- Rupert of Hentzau: I see you want to let the drawbridge down. I just killed a man for that.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: An unarmed man, of course.
- Rupert of Hentzau: Of course!
- Col. Zapt: Let's trust in providence.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: [sardonically] You'll never get providence interested in this enterprise.
- Rupert of Hentzau: Someone once called fidelity a fading woman's greatest defense and a charming woman's greatest hypocrisy. And you're very charming. And Michael's very busy and likely to be more so.
- [during his sword fight with Rupert, Rudolph "retreats" towards the drawbridge's controls]
- Rupert of Hentzau: You'd be a sensation in a circus. I can't understand it. Where did you learn such roller skating?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Coldstream Guards, my boy. Come on now, when does the fencing lesson begin?
- Rupert of Hentzau: Stand still and fight, you coward!
- Rupert of Hentzau: Why don't you let me kill you quietly?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Oh, a little noise adds a touch of cheer. You notice I'm getting closer to the drawbridge rope?
- Rupert of Hentzau: You're so fond of rope, it's a pity to finish you off with steel. What did they teach you on the playing fields of Eton? Puss in the corner?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Oh, chiefly not throwing knives at other people's backs.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: You know, there's another reason I feel so well. Had a remarkable wine for dinner last night. Soothed my nerves - went right off to sleep! Slept like a top! Came from right near your castle, by the way. You must try it in case you're ever troubled about sleeping.
- Black Michael: I sleep very well.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Is that so? You must have a clear conscience.
- Black Michael: I have, and I've never had a dream that didn't come true... if I waited long enough.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Really? How romantic!
- [laughs]
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Still, some things come true you never dreamed of!
- King: Well, what are you doing here, cousin?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: I must admit, Sire, that I may have been guilty of somewhat the same offense as our mutual ancestor.
- King: Such as what?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Fishing in forbidden waters.
- Rupert of Hentzau: Touché, Rassendyll! I cannot get used to fighting furniture - where did you learn it?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: That all goes with the old school tie.
- Rupert of Hentzau: Well, then, here's your last fencing lesson. Look out for your head.
- Col. Zapt: [trying to explain his loyalty to the King, who mistreats him] Rudolf is my King, and I have a feeling about my King.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: King for a day! What would it mean if I fail?
- Col. Zapt: [Grimly] Your life and mine and Fritz's here!
- Black Michael: There may come a time, Hentzau, when your services no longer excuse your impertinance.
- Princess Flavia: I sent for you to thank you... for the service you've done this kingdom and its king. No one can know better than I how conscientiously you've played your role. You even... You're hurt! They didn't tell me.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: My only hurt is the thought of the pain I've caused you. I love you. With my whole heart and soul, I love you. In all else I've been an impostor, but not in that. From the first moment I saw you in the cathedral... you've been the only woman in the world for me. As I stand now, I know there'll never be any other.
- Princess Flavia: It would have made no difference if I'd known. It was always you and never the king. Is it true that you're going home to England?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Tonight. Come with me. I won't give you up. I won't let them stand in the way of our happiness!
- Princess Flavia: Oh, if I could...
- Rudolph Rassendyll: There's a world outside. Our world. And a throne for you, a woman's throne, in my heart.
- Princess Flavia: I want that. And you will always love me? Always, even as now?
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Always, always. Oh, my love, think. You'll be free. Free of all these cares and duties... to live your own life, as freely and joyously as... What is it, Flavia?
- Princess Flavia: I was born for those cares and duties, Rudolf. Help me to do what I was born to do. Help me to do what I must.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: But my dear, how can I? I love you.
- Princess Flavia: But is love the only thing? If love were all, I could follow you in rags to the end of the world. But if love were all, you would have left the king to die in his cell. Honor binds a woman too, Rudolf. My honor lies in keeping faith with my country and my house. I don't know why God has let me love you. But I know that I must stay.
- Princess Flavia: I was mad to ask you.
- Princess Flavia: For one lovely moment I, too, was mad.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: Never to see you again? Never to hold you? Never... My darling.
- Princess Flavia: Your heart will always be in my heart... and the touch of your lips on mine.
- Prologue: Toward the close of the last century, when History still wore a Rose, and Politics had not yet outgrown the waltz, a Great Royal Scandal was whispered about in the Anterooms of Europe. However true it was, any resemblance in "The Prisoner of Zenda" to Heroes, Villains, Heroines, living or dead, is coincidence not intended...
- [last lines]
- Col. Zapt: [to Rassendyll] Goodbye, Englishman. You are the finest Elphberg of them all!"
- Rudolph Rassendyll: [preparing to leave after the coronation to recover the real king] In a couple of hours, I'll just be plain Rudolph Rassendyll.
- Col. Zapt: You'll be lucky if you're not the late Rudolph Rassendyll.
- Rudolph Rassendyll: But I've reformed.
- Princess Flavia: Almost beyond recognition. You seem to be an entirely different person.
- King: I haven't lived like a king, but perhaps I can die like one. I will not disgrace the crown I never wore.