's Edition's bonus chapter (which is from his POV), it's revealed he eventually abdicates his title in his late twenties and moves to Austin with Alex permanently after their marriage.
- Inconvenient Attraction: As a prince of a traditional and bigoted monarchy, his sexuality is a major sticking point and makes any attempt at a serious relationship impossible. That's why he tries so much to repress his feelings for Alex at first, because he sincerely believes it's impossible for them to really be together as a couple.
- Jealous Romantic Witness: When attending Alex's New Year’s Eve party, Henry is obviously jealous upon seeing Alex kissing random girlsnote who throw themselves at the latter. Unable to deal with it, he immediately leaves, much to Alex's confusion.
- Love at First Sight: He's actually had feelings for Alex since the first time they met back at the Rio Olympics in 2016. That's the real reason why he tried to get away from him so soon after their first meeting; he couldn't handle being around Alex and the feelings he invoked so soon after the death of his father.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Alex's Red. He's introverted, slightly repressed, tries to constantly reign in his emotions, insecure, and very fearful of public opinion.
- Spare to the Throne: As the third-born of his siblings, he's fourth in line for the throne after his older sister Beatrice, older brother Philip, and his mother Princess Catherine.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Henry is said to be the spitting image of his father, Arthur.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Affects a cold and reserved persona on purpose as he is self-aware of his sensitive, overly emotional nature and the dangers that entails.
Nora Holleran
The granddaughter of the Vice President and the Claremont-Diaz sibling's oldest friend.
- Amicable Exes: Used to date Alex but it was never serious and they're now very good friends. She later becomes something of a Shipper on Deck for him and Henry.
- Composite Character: In the movie, she takes on June's role as Alex's closest confidant.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Especially in the movie. She and Alex are best friends, and Alex often confides in her about almost everything, including his embarrassing history. Alex even invites her into his bedroom when confiding about his worries over Henry's sudden withdrawal.
June Claremont-Diaz
Alex's older sister.
- Adapted Out: Does not exist in the movie and parts of her story are given to Nora's character instead.
- The Beard: Briefly, in the book, she's a willing beard for Henry, going on a public date with him to try and throw the press of the scent of Henry's real romance with Alex.
- Cool Big Sis: She's very supportive and kind to Alex.
Princess Beatrice Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Prince Henry's older sister.
- Affectionate Nickname: Almost exclusively known by her nickname of "Bea".
- Age Lift: The middle Royal sibling in the book, the youngest in the movie.
- Recovered Addict: She developed a cocaine addiction after the death of her father, leading to the unflattering nickname of "The Powder Princess". She quit after a distraught Henry talked some sense into her and revealed to her that he was gay and needed her support to get through his own depression.
Percy Okonjo
A young philanthropist and Henry's best friend.
- Affectionate Nickname: In the novel, he's mainly referred to by his nickname "Pez".
- Eccentric Millionaire: He has a flamboyant sense of fashion, probably had a threesome with June and Nora, is best friends with a prince, and is loaded enough to be a well-known philanthropist in his early twenties.
- Polyamory: It's implied he had a threesome with June and Nora in the book.
- Ship Tease:
- Has a very overt crush on June and barely tries to hide it, while it's never confirmed if they officially start dating, she seems receptive to his advances at the very least.
- In the movie version this Ship Tease is transferred to Nora. He also has some with Nora in the book, as it's implied in one chapter that he had a threesome with both her and June.
The White House
President Ellen Claremont
The current President of the United States, and the mother of Alex and June.
- Amicable Exes: She and her ex-husband Oscar are on cordial terms, if prone to heavy arguing. Oscar also gets along perfectly well with her current husband, Leo.
- Brutal Honesty: When Alex reveals his relationship with Henry to her, Ellen is accepting of it, but warns Alex that he needs to be certain he feels "forever" about Henry before continuing the relationship, as it's only going to hurt them both in the long run if they feel otherwise. It's a very candid statement that Alex takes to heart and helps define the next big phase of his and Henry's relationship.
- Mama Bear: She's fiercely protective of Alex and June, and when it comes down to the wire, she will always put them first. When Alex and Henry are forcibly outed by Richards leaking their emails to the tabloids, she's furious and goes to the bat to defend them and their relationship."I am your mother. I was your mother before I was ever the president, and I'll be your mother long after, to the day they put me in the ground and beyond this earth. You are my child. So, if you're serious about this, I'll back your play."
- Open-Minded Parent: When Alex comes out to her as bisexual, she's very accepting — arguably too much so. Her issues with his relationship with Henry have nothing to do with the latter being a man and everything to do with him being one of the heads of a foreign state.
- Parents as People: Her political career means she's not the ideal parent, and that she often has to put her job over the wellbeing of her children. Regardless, she does love them and she's there for them when it truly matters.
Zahra Bankston
Ellen's chief-of-staff and right-hand woman.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Zahra is perpetually stressed out thanks to her overbearing workload as the President's primary advisor and assistant, which includes having to wrangle in Alex and his antics.
- Heroic BSoD: Has a massive Freak Out after finding out about Alex and Henry's relationship. In the movie, it takes her a minute to relearn how to form words due to her shock and horror.
- Slave to PR: As one of the main proponents of Ellen's administration and campaign, one of Zahra's primary concerns is making sure no negative publicity hampers Ellen's ability to effectively govern the country. She is the one who architects Alex's fake PR friendship with Henry after Cakegate, which ironically ends up causing an even greater PR crisis when the two fall in love and start a Secret Relationship.
Senator Oscar Diaz
One of the two sitting Senators for California, and Alex and June's father. Ex-husband to their mother Ellen.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the film, Ellen and he never divorced and are still together as a married couple.
- Amicable Exes: He and Ellen still get along well enough to spend the holidays together, though they're prone to heavy arguing at times.
Leo
Alex and June's stepfather.
- Adapted Out: In the movie's continuity Ellen and Oscar never divorced and thus Leo is nowhere to be seen.
- Good Stepfather: He gets along great with Alex and June, and there's no sign of friction between them at any point in the book.
- The Missus and the Ex: Despite being Ellen's second husband, Oscar and him are on great terms. Oscar arguably gets along with Leo better than he does with Ellen at times.
- Second Love: He's Ellen's second husband in the book, and the two are very much in love.
- Trophy Husband: Played with. When Ellen and he met, Leo was a major tech mogul who was searching for good causes to donate money to. After they married and Ellen was elected to the presidency, he sold all his businesses to become the First Gentlemen, whose duties mainly involve hosting parties and charity initiatives.
Amy Chen
Alex's primary Secret Service detail.
- Adaptation Name Change: To go along with her Race Lift she is named Amy Gupta in the movie version.
- Race Lift: Chinese-American in the novel and played by an actress of Indian descent in the movie.
Cassius
Another Secret Service agent Alex is close with.
- Adapted Out: He's not in the movie, with most of his role folded into Amy's character.
- Affectionate Nickname: He is almost exclusively referred to by his nickname of "Cash".
- Flat Character: Not focused on much, especially when compared to Amy.
The Royal Family
Prince Phillip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Older brother of Henry and Beatrice and third in line to the British Throne.
- Affectionate Nickname: Those closest to him occasionally refer to him as "Pip".
- Aloof Big Brother: He seems to be distant toward both of his younger siblings. In the book it's clarified that he used to be a warmer person, but after their father died, he started taking his duties as the "man of the family" more seriously which caused his relationships with both Henry and Bea to break down.
- Upper-Class Twit: Portrayed this way in direct comparison to his younger siblings. He's pompous, vacuous and condescending as well as blithely enjoying the Royal lifestyle that his siblings are tortured by.
Princess Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
The mother of Phillip, Beatrice and Henry and second in line to the British Throne.
- Broken Bird: "Checked out" of life after her husband's death but towards the end of the novel she acknowledges this and tries to be there for Henry in his crisis.
- Demoted to Extra: She doesn't physically appear in the movie, with an offhand line from Henry revealing she's been burying herself in conservation work in Africa.
- Excessive Mourning: She's still mourning the death of the love of her life almost five years after he passed, to the detriment of her children.
- Open-Minded Parent: Doesn't mind at all that Henry is gay. The first thing she tells him after he's outed by the leaks is that he could've told her and she would've understood.
- Parental Neglect: She's been absent from the lives of her children for close to five years after the death of her husband. At one point, Bea admits if there's one silver lining to the email leak, it's that it might finally get Catherine to do something to protect her kids.
- Parents as People: Catherine sincerely loves her children, but that didn't stop her from essentially abandoning them to wallow in her grief after the death of her beloved husband. After Henry is forcibly outed by the email leaks, she comes to her senses and starts making more of an effort to be there for them and protect them from her mother.
- Uptown Girl: In any other relationship, Arthur would've been the party in superior station as a wealthy and highly-regarded stage and film actor. (Un)fortunately, the woman he fell in love with is Catherine, who is a literal princess.
Arthur Fox
The late husband of Catherine and the father of Phillip, Beatrice, and Henry. Died three years prior to the main story.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Out of all the parents in the story, he's by far the best portrayed despite being dead. Literally no one except Queen Mary has anything bad to say about him, and for Mary that's due to her own prejudices and Control Freak personality then any real fault on Arthur's end.
- Famed In-Story: In addition to being a royal spouse, Arthur was also an extremely successful actor, most notably for his role as James Bond in the 80s.
- Living Emotional Crutch: He was his family's rock, and when he died they completely fell apart. His wife completely shut down after his death, allowing her mother to prey upon her children and try to mold them into her ideal image, his eldest son tried to take over as the man of the family and turned into a massive prick as a result, his daughter got hooked on cocaine and briefly became a junkie, and his youngest son became a repressed wreck.
- Open-Minded Parent: He knew Henry was gay even before Henry himself realized it, and didn't care.
- Present Absence: Even though he's been dead for quite some time, his death still casts a heavy cloud over his family. Most notably, he's the reason why Henry and Alex's first meeting at the Rio Olympics went so badly. Henry fell for Alex at first sight, but couldn't handle the sudden rush of those feelings so soon after Arthur's death. That led to him trying to get Alex out of his presence as soon as possible, which led to the other developing his grudge against Henry.
Queen Mary III
The current reigning English monarch, mother to Princess Catherine and grandmother to Phillip, Bea and Henry.
- Control Freak: Her insistency on keeping up a traditional image is more about keeping the status quo than out of any genuine concern for her family. Alex, after seeing a hint of fear in her eyes over the support Henry and he are receiving from the public over their relationship, realizes that she fears the change modernizing the monarchy represents more than anything else.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Insists on Henry staying in the closet no matter how unhappy it clearly makes him to maintain the idealized image of the Royal Family.
- Parental Marriage Veto: She did not approve of Arthur at all and tried to forbid his marriage to Catherine. The two were so in love that they ignored her objections and fought tooth-and-nail to get married anyway.
Other Characters
Rafael Luna
An openly gay Independent Senator and an old friend of Alex Claremont-Diaz.
- Heroic Sacrifice: It turns it out that the reason he joined Richards' campaign was to bring it down from the inside. He does partially succeed but the cost is the plausible downfall of his political career.
- Regretful Traitor: Despite being lifelong friends and allies with the Claremont-Diaz family he becomes the nominal running mate to their chief rival Jeffrey Richards with little to no explanation. Later it's revealed he did so to bring Richards down and is deeply remorseful for hurting Alex and his family in the process.
Jeffrey Richards
President Claremont's republican rival for her reelection campaign.
- Big Bad: He's the closest the book has to a villain, being not only the opposing Presidential candidate but also the one to leak Alex and Henry's emails, forcibly outing both their sexualities and their relationship to the world.
- Demoted to Extra: His role in the movie is reduced to just being Ellen's opponent in the upcoming Presidential election. Movie-exclusive Miguel Ramos is the one who takes on the role of leaking Alex and Henry's emails.
- Depraved Bisexual: He primarily prefers women as his choice of prey, but he's not opposed to the occasional pretty boy, as Rafael Luna can attest to.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: It's revealed that he has a long history of sexual assault, primarily of the women in his employ but Rafael reveals he tried it on him as well.
Movie Only
Miguel Ramos
A reporter for Politico and an acquaintance of Alex's.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Miguel is a downplayed example (at least at first). He and Alex had a drunken hookup in the past and he seems eager to take it further, whereas Alex seems mildly uncomfortable with his flirtations but does try to keep things friendly until Miguel starts to use his connection to Alex for a professional advantage which causes Alex to truly disdain him.
- Big Bad: The closest the movie has to an antagonist, taking Jeffrey Richards' place as the one to leak Alex and Henry's emails.
- Composite Character: He takes the place of three characters from the book: He takes Liam's place as Alex's most significant same-sex ex, Rafael Luna's place as a Hispanic openly LGBT contemporary of Alex's who betrays him (though under different circumstances), and Richards' place as the one who leaked the emails (although Richards also exists independently as well).
King James III
The current British monarch and grandfather of Phillip, Henry, and Beatrice.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. While he still tries to force Henry to remain in the closet even after the email leak, it's out of genuine concern for him and the potential public backlash he could face for officially coming out, and ultimately he does little to protest Henry's final decision outside of making sure if this is truly what his grandson wants. Compare this to his book counterpart Queen Mary, who is an ice-cold, homophobic, Control Freak who blatantly cares more about maintaining a traditional royal image and keeping the status quo than her own family.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Well he's not evil per se but he is an antagonist surely and even he is annoyed by Phillip's Upper-Class Twit persona.
- Gender Flip: In the book, Henry's living grandparent and the reigning British monarch is his grandmother Queen Mary. Here, the male King James takes her place.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Well a heart of bronze maybe but, while he's a Heteronormative Crusader, he also clearly cares for Henry and a lot of his insistence at presenting a "traditional Royal image" is born out of worry for his grandson; as when he softly asks said grandson is sure about his decision before Henry outs himself but then ultimately letting him do it without much fuss, when he could have easily forced him not to.
- Pet the Dog: For what little it's worth, he does acknowledge that Henry and Alex's love for each other is the genuine article instead of some "mad infatuation", as Phillip tried to call it. Doesn't stop him from trying to convince them to break up, though.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Inserted in place of the Queen from the novel to further distance the fictionalized Royal family from the real one (the same reason their family name was changed for the movie). Ironically since Queen Elizabeth's death occurred between filming and release, this actually brought them closer to the real Royal Family as it coincided with the coronation of King Charles.
