Character Relationship Map: Kate & Leopold

Characters

• Kate McKay (played by Meg Ryan) — protagonist

  Kate is a cynical, ambitious market researcher living in twenty-first-century New York and Stuart's ex-girlfriend. She initially doubts Leopold's claim to be a nineteenth-century duke, but becomes imp...

• Leopold (played by Hugh Jackman) — protagonist

  Leopold is the orphaned and impoverished 3rd Duke of Albany from 1876, a cultured inventor fascinated by the arts and sciences. After falling through a time portal with Stuart, he adapts uneasily to m...

• Stuart Besser (played by Liev Schreiber) — supporting

  Stuart is an amateur physicist from twenty-first-century New York and Leopold's great-great-grandson. He discovers gravitational time portals and accidentally brings Leopold into the modern world, but...

• Otis (played by Philip Bosco) — supporting

  Otis is the butler responsible for Leopold's care while the duke lives with Uncle Millard in 1876 New York. The synopsis identifies him as Leopold's household attendant, but does not describe any majo...

• Uncle Millard (played by Paxton Whitehead) — supporting

  Uncle Millard is Leopold's uncle and guardian in 1876, with whom the duke lives in New York City. He urges Leopold to abandon impractical ambitions and marry a wealthy American heiress. His home later...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Otis → Uncle Millard (Professional Household Servant) — Otis operates professionally within Millard's household.

  Otis is identified as the butler caring for the household in which Uncle Millard and Leopold live.

• Otis → Leopold (Professional Butler And Ward) — Otis serves as a caretaker within Leopold's household.

  Leopold lives with Uncle Millard under the care of the butler Otis.

• Stuart Besser → Kate McKay (Romantic Ex-Partners) — Their former relationship remains relevant to the time-travel crisis.

  Kate is explicitly described as Stuart's ex-girlfriend.

• Leopold → Stuart Besser (Temporal Time-Causality Link) — Leopold's displacement directly affects Stuart's existence and timeline.

  Stuart discovers gravitational time portals, and Leopold's travel to 2001 creates consequences that may cause Stuart to disappear.

• Kate McKay → Leopold (Romantic Partner) — Their romance connects a modern career woman with a nineteenth-century duke.

  Kate and Leopold share a rooftop dinner, their first kiss, and reunite in 1876 with a kiss before dancing a bridal waltz.

• Leopold → Uncle Millard (Family Nephew And Uncle) — Uncle Millard is Leopold's closest stated family authority.

  Leopold lives in New York City with his uncle, Millard Mountbatten.

Story Analysis

A romance across time forces Kate and Leopold to choose emotional authenticity over the expectations of their respective eras.

Plot Progression

1. The Duke and the Portal — Leopold's constrained 1876 life is established alongside his invention and family pressure. His pursuit of Stuart sends both men through a gravitational time portal.
2. A Stranger in Manhattan — Leopold arrives in 2001 and learns that Stuart's discovery has dangerous consequences. Kate encounters Leopold while Stuart is removed from the outside world.
3. Courtship in the Present — Kate introduces Leopold to modern commercial life, where his eloquence earns him an audition. His rescue of Kate's briefcase changes her doubts into fascination.
4. Love Before Departure — Kate and Leopold grow closer through a rooftop dinner, a kiss, and the recovery of Leopold's childhood treasures. Their relationship strains when Leopold rejects the commercial product.
5. The Past Reclaims Them — Stuart returns Leopold to 1876, but photographs reveal that Kate belongs in Leopold's time. Kate abandons her promotion, crosses the portal, and reunites with Leopold at the ball.