Since Netflix loves their royal Christmas movies, we got the first sequel to The Princess Switch. Shockingly, it’s called The Princess Switch: Switched Again.
Two years have passed since Stacy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Prince Edward (Sam Palladio) got married. Lady Margaret (also Hudgens) is preparing to ascend to the throne of Montenaro. When Stacy finds out that Margaret and Kevin (Nick Sagar) have broken up, she races to Chicago to try to get them back together. Once everyone gets to Montenaro, Margaret reconnects with Kevin’s daughter, Olivia (Mia Lloyd). After decorating the palace for Christmas, the group meets Margaret’s cousin, Fiona (also Hudgens) at a party. Eventually, Fiona realizes that she can take Margaret’s money by pretending to be Margaret long enough to ascend to the throne herself. Unfortunately, when Fiona put her plan in motion, Stacy and Margaret had already switched places so Margaret could spend time alone with Kevin. Will Margaret get her throne and her boyfriend back? Will Stacy save her marriage to Edward?
I really could have done without the Fiona character. There would have been plenty of conflict with Margaret and Kevin’s relationship possibly putting her ascension to the throne in jeopardy. We didn’t need a third Vanessa Hudgens to confuse everyone more. Not to mention that Fiona brings her two lackeys, Reggie (Ricky Norwood) and Mindy (Florence Hall), with her and they only bring slapstick comedy to the movie. All three of them were completely unnecessary.
Since the writers felt the need to add the whole Fiona storyline, both Margaret and Stacy’s storylines get a little lost. Margaret loves Kevin but feels her royal responsibilities come before her emotions. Instead of trying to find a way to work through them, Stacy steps in to attend one of Margaret’s functions while Margaret goes on one single date with Kevin. Then there is a super rushed wedding at the end. I think it would have been pretty cool to have the ascension and the wedding happen together since the ascension was already happening in a church.
As for Stacy, we get these hints that there is a problem with her marriage to Edward. She has been distant and he has doubts. But we don’t shown a lot of it. Instead, it comes out when Olivia is trying to keep Edward from Stacy so Stacy can be Margaret. Edward already knows that they had switched places before. There was no reason to keep him out of the loop this time. Then he wouldn’t feel like his wife is intentionally avoiding her. Or, even better, Stacy is currently the princess of Belgravia. And it’s public knowledge that Stacy and Margaret had switched places before. Why doesn’t Margaret pretend to be ill for the event and have Stacy and Edward step in as replacements?
Also, we never found out what happened to Stacy’s bakery from the first movie. I think they insinuate that Kevin had taken it over and moved locations but I’m not positive that is what happens. This time, Kevin marries Margaret and we never find out what happens to THAT bakery! Now that Margaret is queen, she obviously can’t go live in Chicago. I guess Chicago is closing bakeries every couple of years.
In the world of Christmas movies, this isn’t the worst. It’s not great but I guess we’re all invested in this world of Netflix royals now. (Yes, Amber and Richard from A Christmas Prince make cameos here too. This time with their baby.) I guess there will be a third one to this series as well. Who do we think is having the baby?