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Two iced gingerbread crowns and a rolling pin sit beneath a glowing market awning. A pale castle overlooks the snowy stalls at dusk, with open sky and snow to the left.

Essential Christmas · 2018

The Princess Switch

51/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 51 ↓
UK certificate Parental Guidance101 min
Comedy · Romance

Vanessa Hudgens plays a Chicago baker and the duchess who looks just like her, and the two swap lives for a…

On Netflix · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 9 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature Christmas market, one using a magnifying glass. Two iced gingerbread crowns and a rolling pin sit on a glowing stall beneath a pale castle.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is the deadline.15/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for most of it.15/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details5 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.8/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

87/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Warm in tone. Nothing bad can really happen. A happy ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Netflix

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Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About The Princess Switch

A Chicago baker is entered, without being asked, in a Christmas baking competition in a small, snowy European kingdom, where she meets a duchess from a neighbouring country who looks exactly like her. The duchess is engaged to the crown prince and wants a couple of days of ordinary life before the royal wedding, so the two swap places, and each falls for someone she was not supposed to. With Vanessa Hudgens in both roles, Sam Palladio and Nick Sagar.

The CineClaus verdict

Vanessa Hudgens plays a Chicago baker and the duchess who looks just like her, and the two swap lives for a couple of days in a snowy kingdom at Christmas. You can see every turn coming, and the royal romance is as light as icing.

Christmas markets, snowball fights and a baking contest at the end do the festive work. It is a cheerful bit of nonsense, easy company for a December evening with the family.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

PG

Our take: rated PG by the BBFC for infrequent mild bad language and some very mild slapstick. There is nothing frightening and only some kissing, so the whole family can watch this one.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official PG certificate, and never looser than it.
Subtitles · Audio description
Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.

The series

The The Princess Switch films

3 films, in release order

  • 2018

    You’re here

    The Princess Switch

    2018

    You’re on this film’s page
  • 2020

    The film after

    The Princess Switch: Switched Again

    2020

    Not in our catalogue yet
  • 2021

    The film after

    The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star

    2021

    Not in our catalogue yet
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Head and shoulders photograph of a woman with long straight dark hair, wearing a black top with sheer sleeves and a drop earring, against a warm tan backdrop.Vanessa Hudgensas Stacy De Novo / Margaret Delacourt
Sam Palladio singing into a microphone on stage while playing an electric guitar, wearing a black leather jacket.Sam Palladioas Edward Wyndham
Suanne Braunas Donatelli
Sara Stewartas Caroline Wyndham

Behind the camera

Directed by
Mike Rohl
Original score
Terry Frewer
Writing & production credits
Writer
Robin Bernheim
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Vanessa Hudgens · Toglenn · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Sam Palladio · Lisa Gansky · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind The Princess Switch. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapCarei

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Carei · Ruritanian · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab) · bustle.com (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more The Princess Switch

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

Movie magic

The American city at the start was not the American city

The film opens in Chicago, with the river and the art museum in view, but it was shot in Romania like the rest of the story, so the opening sets up the contrast with the palace before the leads swap places.

Read the story

Source: Refinery29 ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it
Snow on screen. A baking rush for Christmas orders opens the story, which then runs through the days before a Christmas wedding with powdery snow around the palace town.
Releases and certificates
: On streaming, rated PG. Arrived on Netflix in the UK as a streaming original, classified PG by the BBFC on 22 October 2018.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

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Collections, stories & Christmas memories

Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find The Princess Switch, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

Best family Christmas films

The Princess Switch is in this collection

Explore the collection

Read a little further

Collection

Feel-good Christmas films for a cosy night in

Explore the collection
Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit