The Princess Switch

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About

The Princess Switch is a Netflix Christmas-themed film starring Vanessa Hudgens playing two lead roles: Stacy DeNovo, an American baker from Chicago, and Lady Margaret Delacourt, Duchess of Montenaro. The two characters, upon realizing they look identical, switch places, leading Stacy to fall in love with the Prince of Belgravia, to whom Margaret is betrothed, and Margaret to fall in love with Stacy's best friend and sous chef, Kevin. A sequel titled The Princess Switch: Switched Again, which features a third Vanessa Hudgens character, was released in 2020. The franchise attracted attention online due to the implausibility of its premise and Hudgens' difficulty doing various accents.

History

The Princess Switch ended production in June of 2018 and released on November 16th of that year. The first trailer released on November 7th, 2018, gaining over 5 million views (shown below).

The trailer for Princess Switch: Switched Again released on November 9th, 2020, and the film released on November 19th. The film features the main two Vanessa Hudgens characters switching places again, while a third Vanessa Hudgens character, Lady Delacourt's cousin, attempts to impersonate Lady Delacourt so she can become the queen of Belgravia.

Reception

The Princess Switch was well-liked by critics who appreciated it as "mindless" holiday fun. The film has a 75% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[1] NPR^[2] gave it a tongue-in-cheek positive review, saying it had a "ding-dong plot" and noted "Hudgens' absolute inability to do anything remotely resembling a convincing British accent," but concluded, "If you're looking to settle in on a weekend with something that won't worry your spirit, this movie is a perfectly nice way to settle in, predictable though it may be." Switched Again received similar feedback. CinemaBlend^[3] wrote, "It’s fun escapism and in that sense the sequel is just about everything one would expect from an easy, breezy romantic comedy for the holidays. It’s the vanilla latte or store-bought holiday-themed sugar cookie."

Online Presence

The films attracted online commentary similar to that of critics, as social media users tended to enjoy the film for its ridiculousness. This ramped up after the announcement Hudgens would play a third character in the sequel (examples shown below).^[4]

Jen Abidor @abidorable · Oct 29, 2019 000 This ACTUAL summary of the upcoming Princess Switch sequel is the best gift l've ever received in my life: The follow-up, titled The Princess Switch: Switched Again, will take place as Duchess Margaret (Hudgens) unexpectedly inherits the throne to Montenaro and hits a rough patch with Kevin. It's up to her double Stacy (Hudgens) to save the day before a new lookalike, party girl Fiona (also Hudgens) foils their plans.

LIFE Daniel Kelley @danieltkelley · Oct 29, 2019 I hope this becomes a megafranchise with like 100 different Vanessa Hudgenseseseses and ends up merging with Jet Li's "The One" someday. 00 Daniel Kele N Netflix Queue @netflixqueue · Oct 29, 2019 Vanessa Hudgens returns as star & producer for "The Princess Switch: Switched Again" In the sequel, Duchess Margaret unexpectedly inherits the throne & hits a rough patch with Kevin so it's up to Stacy to save the day before a new lookalike – party girl Fiona – foils their plans

After the release of the sequel, users noticed that characters from another Netflix Christmas franchise, A Christmas Prince, made a cameo in the film. In the first Princess Switch, two characters watch part of A Christmas Prince on Netflix, making a paradoxical plot hole (examples shown below).