When Alex and Henry are on vacation reading together in the hammock, Alex is seen reading "One Last Stop," Casey McQuiston's second novel. Henry reads a book by Bernardine Evaristo.
In the film, Alex's parents, President Ellen Claremont and Senator and First Gentleman Oscar Diaz, are still together and happily married. In the novel, they are divorced. Alex's mother remarried and his stepfather, Leo Castalazzi, is the First Gentleman. Naturally, due to the changes in the film, the character of Leo Catalazzi is eliminated. Alex says at one point in the novel that when he annoys one of his parents, he is referred to by the last name of the other parent.
The Kensington Palace kitchen scene briefly shown in the film's trailer was deleted from the theatrical cut. It is one of the few scenes shown in the trailer that were deleted from the film. After the film's release, Amazon released the scene online. During the brief scene, Alex and Henry bond over ice cream in the palace's kitchen. The scene was well received, and viewers stated that it should have been left in the theatrical cut because it showed Alex and Henry genuinely getting along in the middle of their damage control tour and Henry's feelings for Alex growing.
According to director Matthew López, several weeks into the production, star Taylor Zakhar Perez inquired about whether or not he should shave his lower body for an upcoming nude scene by meeting with López in his trailer with makeup designer Karen Hartley acting as a mediator and lowering his pants, asking López to "Look at [his] ass." López responded, "You're fine, you're fine, you look great!" before following it up with "Taylor, yeah, just bring your hairy butt to set."
Casey McQuiston: As President Ellen Claremont's speechwriter. McQuiston is the author of the novel on which this film is based.