Inspired by ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’: Here are 3 real-life love stories that make us swoon

History has to start somewhere!

Red, White & Royal Blue, the long-awaited film adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s best-selling novel, is now streaming on Prime Video.

The film tells the story of the relationship between “First Son” of the U.S. President, Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Zakhar Perez), and British royal heir, Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine).

Though they begin as “frenemies,” an incident with a cake and some good old-fashioned quality time bring the pair closer together, and they soon realize they might just have feelings for one another—which, given their status, will have big-time international implications.

Once Alex and Henry’s romance heats up, Red, White & Royal Blue enters into some territory many out there are surely familiar with: The long-distance relationship.

In honor of the film’s premiere, Queerty has asked our readers to share their own personal stories of long-distance love.

Here are three of our favorite stories as submitted by you, Dear Queerty Readers, each sweet and moving in their own special way. And don’t forget, the love story of a lifetime Red, White & Royal Blue is now streaming on Prime Video.

Pioneering Partners

Queerty reader Thomas shares the story of his 22-year-long intercontinental romance, which overcame borders and backward laws:

“[I] met my husband of 22 years on a blind date. I flew from San Francisco to Mazatlan, Mexico to meet Salvador—we’ve been together ever since. [We] commuted for years, when same sex marriage became legal in my home state of Massachusetts, we were married.

DOMA [The Defense Of Marriage Act] overturn[ed], so we fought the good immigration fight. in the final immigration interview for U.S. citizenship, the immigration officer congratulated us for being pioneers and awarded Salvador U.S. citizenship. It [wasn’t] always easy, but perseverance paid off.”

Millennial Love Story

Kai shares a “sliding in the DMs” success story, where a quarantine-era crush blossomed into so much more:

“Setting the scene to 2021 when we were fighting a worldwide pandemic—the borders were shut down. Chance found us in each other’s DMS. What started as an online friendship quickly turned into a millennial love story. Cue ‘I Fell In Love With A Girl From The Internet‘ by Laura Sanderson.

The day the borders opened she was on a flight from Paris to Seattle. After two-plus years of long distance and five trips to the U.S., we were enGAYged and tying the knot in a few weeks to break the distance forever.”

How’s Your Head?

And, finally, Dante tells the tale of a lucky chance encounter followed by a couple of unlucky breaks, including a partner who was swept off his feet—literally!

“[I] was visiting Amsterdam for Queen’s Day back in the day and I ran into a Dutch guy I had just hooked [up with] the night before. As we were greeting each other in the middle of a crowd, he fainted. I didn’t know his name, but I stayed with him for three hours until he was okay to walk. Needless to say, he apologized the whole time—[he was] hypoglycemic!

The next night he invited [me] to dinner to apologize and his car got towed. We walked all over the city looking for the pound.

We dated long distance for two years and then I moved from NYC and gave up my rent controlled apartment in the [Upper West Side}—still hurts—to [move to] little Amsterdam. We lived together for eight years.

I had not seen [him] for 18 years, but we met in Amsterdam last year. Our lives had changed for the better. We agreed that breaking up was the best we did for each other.”

Don’t miss Red, White & Royal Blue, now streaming exclusively on Prime Video.