The Royal Tenenbaums · written by Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson · 2001

Royal asks Etheline to proofread his funeral instructions, then eats a cheeseburger and later drinks a milkshake while reading.

Scene 70 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Royal
Etheline
Chas

Find another scene in The Royal Tenenbaums

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:02 into a 1:59 film

The story so farBefore scene 70

After losing his hotel room, Royal claims he has only weeks to live so he can move back in with his estranged family; as the truth unravels, he must find a way to be useful and earn a place in their lives.

Scenes 1–39
Royal is absent from the children’s adult lives, and their family remains shaped by his betrayals and abandonment.
Scenes 40–47
Royal wants a path back to Etheline and the children, and claims impending death will give him one.
Scenes 48–50
He returns to the house and openly asks his children for a chance to make things right.
Scene 63
Eli tells Richie that Margot is troubled by his love and reminds him that she is his sister, making the relationship an active family conflict.
Just before
Scene 67
At dinner, Richie proposes letting Royal stay in his room; Chas objects, but the family learns Royal is already upstairs.
Scene 68
Chas tries to evict Royal from Richie’s makeshift hospital room; Royal’s staged collapse prompts the family to help him.
Scene 69
Dusty tells the family Royal is stable and recommends continued medication, then leaves for another call.
Scene 70
This scene

70INT. RICHIE’S BEDROOM. NIGHT.

Etheline sits next to Royal’s bed. Pagoda comes in and hands Royal a small brown paper sack.

ROYAL

Pagoda is in possession of a parcel that

contains my will and some instructions

regarding the funeral, including my

epitaph, for when the time comes.

Etheline nods.

ROYAL (CONT’D)

Proof-read it for me before they carve

it on the headstone, OK?

ETHELINE

OK.

ROYAL

I never did stop loving you, by the way.

Do you believe that?

ETHELINE

Not really.

ROYAL

You look terrific. That dress is

stunning.

ETHELINE

(pause)

Thanks.

Royal raises an eyebrow. Etheline shakes her head and goes out of the room. Royal opens the paper sack and withdraws a cheeseburger wrapped in aluminum foil. He unwraps it and takes a bite. He hesitates. Henry is standing in the doorway. He walks away.

A dalmation mouse eats some crumbs off the floor.

CUT TO:

An hour later. Royal lies in bed, drinking a milkshake, reading a spy novel. Chas appears in the doorway.

CHAS

Lights out, old man.

Chas turns out the light.

ROYAL

I was going to read for a little bit,

Chas.

CHAS

Sorry. 11:30. Lights out.

ROYAL

I’m in the middle of a sentence.

CHAS

Have to finish it up in the morning.

Them’s the rules.

Silence. Royal says in a quiet, strangely upbeat voice in the darkness: