On March 18, Netflix released the finale of the third and final season of Young Royals, a teenage drama about a Swedish prince falling in love with a commoner classmate. Prince Wilhelm is played by a very talented Swedish actor, Edvin Ryding, and his love interest Simon — by an equally talented Swedish/ Venezuelan singer, Omar Rudberg. 

Watching teenage shows in middle age is a strange experience. The show has a strong following among those over 40 because older generations often did not have the space to explore their identities and language to name them. Shows like Young Royals or Heartstopper help re-write the narrative, imagine the unlived stories and heal the teenage part that perhaps did not have the freedom to go through a similar experience.

When I was a teenager, I did not know who I was and what I wanted, and I wish that, like Wilhelm, I met someone like Simon who inspired me to figure it out. I did not know my passions and I did not have a strong sense of identity like Simon does. I did not have the fearlessness that Wilhelm comes to develop, and I had no idea what love was. How lucky it must be to meet the love of your life at 16, have enough wisdom to know that that’s what it is and grow together. Seeing this story on screen healed something in me that I did not even know was there.

A beautiful Wille’s Song from the third season (below) has this theme of being unapologetically true to oneself, performed by an amazing Omar Rudberg: