Palm Royale is not based on a true story. But it is a stylish, sly, and slightly sinister tale of ostentatious pretension and gatekeeping, so in that sense, it’s extremely topical. “Influencer” is now a viable career, after all. Of course, the Apple TV+ original pre-dates social media by some decades, being set in late-60s Floridian high society, but that underlying impulse to define yourself by the clothes you wear and the company you keep is something people never grew out of. It’s why the source material, Mr. and Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel, was so popular in the first place.
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Is Palm Royale based on a true story?
As much as you might want to believe it, the story of Palm Royale is not true, but it’s easy to see why people think its basis is in reality. Even if Maxine Simmons specifically is fiction, the ridiculous lifestyles of social royalty aren’t too far removed from real life.
Consider the story of Candace Mossler, who was in a romantic relationship with her nephew — yes you read that right — in a scandal in line with the kind of drama the show depicts. Mossler and her nephew would be accused of murdering her husband, who was stabbed and beaten to death in 1964, just a few years before Palm Royale is set. The two were eventually acquitted.
So, no, Palm Royale isn’t based on a true story. But these kinds of stories definitely did happen, and will probably continue to for as long as money, power, and influence exist.
What is Palm Royale based on?
Palm Royale is based on a popular book by Juliet McDaniel called Mr. and Mrs. American Pie. The novel was published in 2018 and many have noted that the series strays from it. This is nothing unusual, but it might be safer to say the show was inspired by the novel rather than being directly adapted from it.
In the book, protagonist Maxine finds out that her husband is leaving her for a younger woman and decides to enter the Mrs. American Pie beauty pageant for the title of best wife and mother, leading her to fabricate a new family so she can win the competition.
Was there a real Palm Royale Club?
The Palm Royale is not real, but once again, there is a blurring between fantasy and reality. Clubs such as The Royale do have real-life counterparts. One such establishment, The Everglades Club, springs to mind. The social club in Palm Beach County, Florida, is also no stranger to controversy and may have been a reference for the showrunners. It was established in 1919 and features many of the aspects of the club in the series.
What is Palm Royale about?
Straight from the press release,
“Palm Royale” is a true underdog story that follows Maxine Simmons as she endeavors to break into Palm Beach high society. As Maxine attempts to cross that impermeable line between the haves and the have-nots, “Palm Royale” asks the same question that still baffles us today: “How much of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to get what someone else has?” Set during the powder keg year of 1969, “Palm Royale” is a testament to every outsider fighting for their chance to truly belong.
In other words, Palm Royale is a caper about a woman with nothing dreaming of having something and trying to manifest that reality in any way she can. It’s rich in scandal, double-crossing, lies, and delusions, which is why so many people think it happened. Of course, on multiple levels, it did happen, just not to this specific fictional character in this specifically embellished way. It’s probably happening right now, in some place a lot like this one, half a century later. Some things don’t change all that much.
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