Stacy DeNovo is a baker, and the owner of a successful pastry shop in Chicago. She works with her best friend, Kevin, and his little girl is around all the time. Olivia loves ballet and looks up to Stacy as a big sister. They are pretty happy, but there are some pieces missing, and Stacy in particular is a little blue after breaking up with her boyfriend, Paul, a few days before Christmas. It is because he wants to cheer her up - and because he believes she's good enough to win - that Kevin enters their shop in a prestigious baking competition in the kingdom of Belgravia, in Europe.
The competition is fierce. Stacy's former classmate and rival, Brianna, is there, and she's the current champion of the contest. It is because Brianna "accidentally" spills coffee on Stacy's apron that the protagonist hushes outside, to get change and when she does, she stumbles upon Lady Margaret Delacourt, Duchess of Montenaro.
The two of them are physically identical, it is as if they were long-lost twins.
In every other respect, however, they aren't very much alike at all.
Stacy is focused and serious. She likes schedules, plans, and even a little bit of formality every now and again. In fact, that's the reason why nothing has ever happened between her and Eric. Olivia wants them to become an item, but her dad explains that he and Stacy know each other since high school and she's a little too intense for him. He is far more spontaneous and it's the quest of his life to push his best friend into being a little bit more like that.
Duchess Margaret on the other hand is a very spontaneous girl. She feels trapped by her circumstances, having lost her parents at a very young age and now a mere few days away from becoming a royal, before she even had the time to discover who she is. Margaret is betrothed to Edward, the crown prince of Belgravia. He is... okay, but too formal for her taste. Still, she would never back away from the engagement, as she sees such an action as a betrayal of her parents' wishes.
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| Mirror, mirror, on the wall... |
Be that as it may, the duchess sees her chance encounter with her doppelganger as an opportunity. She's desperate for some time on her own, to sort things out and live like a normal person. She proposes that the two of them change outfits and live each other's lives for a couple of days. Stacy isn't too keen on the idea, but when Margaret offers to sponsor Olivia's entrance in a prestigious summer ballet program, Stacy says yes. Beside, she says, it's only for two days, and Edward will be away, and there aren't any official engagements on her schedule. All Stacy has to do is relax. They will change back before the baking competition.
What happens next is a comedy of errors that unfold as the two women try to live each other's lives. Stacy was supposed to have an easy time, but Margaret's fiance - Prince Edward gives up on his trip unexpectedly and seems intend on spending time with the woman who is to become his wife. The poor prince has no idea that the woman he's speaking to is not actually his betrothed.
Margaret on her side, spends more and more time with Kevin and realizes she loves being spontaneous and unchained from the responsibilities of a royal life. The two of them, as it was expected, fall in love with whom they shouldn't: Stacy with the crown prince who is certainly not supposed to be with a commoner, and Margaret with her doppelgänger's best friend, who is not the man she is supposed to marry either. And all of this happens while there's a baking competition going on, and one Stacy intends to win!
Perhaps because she knows she will be gone in two days, Stacy doesn't hold back on being who she is. She speaks her mind, even when she shouldn't. She's never outright rude or offensive. She merely care about the topics, and she evens calls the prince out when he tries to push her away from a conversation about affairs of state.
"Sometimes the affairs of state tend to be a burden"
"Burdens usually aren't so bad when you have someone to share them with."
"I doubt you'd be interested in the details of foreign trade."
"Why not?"
"You shouldn't have to worry about that."
"Because I'm not bright enough?"
"No, because you have a wedding to plan"
"So I should stick to things like polishing my tiara?"
Needless to say, the prince is horribly embarrassed after that conversation and that moment actually turns out to be a pivotal moment in the story because Edward's attitude towards her changes completely from then onwards. He learns a lot from her, like how to understand people and how to reach out to them. It is through these things that he falls in love. Stacy falls in love with him too.
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| Stacy looked gorgeous in her dress... This is one of the best parts of the movie |
Their life at the castle has countless opportunities for romanticism. Horseback riding in the snow, wrapping presents for children together, ball dances and even a private little dance at a gazebo outside the palace. Just for practice. :)
On Margaret's side, Kevin is a perfect fit. They do nothing so grand as a piano duet as a ball, but it suits them just fine. Visiting a Christmas fair, having spaggetti for dinner, watching a Netflix Christmas movie... Sparks start flying between them.
(By the way, the movie they watch is A Christmas Prince. The "Netflix-Royal-Christmas-Cinematic-Universe" is very complicated. The princess switch, the knight before Christmas and A Christmas Prince are all part of the same Universe, in fact, the Characters will interact with each other in one of the sequels spoiler alert! - but here they watch the movie like it's just another movie... Kinda complicated).
Both women inspire their pairs, and each of the guys gets them a gift in the second evening of their life switching experience. Eric gives Margaret a locker with a picture of them, taken earlier that day, inside. Edward gives Stacy a necklace with his family crest, something that belonged to his grandmother: Truth, honor, love.
In the morning of the third day, however, they must switch back and face the unavoidable heartbreak.
In addition to all that there is the tension of discovering when their little prince-and-the-pauper routine is going to be discovered - because the truth always comes out - and what the gentlemen will feel about the girls' deceit. And let's not forget, there is also a big baking competition going on. The scenario of the baking competition was pretty cool, it looked like one of the food competitions I watched on Netflix with my family, only entirely decorated for Christmas, and the cakes looked beautiful!!
This movie is a lot of fun, and I saved it for the final week of the marathon because the sequel just came out, a few weeks ago (the review will be up tomorrow)!
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