King's Castle

This article focuses on the first iteration of the castle. For the second iteration, see Prince's Castle.

The King's Castle
Enchanted Forest Location
Character Affiliations
Owner:	The King
Inhabitants:	Cinderella The King Prince Thomas
Employees:	Jacob
Visitors:	Clorinda Gus † Lady Tremaine Prince Charming Rumplestiltskin † Snow White Tisbe
Show Information
First appearance:	"The Price of Gold"
Latest appearance:	"Leaving Storybrooke"
Relevant Pages

“

Every year when I was growing up, I used to watch these fireworks from afar... and I knew what they meant. Something special was happening at the palace.

”

—Cinderella to Prince Thomas ^src

The King's Castle is an Enchanted Forest location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the fourth episode of the first season.

The King's Castle is based on the location of the same name from the fairytale "Cinderella", and the Disney film Cinderella.

History

Before First Curse

In an unnamed kingdom, the King rules as monarch with his son, Prince Thomas, as heir to the throne. Often, their castle has firework displays, which a woman, Cinderella, often sees from her own house. On the night her stepmother and stepsisters head off to a party at the castle, Cinderella gains help from Rumplestiltskin to do the same. In a deal, she promises to give him whatever he wants in exchange for a beautiful gown and glass slippers. At the ball, she attracts Prince Thomas' attention, and some time later, they get married. Before they go downstairs to greet their guests, Cinderella happily watches the firework display from their the balcony, and she tells Prince Thomas about her past longing to be at the castle whenever there were fireworks. Downstairs, the guests cheer and clap in approval as the couple arrive. Snow White and Prince Charming offer their congratulations, and as a dance waltz begins, Cinderella pairs off with the King as he hints at his desire for a grand child. Prince Charming becomes her next partner, and he wishes her happiness in marriage. Prince Thomas cuts in, but then Cinderella is whisked off to a dance with Snow White, who is proud of her efforts to change her life and set an example to others. As Snow White walks off to change dance partners, Rumplestiltskin shocks Cinderella by telling her he wants her firstborn child as payment for their deal. Some time later, Cinderella discovers she is pregnant and starts packing her things in order to run away. Prince Thomas, arriving home from a hunt, learns the truth from her about Rumplestiltskin's deal. Promising to protect her and the child, he decides to undo the old deal with a new deal. ("The Price of Gold")

Trivia

On-Screen Notes

• The music that plays in the King's castle in "The Price of Gold" is the same music that plays firstly in the Prince's castle in "Hyperion Heights".

Production Notes

• The computer-generated imagery model created for castle courtyard in "The Price of Gold" is recycled for the digital set of King Xavier's castle in "The Miller's Daughter" and Prince Eric's castle in "Ariel". This can be seen from the archways and the balcony outside, which have a very similar design. The model is used again for the Camelot Castle courtyard in Season Five and the Prince's castle in "Hyperion Heights", which can easily be seen from the similar design of the archways.
  • The columns and archways in the new courtyard from "The Other Shoe" were recycled from the CGI model for the Camelot Castle in Season Five (itself recycled from the other courtyard in the King's castle in "The Price of Gold"), which can be seen from the identical design of the architecture. The area by the stairs was also recycled from the Camelot Castle, which can be seen from the almost identical design of the windows and balustrades.
• Several of the guests in the background of Cinderella and Prince Thomas' wedding celebration ball are computer-generated. ("The Price of Gold")

Set Dressing

• The castle's coat of arms is three bends sinister (bands running from the bearer's upper left corner of the shield to the lower right side). There are two different color schemes. ("The Other Shoe")

Costume Notes

• The purple coats worn by the King's servants at the royal wedding and the royal ball, were also worn by other servants throughout the series: ("The Price of Gold", "The Other Shoe")
  • King Xavier's servants in "The Miller's Daughter"
  • The Red Queen's servants in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Trust Me",
  • The Red King's servants in the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland episode "Heart of Stone"
  • King Midas' servants in "Snow Drifts"
  • King David and Queen Snow's servants in "Wish You Were Here"
  • The King's servants in "Hyperion Heights"
  • Tiana's servants in "The Eighth Witch"
  • A spectator at Roni's coronation in "Leaving Storybrooke"
• The dress worn by a woman Prince Charming is dancing with at the royal wedding is the same dress worn by three of the dancers at King Xavier's masquerade ball in the Season Two episode "The Miller's Daughter". ("The Price of Gold")

Filming Locations

• The ball scene in "The Other Shoe" was filmed on a green-screen set at The Bridge Studios.
• The scene by the guard tower in "The Other Shoe" was filmed in Burnaby's Central Park. The bottom of the guard tower was a real set, which was CGIed into a tall stone tower in post-production.

Appearances

Once Upon a Time: Season One
"Pilot":	"The Thing You Love Most":	"Snow Falls":	"The Price of Gold":	"That Still Small Voice":	"The Shepherd":	"The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter":	"Desperate Souls":	"True North":	"7:15 A.M.":	"Fruit of the Poisonous Tree":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Skin Deep":	"What Happened to Frederick":	"Dreamy":	"Red-Handed":	"Heart of Darkness":	"Hat Trick":	"The Stable Boy":	"The Return":	"The Stranger":	"An Apple Red as Blood":	"A Land Without Magic":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Season Six
"The Savior":	"A Bitter Draught":	"The Other Shoe":	"Strange Case":	"Street Rats":	"Dark Waters":	"Heartless":	"I'll Be Your Mirror":	"Changelings":	"Wish You Were Here":	"Tougher Than the Rest":
Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Murder Most Foul":	"Ill-Boding Patterns":	"Page 23":	"A Wondrous Place":	"Mother's Little Helper":	"Awake":	"Where Bluebirds Fly":	"The Black Fairy":	"The Song in Your Heart":	"The Final Battle Part 1":	"The Final Battle Part 2":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Season Seven
"Hyperion Heights":	"A Pirate's Life":	"The Garden of Forking Paths":	"Beauty":	"Greenbacks":	"Wake Up Call":	"Eloise Gardener":	"Pretty in Blue":	"One Little Tear":	"The Eighth Witch":	"Secret Garden":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"A Taste of the Heights":	"Knightfall":	"The Girl in the Tower":	"Sisterhood":	"Breadcrumbs":	"Chosen":	"The Guardian":	"Flower Child":	"Is This Henry Mills?":	"Homecoming":	"Leaving Storybrooke":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Archive

Once Upon a Time: Specials
"Magic is Coming":	"The Price of Magic":	"Journey to Neverland":	"Wicked is Coming":	"Storybrooke Has Frozen Over":
Archive	Absent	Archive	Archive	Absent
"Secrets of Storybrooke":	"Dark Swan Rises":	"Evil Reigns Once More":	"The Final Battle Begins":
Absent	Archive	Archive	Absent

Other Appearances

The King's Castle appears in Henry's storybook in "The Snow Queen.

Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.