Please read Part 9 of the character series (Henry and Valter) BEFORE reading the text below!
Tax evasion vs. welfare fraud is a discussion featured in the very first classroom scene in episode one of season one of ‘Young Royals’.
One might think it’s clear what it is that the students are discussing in this scene, but it’s actually not a discussion about taxation and welfare at all.
In the show’s subtext, this scene tells us an entirely different story, that hasn’t got anything to do with class differences or the wealth distribution. It is a story we can only find in the show’s subtext and not in the plain text of the first two seasons of the show.
It is, I’m afraid, a very dark and disturbing story, but without it, we won’t ever fully grasp what ‘Young Royals’ is all about.
To understand what it is that we’re actually being told here, you have to first and foremost understand that, on this show (like in so many other films and TV shows), money…isn’t actually money!
Money is a metaphor for something. Every single time money exchanges hands on this show, we are being told a very particular story that hasn’t got anything to do with finances, debts or taxes.
What that something is and what we can find out about our main characters just by uncovering the meaning of this sneakiest of metaphors is what the text below is all about.