Princess Hours

I think this is a classic but it's not amazing

This was the first Asian drama I've ever watched. So it does hold some sentimental value to me. However, despite that, I wouldn't consider it a great drama.
It's also not bad though; it's entertaining enough and an easy watch. The story is very cliche and predictable it tends to be a bit slow in some parts. The romance is kinda confusing and a slow burn at least on the male leads front and they're horrible at communicating until closer to the end of the drama.

That being said, the acting is really good (in my opinion, although I can understand why some people would think differently) even for Eun Hye who made her acting debut in this drama. It is a classic drama that I think everyone should at least check out.

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In my opinion there is room for improvement

From a love triangle to arson accusations. There is so much to unpack in this show. I would always tune in now and then because in my opinion it lasted way longer than it should have, but I always wanted to know what would happen in the end. Let me just tell you, if it was shorter I would definately come back and watch it every now and then. Maybe its just me and my impatience but I found myself racing through the episodes sometimes because of unecessary dialogue. I think this show had so many opportunities to make things better than extending the episodes, they could have made the storyline more compact but still conveyed their plot. The plot is amazing but it could have been interpreted in a better way without all the unecessary and enraging stuff in between.

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Watched it the 3rd time and no plans to rewatch it all over again.

Soooo, when it was aired on Philippine TV some years ago, I will definitely give this a 10. I thought the main leads and the 2nd leads were great from visuals to acting.
But... if you have grown and matured 10 years later, and after several kdramas under your belt, from my POV of 3rd time seeing this, I have come to realize that both main leads acting are so cringe and lackluster.
However, my admiration for their costumes will remain the same, especially YEH's outfit when she became the princess was so cute and fashionable.
The love triangle as usual remains cliché and nothing new.
I have also loved the OST. One of my faves actually.

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TRIGGERS PTSD

19yo HS student forced to marry a 19yo crowned prince. She was isolated from her family, from society and forced to live within prison-like rules within the palace. She developed affinity towards a narcissistic crowned prince who does not accept faults and finds a way to blame everything to the FL. I find it inconsistent for the FL to fall for a mean guy. She lived in a harmonious family and she has many friends. Unlikely that this kind of personality would want to have the high drama a narcissist brings.
All throughout the show, she wants to feel accepted by the ML. She gears towards an abusive relationship with ML's detached and self-centered personality.
I know she's making a great mistake and totally understandable because she's a child. If there will be a season 2 where they are middle aged person, I know for sure FL and ML would have already separated and high hopes that the FL finally learned what's good for her.

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Kinda disappointed

Usually i'm easy to please when it comes to watching dramas, but i got so bored of this plotline. I watched to the end thinking maybe the storyline would fall into place but it was way too messy. Literally half of story could've been solved if the characters were honest with each other. also the love hate relationship between the main leads was so confusing one minute they like each other and then the next they hate each others guts.
Another key part of the story that confused me is when the scandal about the crowned princess was out and the family find out that it was Yool she was with that night, why did she not tell the truth and say that it was one-sided when the king ha asked her whether she had feeling or not it literally makes no sense.
I get that this is an older drama and a lot of things were excused back then but the relationship between the main leads were so toxic, especially the way the crowned prince treated the crowned princess.
However it is a classic loved by many and there were also many parts that i did enjoy. One of these being when the main leads did get along, their relationship was really cute and i wish that their was more of that because they never really held that for longer than an episode to which something would get in the way of it and they dislike each other again. Another one is one of the characters being the great late queen, in my opinion she had to be one of the best characters in the story. She was the only one true to herself throughout the show and never really drastically change her character. I also like how she wasn't displayed as a clique of the bad grandmother and was more of a lighthearted character who tried to see the good of all the characters.

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Princess Hours (Goong): A Royal Pain in My Sanity

📝 Review (WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Emotional Damage)

Let me start by saying this: I love older K-dramas. I love the toxic tropes, the melodrama that makes telenovelas look subtle, the fashion disasters, the emotional blackmail, the villains with eyeliner — all of it. I sign up for the chaos. I thrive in the chaos.
But Princess Hours?
This show tested me.
This show put my patience in a chokehold and whispered, “You thought you were strong, didn’t you?”

THE FL: Bold of Them to Call This ‘Character Development’
People online will swear up and down that Yoon Eun-hye “carried the show.”
Carried what, exactly?
Certainly not a brain cell. Not an ounce of growth. Not a glimmer of critical thinking.
Chae-gyeong spends 24 episodes being a professional crier, a runway model for crimes-against-fashion outerwear, and the world’s densest human. There’s naïve, and then there’s: “girl, at this point even Dora the Explorer would ask you to look again.”
Also, I was over her constant apologizing after the 10th time. I swear even wallpaper has shown more emotional evolution. The only thing Chae-gyeong truly grew in this series was her wardrobe. Congratulations, lady, you leveled up your coats.

THE ML: A Certified Jerk, but at Least a Jerk Who Learned Something
Ju Ji-hoon starts this drama with the interpersonal warmth of a refrigerator and the communication skills of one too.
But — credit where it’s due — the man actually grows.
He thaws. He self-reflects. He attempts to communicate like a sentient being instead of a royal gargoyle.
He was insufferable… but he was growingly insufferable, which is more than 90% of this cast can claim.

LEE YOON-JI AS PRINCESS HYE-MYEONG: THE ONLY SANITY I HAD LEFT
The moment I realized this punk-rock menace was Noh Soo-an from My Demon, I almost choked.
Watching her go from anxious mom-of-twins to “internationally chaotic princess who escapes the palace like she’s breaking out of prison” was the emotional treat I needed.
She deserved more screen time. Frankly, she deserved her own drama.

YUL: SECOND LEAD SYNDROME? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I’D RATHER CATCH A VIRUS
This headline stays. Forever.
I almost never get second lead syndrome, but here? Not only did I not catch it, I vaccinated myself against it.
This man comes home after fourteen years like:
“Hi. You were promised to me when we were children. I am now entitled to your entire existence.”
Sir. That is not romantic. That is not sweet. That is not fate.
That is a restraining order waiting to happen.
He is a bowl of lukewarm oatmeal with emotional issues.
The fact that Chae-gyeong never once paused to question his behavior? Ma’am. MA’AM. Borrow one brain cell. ONE.
And yes — I disliked him more than Hyo-rin. At least Hyo-rin’s disaster energy had a little sparkle.
Then he states he’s going to leave with Chae-gyeong… but I don’t ever recall her agreeing, or reciprocating his feelings!?!?!?!?

THE KING: WORST FATHER. WORST MONARCH. WORST EVERYTHING
The man looks at his actual son like he’s allergic to him, but practically polishes Yul’s shoes with his tears.
Useless as a ruler, pathetic as a parent, and every scene he appeared in made me want to yeet him off the palace balcony.
He ruled the palace with the emotional maturity of a toddler losing at Mario Kart.
If pouting were an Olympic sport, he’d have brought home gold for Korea.
He looks at Shin like he’s the dust under his throne and then turns to Yul as if he personally invented the boy.
This wasn’t fatherly affection — this was a man stuck in his own personal fanfiction.

THE QUEEN MOTHER: OLDEST MEAN GIRL IN THE PALACE
Her entire personality is: “I disapprove of everything.”
She contributed nothing except rigid posture and negativity.
Honestly, replace her with a large decorative vase and I might not notice.

THE QUEEN REGENT: MY UNPROBLEMATIC QUEEN
Clueless? Yes.
Soft? Yes.
Occasionally the only source of serotonin in this palace of misery? Also yes.
Love her. Protect her. Give her cookies and a therapy session.

CHAE-GYEONG’S FAMILY: ADORABLE UNTIL THEY WEREN’T
Their comedy relief moments hit early on, but they fizzled fast.
At some point I just nodded and let them exist in the background like neutral NPCs.

YUL’S MOTHER: ENTITLEMENT LEVEL – SUPERVILLAIN
The woman was exiled for cheating, but acts like everyone else is the problem.
She spends the entire show asking, “How can I ruin a teenager’s life so my son can cosplay as a king?”
I wanted to slap my screen every time she opened her mouth.
She even escalates to… attempted murder. Thailand? Regicide schemes? Yes, yes, and yes.
Peak villain energy. Absolute audacity. But karma is served hot — she eventually gets her comeuppance, and watching the palace finally flip her script is the only thing that gave me some satisfaction.

THE REAL PROBLEM: TOO MUCH SML/SFL, NOT ENOUGH ACTUAL ROMANCE
This show could’ve been fire — iconic, legendary, rewatch-classic fire.
Instead, it drowned itself in:

* Miscommunications
* More miscommunications
* Excessive SML/SFL screentime
* Yul lurking
* Hyo-rin gliding
* Political plotting no one asked for
** Meanwhile, Shin and Chae-gyeong’s relationship was treated like a side quest.

The Cheating Arc(s): Thailand? Seriously?!
The cheating plotlines were so wild I needed ibuprofen, an inhaler, and possibly a clergy member.
Thailand felt like the writers said, “Hey, let’s fling the ML into a tropical guilt spiral for NO REASON.”
Then pair that with the FL and Yul scenes — the emotional adultery Olympic trials — and I genuinely considered rage-pausing the episode.

Every moment with those two felt like:
* Misunderstandings
* Unnecessary hand-holding
* The world’s slowest manipulation attempt
* That soft music cue that whispers, “Someone here is lying, but shh, let’s make it pretty.”
* My temples still hurt.

THE MUSIC: Surprisingly a Little Magic
The instrumentals are a fascinating Celtic-Korean fusion — like someone thought, “Let’s make palace melodrama feel epic and timeless, even when everyone’s being completely ridiculous.”
And then there are the occasional catchy tunes that sneak in like little auditory candy. You don’t even realize you’re humming along while glaring at the screen because Yul just did something terrible.
It doesn’t fix the chaos, but it makes every emotional meltdown feel stylishly tragic.

Four Special Sections (a.k.a. Where the Real Fun Begins)
1. Scenes That Aged Like Milk
“Promised to me since childhood” entitlement arc
Yul lurking
Adults blaming teenagers for their marital problems
The monarchy’s obsession with meddling
Every “let’s separate them so they can learn to love each other” plot device
Sour. Spoiled. Throw it out.

2. Scenes That Aged Like Vintage Wine
Shin’s painfully slow emotional thaw
Princess Hye-myeong being a punk princess powerhouse — basically the Korean Diana, without the Charles-level drama
Any moment where the leads accidentally understood each other
The rare domestic scenes where they mutually behaved like humans
The final few emotional breakthroughs (worth their weight in gold)
The friends on each side — quietly loyal, snarky when needed, and the only people in this palace of chaos who actually act like functioning humans
Still magical. Still rewatchable. Still the reason the show almost works.

3. What Would’ve Fixed the Plot Without Breaking the 2006 Formula
Give Shin/Chae-gyeong at least 30% more screen time together
Cut Yul’s creepy stalker arc in half (or just cut him; I’m flexible)
Reduce the cheating plot from “WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?” to “okay that hurt but it narratively tracks”
Give the King a spine or remove him from the chessboard entirely
Let the women have one — just ONE — honest conversation that isn’t dripping in manipulation
That alone would’ve elevated this show from “I need therapy” to “rewatch classic.”

4. This Should’ve Been 16 Episodes, Not 24 Super-Stretched Noodles
The plot was basically:
Ep 1–12: “We don’t like each other but also maybe we do?”
Ep 13–20: “Misunderstandings but make them EXHAUSTING”
Ep 21–24: “Speed-run the actual romance before the credits roll”

That’s why it feels like a hostage situation at times.
They had a beautiful 16-episode romance, but stretched it like dough until it tore.
And we sat there like loyal clowns watching it happen.

Final Verdict
Episode 23? Solid. I actually liked it — the friends on both sides added some much-needed relief.
Episode 24? I felt a smidge of sympathy for Yul… but only a smidge. He’s still a snake, still manipulative, still entirely unworthy of our forgiveness.
Did I scream? Yes.
Did I hate-watch? Absolutely.
Did I roll my eyes so hard I saw my past lives? More than once.
Will I watch it again? …Probably. Because I’m trash for mid-2000s melodrama, and this show is basically junk food you know is terrible but eat anyway at 2AM.

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A classic that is still so amazing after a long time!

Maybe to many, the 24 episodes were a drag, but I felt that everything that led up to the happy ending was worth the wait. In the story plot, the ML and FL are 19 years old who were forced to go into this arranged marriage when they are still high school students. In these 24 episodes, we saw 2 19 years old teenagers grow together to protect and love one another in all the turmoil of traditions, politics, school and their differences.

ML:
The ML was secretly dating but was rejected by his girlfriend (SFL) and suddenly, there was such a huge change in his life as he was arranged to get married. I saw many negative reviews on how he is cheating and hesitating a lot but as reflected in the later episodes, the ML admitted to the FL that he initially did not like her as she just suddenly came into his life and made him question his life but it was also her that successfully opened him up to how a life should be lived and with all the things that FL has brought to the ML's life, he found himself falling harder for her. This was then reflected in their live broadcast interview where he admitted the FL's shortcomings and good qualities and how he ended up falling in love with her. The ML did not cheat on the FL, the SFL went to Thailand intentionally to meet up with the ML and he did not even know. He basically just met her as a friend since they were both in Thailand and got filmed by paparazzi. The other redeeming point was that the ML had a clean cut with the SFL and told her to close their chapter as he knew that he has already fallen in love with his wife (the FL).

FL:
The FL is young and naive and is easily swayed but despite the portrayal of her character to be ignorant and naive, she still possesses certain good qualities such as how she keeps giving in to the Crown Prince (ML) not just because of love but because she knew that a divorce would end up with her family suffering too. It was only till the end that the ML may have disappointed her with the Thailand incident and the SML liking her and trying to brainwash her to think that divorce is the best for her to free that she was swayed into saying nonsense during the interview. But we all knew her heart is always with the ML since the earlier episodes, she has always expressed herself very openly on her feelings to the ML as well which the ML probably try to think that she is not being serious about it since she is always hanging out with his cousin (SML) which obviously have feelings for her but she just sees him nothing more than a good friend.

SFL & SML:
I would say they are both broken souls with regrets from their childhood or past. For the SFL, it is obvious that she regretted rejecting the ML's proposal but at the end of the day, she finally realized that this just was not meant to be and decided to let go for good. For the SML, being someone who just returned from overseas and only having the Crown Princess as his very first friend back home and having someone who cares about him after a long time is probably the reason why he thinks he likes the Crown Princess (ML being a cold cousin did not help at all in this situation).

Other notable characters include the Empress Dowager Grandmother, she is so cool and dope, and also Crown Prince's sister who returned from overseas (who would later become the Empress), she has a very refreshing take on everything due to her overseas exposure which makes her so modern and interesting!

I can't deny that watching this as a 12 years old in 2006 gave me the SML syndrome, I was shipping the FL and SML back then but revising this almost two decades later as a 30 years old who have been through some life experiences, I felt that the SML is manipulative and brainwashing the FL. The ML on the other hand, despite his initial hesitation, was just being very cautious with the FL so as not to trigger any potential pitfall in their blooming relationship. Although he has difficulty in expressing his emotions for the FL, but his action spoke so much louder than words - he was always covering up for the FL, bring her out to play and was always there to protect her from behind the scenes.

In conclusion, revisiting this drama after two decades still feels amazing although there are some things that are dated and not as relevant in this era. And, even till today, I still hear "Perhaps Love" being played (be it in South Korea or Singapore), that just shows how a classic this drama is, not just to the Koreans but to people internationally like myself!

That aside, I'm glad to see that most of the 4 main actors/actresses in this drama have moved on to better dramas/films/variety shows etc. I look forward to seeing the FL (YYH) back to the drama scene soon with a new project, hopefully one day she and the ML (JJH) can reunite for a romcom since their chemistry here was so natural.

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Top of its genre, classic young love story

I watched this drama YEARS ago when I myself was closer to the age of the characters. Let's just say this drama had me by the chokehold when I was 16 and it was one of those dramas that kept me up thinking about the characters and the couple's love story. I haven't rewatched this drama is years but I feel that it doesn't warrant an entire rewatch for me to write a review of it.

This drama is in my opinion top of its genre meaning that if you are a sucker for a teenage/high school, cinderella love story, this show is for you. The charm of Chaekyung is timeless to me (can't believe I still remember the FL name 10 years later). Yoon Eunhye also does a great job bringing her energy and sorrow onto the screen- my teenage self was so charmed by her! This drama had funny parts, heartwarming parts, and parts that made me cry. It's a very straightforward cinderella love story. The chemistry between Chaekyung and Shin could be felt through the screen as well and the OST is a classic! It has classic Korean ballads that we associate with Kdramas pre 2010.

This drama still has the charm it had in 2006 even though its target audience has grown into full adults. If you are an adult above the age of 25 watching this drama, don't expect any earth-shattering soul stirring love-- it is a high school love story that touches on your teenage heart that is timeless and pure.

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DRAAAAAGGGGS but I still enjoyed it

I'm late to the game on this, by 17 years. But in case anyone else is ready to watch this in 2023 here are my thoughts.

First off, the movie poster makes it look like a light-hearted comedy. It is not. FL actress is loveable in her portrayal of a charming lively girl pressed down by what she believes to be a loveless arranged marriage. It will make you think of Princess Diana a lot. Ther are many references and comparisons to Camilla and Prince Charles. 2ML actor does an excellent job portraying his heartbreak and longing. I could feel his pain and anguish in every scene. Even though many of the scenes were excessively repetitive and I fast forward some of them, I watched every single scene of 2ML's -- sometimes twice. He was riveting. The ML's mother is very well done, as a strict seemingly heartless queen, who is carrying pain and loss but trying to hold it all in.

I felt the heartbreak and hope of all the characters. I felt empathy for even the "villains". They are fleshed out and you can see the motivation for their feelings and actions. No one is all good or all bad.

the music is absolutely gorgeous. Perfect. I could listen to it every day.

Parts I hated:
Completely and utterly repetitive. Completely and utterly repetitive. Completely and utterly repetitive. You get where I'm going with this....Maybe even 4, 5, or 6 of the same scene would work. But there were dozens of repetitive scenes. We get the point. Move on, already. Could have cut at least 3 hours out of it by an editor tightening up the script.

The ML. I know it's from 2006, and the stiff, unfeeling, cold and heartless prince was probably in fashion at the time. Does he like her? Doesn't he? I totally get why he likes her. But not why she likes him. Since this is what they were going for, ML actor does a wonderful job. But back to the perplexity of why she likes him. Yes, he's attractive. She says grows to love him because she watches him and starts to understand him, and it makes her love him more. But so far (on episode 20) there is little character growth from him. You can see he cares about her, but mostly while she's sleeping. So, very little basis for her growing to care about him. And the FL reaction to his many insults: holding her tongue and taking it. Late into episode 18, 19 and 20, they could have cut 3 episodes out just by her telling him what he did to upset her. And why is he meeting with the 2FL ALL the time if he doesn't like her anymore and cares for his wife? And it doesn't make sense that he is so giddy happy with his sister, but does not let his affection show with his wife, who he has clearly grown to care for. EDIT: ML was rigid, cold and lifeless, but when his emotions finally broke free near the end, I could see how well the actor did in his portrayal. It was writing I had disliked, and not the actor's portrayal.

TINY SPOILER: and you don't have to give your old photos of your EX back to them! You can just toss them! That's another hour and misunderstanding that we didn't need. We get the idea. END SPOILER.

Overall, I'm glad I watched it. But be prepared to fast forward after the 8th time the scene repeats.

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