User reviews

I always cringe when my wife puts on a Hallmark Christmas movie that involves English royalty or a prince or a princess or a countess or a lord or a king or a queen - etc.

There hasn't been a good one since 2014's "A Royal Christmas" with Lacey Chabert and Jane Seymour.

Until now. This was surprisingly different and quite entertaining. Rachel Skarsten is perfect as the nanny of Royalty children - who isn't really a nanny at all. There's a nice blend of mystery, humor, and yuletide cheer here that keeps your attention throughout. The supporting cast is very good, too, particularly Katie Sheridan as the children's princess mother. Plus, there's the added feature of an unrecognizable Greta Scacchi as the owner of a nanny service company. She is delightful in a role that is sort of a nice tribute to the late Angela Lansbury.

Filmed partly in Belgium, the production values and sets are nice to look at, but it's really the little surprises in the story and the fine performances of the entire cast that makes this worthwhile. Well done.

This movie is as much a cloak and dagger story as a Christmas Romance, perhaps even more so. The suspense of a plot against the royal family runs throughout the movie with the climax being focused entirely on that. There are clues and red herrings sprinkled into the story.

I was surprised to see Rachel Skarsten as the lead, Claire, because I almost didn't recognize her. I was totally impressed with her in Marry Me at Christmas and her performance here shows a different side of her, although both characters have a reserved personality. Skarsten establishes a good working relationship with all the major actors playing characters in the royal family including Dan Jeannotte as Prince Colin.

Given that to all appearance, this Royal story is set in a country we know to be real, it was distracting to me trying to keep putting down that nagging demand for some reality check especially regarding romance between an orphan and a Prince. I kept thinking "No way", but any viewer already knows that such expectations don't apply in this kind of movie. Most Royal stories are set in a way that the prince or princess is not from a real country.

In the beginning there are several practical jokes attempted both against Claire and even by Claire which help create a light heartedness in the atmosphere. (I am irritated once again by network previews showing a little too much, not in terms of spoiling the plot, but taking the impact out of at least one of the funnier scenes.) Getting deeper into the movie, the tone moves more to the sentimental as Claire bonds with the family, especially the children. I already mentioned the cloak and dagger suspense.

The Royal Nanny.

It's one of the better movies this year.

Different storyline, mystery, comedy, romance. Very cute. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Unrealistic, of course, because an English prince would never be in a romance with an orphan MI7 agent, lol. We viewers don't mind, though.

It was interesting and held my interest throughout. Super cute use of the "brolly".

Gave it a 7.

Good acting. I liked "Scary" Poppins, and everyone was of course English, so the accents were real. Though I know someone here will say they turned it off because of it!

It was filmed in Brussels, Belgium, so other than drone views of the London skyline and Tower Bridge, the street scenes and castle were in Belgium.

I do like it when Hallmark goes to England, and this was no exception. Rachel Skarsten is good, as usual, and very striking looking with her hair up. Her English accent was a little distracting, but that was a me problem as she has the accent credentials once playing Elizabeth Tudor in the popular series Reign. But I digress.

This had elements of a typical Nannyfish out of water taking care of precocious Royal Children and falling for the Prince. But this usual template is rescued from dreary business-as-usual by the fact that this was also part MI5 spy story. Agent Rachel helps uncover a plot against the Royal Family and the military intelligence department sends her to protect the family disguised as the new nanny. She is partnered by Tousaint Meghie as Wallace, the new chauffeur. She goes through a whirlwind training by the Nanny Whisperer, Greta Scacchi, who has aged gracefully and settled into character parts very comfortably, thank you very much. Her specialty is weaponizing the ever-present Nanny umbrella. Once she is installed, highjinks ensue with the kids trying to prank her. She is not MI5 for nothing however, and their amateur efforts are nipped in the bud quite resoundingly with the bucket of spaghetti landing on their co-conspirator, Uncle Colin (the love interest). She wins the kids over by not ratting them out to their mother, the Princess, and even indulging in a prank of her own. Of course, we have the obligatory invitation to the Royal Ball and the jaw-dropping entrance. She wins Colin over when he sees her with her hair freed from her tight bun and in a feminine red ball dress. But also by jumping in to help with his charity coincidentally benefitting her old orphanage. The enemies attack as they are exiting and Rachel saves the kids with some ninja umbrella action, but Colin gets kidnapped.

The romance was lame with little chemistry between the two lovebirds and really had no future despite the kiss at the end. The spy part was adequate. I suspected one character, who turned out to be guilty of something, but not of the main threat of harming the children. When Colin gets kidnapped, Rachel's boss tries to fire her but the princess stands up for her and throws the male spooks out on their ear. Yay! The main bad guy and the motive will be no surprise to anyone with even a passing interest in British mystery and international intrigue stories, but that was totally OK.

PROS- More London!! Scenery was sumptuous!

More NEW TALENT!! Rachel Skarsten and Dan Jeannotte weren't tired, overly-used actors that we are all tired of seeing far too much of! Rachel was quick, witty, and her timing was perfect! Dan Jeannotte was a fresh take on the "Royal Prince role" with his wit and unabashed humor (-and he was very easy on the eyes!). The English accents were most welcome!

GREAT, UNIQUE Storyline, and NOT WOKE!! Hallmark... Just a great, BIG "Thank You" for this!

The two leads were BRILLIANT!! Really. Just great chemistry and humor between the two.

The scenery was a feast for the eyes in London! The storyline was hilarious beginning with the MI5 agent being told she's going to be an undercover nanny, and she doesn't like kids LOL! Favorite quote from movie was "Scary Poppins!"

GREAT JOB HALLMARK! Nailed It on this one!!

The Royal Nanny is an easy to watch Christmas movie from the 2022 holiday batch. The acting is solid and the storyline has a different twist, departing from the usual commoner-among-royalty theme, mixing in a bit of British secret service with some who-done-it (in lieu of the standard "misunderstanding" trope) as well as some Mary Poppins and a lot of British Royal mystique. It doesn't follow the usual Royal cookie-cutter formula, making for a unique story that is complicated only by the G rating. It would be interesting to see the caper fully developed outside of Hallmark. The Royal Nanny is definitely worthy of 90 minutes of attention.

Claire Champion (Rachel Skarsten) is an MI5 agent assigned to protect the royal family under threat. She is going undercover as the nanny to the kids although she has no family experience at all. She is sent to train under Juliet Lansbury (Greta Scacchi). She is set to watch over the two young prankster royal heirs while avoiding the charms of Prince Colin (Dan Jeannotte).

Location-wise, it's interesting that they are doing Brussels for London. I don't know if it's tax credits or costs or access that dictates going with Brussels. I would hope for better weather and less of the dreary overcast look. I would probably invent a fictional country for this story instead of going with London. I always like Skarsten although it's hard to buy her as a Londoner. Her meet-cute with Prince Colin is pretty cute. He's cute especially with the cute kids. That's the main takeaway. It's all very cute and perfect for Hallmark.

We enjoyed the characters and the actors and actresses very much. The story, although a little off, followed along naturally in a typical pleasant Hallmark fashion. It was a cozy evening, easy to watch movie. The children actors were not obnoxious and actually knew their lines. The Royal movies often go astray with an abundance of awful uniforms, mean old fathers or grandmothers, protocol, and newspaper headline catastrophes. We were glad the bypassed the, oh you screwed up - breakup routine in favor of an actual story. We'd like to see more stories without the misconstruance by one or both primary actors.

I really enjoy Dan Jeannotte, who plays Prince Colin, but Rachel Skarsten playing the undercover MI5 nanny Claire was the real revelation for me in this Hallmark Royal Holiday Romance. I really enjoyed that this film had intrigue with secret service trying to stop a plot against the nation. Claire goes undercover within the royal family as nanny to the heir apparent's two children who are filled with hijinks and pranks...something Claire is not only prepared for but manages to connect with and use to win them over. Prince Colin has a hands on approach to both his children's charity and to his niece and nephew. We learn that Claire grew up in a charity house which she uses to help Colin get funding for his children's charity.

It was sweet and innocent, with some playful fun. Colin and Claire are really perfect for each other. I love mysteries and intrigue and really appreciate the combination with a royal-adjacent holiday romance. The nanny training with "Scary Poppins" was great and I like how both her and her training circles back in.

This is family friendly and one I can recommend to my fellow romantics!

My DVR cut off the last minute of the film, so I don't know what the last line was - nor did I get to see the first kiss. Nothing could make me watch this movie again. In fact, I think I've seen elements of this before. Similar movies done much better: "A Crown for Christmas" and "A Princess for Christmas."

First, the good parts. For the most part, the acting was good - with the exception of the red-headed boss of the heroine. I'm guessing he was thinking, "Do I really need to say this drivel?" or "I'd make a much better lead than this guy you cast." Maybe, but I'd like to see him in a part his heart is really in.

There was great chemistry between the nanny and the children, and between the nanny and her mentor, and the nanny and her mentor. OK, let's just agree the lead actress and some of the supporting actors were pretty good.

The love interest was OK, but never really sold the part.

The script had more holes in it than a slice of swiss cheese. Why would the country's richest man drive to visit a charity to which he didn't intend to donate, and why would the Prince host him if he only needed a 4- of 5-digit donations to reach his goal? How did the heroine become super nanny after only one day of training and no experience with children except for growing up in a children's home? And can you really save the world with an umbrella?

The scenery and the accents were a nice change of pace, but, well not one I'd watch again.

I can only say bravo all around. I have to admit that the royal genre is not my favorite in these rom-com offerings, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's a little less unrealistic than most and the family dynamics made you see the members as real people with real problems rather than a fairytale setting. This is a solid cast that works well together and involves you in the plot so well that you overlook the places where reality is stretched a bit. Rachel Skarsten is such a capable actress and this may be one of her best roles yet. The filming location of Brussels was close enough in overall look to fool a non-Londoner and the British accents were quite plausible. It's a bit of a spoof on a spy movie (that's where the fun comes in). Overall this movie holds its own against other holiday favorites and will become one of mine. It is worth the watch.

The story is quite original for a hallmark movie. It is about an undercover British female agent protecting the royal family as a nanny. The movie look at the developing relationships between her and the various members of the royal family. She has a love hate relationship with the prince who is the uncle of her young charges.

The movie developes suspense through the additional plot of outside agents building a plan to kidnap the royal children. The characters are quite diverse and unique in their own way which add interest to the story. The main characters have an antagonistic relationship but this changes through mutual understanding.

This is a fun Christmas romance with different interesting sub-plots. It is enjoyable as it is a ight movie without a complicated serious storyline.

This was apparently a Christmas movie. I am not sure what happened in the last 30 minutes of this movie, which was all my wife and I watched. I think it had something to do with drugs. The Prince of England ended up kissing the special agent at the end (and I suspect they went off to make a baby because, while they were kissing, the doors closed to keep out the viewing audience, but my wife does not think they went baby-making).

My favorite part of the movie was when the prince showed the nanny his collection of items he purchased from the Seasonal aisle at Rite Aid. My kids love those singing, light-up items in Rite Aid, but since I'm not a prince, I cannot afford to buy them all of those knick knacks. This movie had a lot of Christmas decorations in the background while everyone was trying to figure out how to rescue the kidnapped prince. That is what made this a magical Christmas movie. Thankfully, no guns were used in this movie.

I love following the real Royal Family but I'm typically not a big fan of Royal TV movies on Hallmark Channel...BUT The Royal Nanny had a mystery twist to it and because of that-I "royally" enjoyed it! It was a nice change to have a mystery element versus the overused Royal movie tropes.

Rachel Skarsten played the undercover Nanny part wonderfully. Pair that with great chemistry with Dan Jeannote and an enjoyable supporting cast made this a fun and heartwarming Christmas movie to watch!

I hope Hallmark Channel continues to include Christmas movies with a mystery twist for the years to come!!

I will keep my review short and sweet, I enjoyed this Christmas movie probably the most I've enjoyed any other over the last 10 years!! Every once in a while Hallmark throws in an unsuspecting gem. I had no expectations for this movie as I do any other because in my humble opinion, Hallmark has become so drab and formulaic but to my surprise, The Royal Nanny proved to be fun, charming, just a little suspenseful and downright likable! I found I wasn't rolling my eyes, yawning or talking to myself out loud saying "oh please, give me a break" To all involved in this adorable movie I say, well done and thank you!

Hallmark nailed it with this unique, witty, and heartwarming movie. A+ acting from all involved, and the accents from the non-English actors were actually quite well done! The mystery component was a huge plus and kept me guessing until the end of the movie. The kids being pranksters as opposed to brats was also a pleasant surprise, as these "royal" movies often feature spoiled children. They were both adorable and fun to watch.

It's always refreshing when Hallmark does something different like this, and this movie will be memorable for sure. I would happily watch it again. Please keep it up, Hallmark!

I did not expect a comedy and mystery in one, especially on the Hallmark channel (as opposed to its Movies and Mysteries channel). I found myself laughing out loud a few times--more than the smile one often reveals during any "standard" Hallmark-like movie.

The who-done-it component was a wonderful addition to the usual girl-meets-prince script. Christmastime themes of gift-giving to others and familial love abound throughout.

The importance of valuing children and one another warms the heart, even as our nanny is accused of being "Scary Poppins."

A great family holiday movie which could spark an interesting conversation around the household table.

I decided up front to watch this movie due to liking the two main characters as actors and the commercials made it looked hilarious. The story was somewhat believable with a credible threat to the royal family. I liked that they used actual names of places such as Kensington Palace and Fogmore House where the royals actually live. The scenes of London were good. They also used the new rule in British Royalty where the oldest child inherits the throne, instead of the oldest male.

The movie was funny, lots of fun, but also a good mystery. I've already watched it three times since it was so much fun.

I thought this movie was fantastic. I loved that it was not your usual formulaic Hallmark romance Christmas movie. It had romance, yes, but it also had intrigue and mystery which was very refreshing and always a favorite of mine The acting was great by everyone including the young children. The actress I'm not familiar with but she was so pretty and did a wonderful job of acting, her voice was so pretty and calming. It turns out she isn't even British but her accent was pretty much spot on!!

Hallmark is really hitting it out of the park this Holiday season. So far I thoroughly enjoyed The Royal Nanny, Three Wise men and a Baby, Ghost of Christmas Always and Jolly Good Christmas. All worth a view when/if you have the time to unwind and enjoy a really good movie. Also Great movies this year but not as good in my opinion as the 4 listed above but still enjoyable were Lights, Camera, Christmas, We Wish You a Married Christmas (much better than I thought it was going to be) and Christmas Bedtime Stories.

This was a delightful surprise. Finally, something a little bit different from Hallmark. I really enjoyed the plot particularly because Hallmark tends to replace Christmas activities for plot. The lead actors were very good and perfectly cast. Even though I don't particularly like royal movies, this had a very cute story. The script was charming with some very good dialogue. Overall, this was the best Christmas movie of 2022. It seems that every year the movies get more banal and formulaic. I wish the network would stop with small town stories and two lead characters who were high school sweethearts.....or even worse... childhood friends! It's not only unrealistic, but those relationships are so redundant. And, why can't the lead characters have two parents? Or siblings? Or come from one child families??? It baffles me that there's never any relatives at their Christmas dinners. You say you want to be more authentic, well you're not doing a very good job Hallmark!