If I had some of those Craig na Dunh time travel stones from Outlander I would touch them and wish to be transported back to the year 2011.

Why? Because that’s the year that Outlander star Sam Heughan starred in a cosy Christmas romantic comedy for Hallmark called A Princess For Christmas. Heughan played Prince Ashton of Castlebury – his father Duke Edward was played by, um, Sir Roger Moore – a stern, serious Mr Darcy-type who finds his frosty heart warmed by Jules, a plucky American with legal guardianship over her niece and nephew.

You can imagine how it goes. A little bit of Christmas tree decorating by the fireplace, bonding over archery, one grand ball with simmering romantic tension, and through it all, the ultimate question: can a handsome prince and a frenzied, loveable American manage to make a relationship work? Or is the divide between them all too great? 

No spoilers for a movie released in 2011, but I think you can guess how it ends.

The movie was released almost a decade ago, long before the Outlander television series was even a twinkle in its producers eyes. Watching A Princess For Christmas is like going on a time travelling journey of your own, back to the days when Heughan wasn’t a global star and Outlander wasn’t your most beloved TV show.

“I watched this movie before I watched Outlander,” one fan wrote on Twitter. “Then I watched the movie again and quite literally lost my wits when I saw James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser wearing anything other than a kilt.” 

“I just realised that Sam Heughan was in a Christmas movie that I have seen many times and it took me this long to figure it out,” another tweeted. 

If Heughan’s performance in A Princess For Christmas is news to you, maybe it’s time to watch the festive classic for yourself. Make like one Outlander fan and get into your cosiest pyjamas, pour yourself a dram of whiskey and settle in for a night of cheesy, Hallmark movie goodness.

You’re welcome. 

Images: Getty