E! getting ready for a Royals rumble
New series down and dirty with Brit monarchy
Remember the topless sunbathing photos of Kate Middleton that scandalized the monarchy? Or the ones that, with the help of some wind, simultaneously revealed her knickers and got those of royal watchers in a knot?
Well, E!’s new scripted drama — the network’s first — is about to undress Britain’s monarchy even further, both figuratively and literally.
The Royals is based on a fictional scandalous ruling family with Elizabeth Hurley playing the queen, a shrewd, ambitious and immaculately dressed matriarch. Her children, the prince and princess, behave more like Hollywood tabloid regulars.
In the first episode alone, Prince Liam (William Moseley) has a steamy sex scene and Princess Eleanor (Alexandra Park) falls off a nightclub table while exposing her naughty bits.
“I think the scariest part of that nightclub scene for me was I was wearing eight-inch Louboutin heels, standing on a glass table that was covered in drinks and spills and all sorts of shenanigans,” says Park, laughing.
“And I’m not good in heels — I probably fell three times, just naturally.”
For Moseley, who was born and raised in England, the show is a testament to how the British public’s relationship with the monarchy is changing, particularly in the age of Middleton — a more understated princess — and social media like Twitter and YouTube.
“I think what’s great about the society that we live in now is that the royals seem much more accessible than they ever felt before. They’ve made themselves more accessible, and I think that’s sparked an interest in people,” he says.
That push-and-pull between public figures and their private lives is a staple for E!, which has up until now aired reality-TV shows and commentary about celebrities. The Royals, then, is Keeping Up With the Kardashians with a posh British accent.
Other more sober bits in The Royals revolve around the mysterious death of Liam and Eleanor’s older brother, and King Simon’s (Vincent Regan) musings about abolishing the monarchy altogether.
The entire thing is soapy, salacious fun, with pretty, privileged people in over-the-top circumstances akin to Dynasty, that beloved prime-time soap of yore.