When E!'s first scripted series The Royals premiered in 2015, no one could mistake the Henstridges for the real British royal family. Yet, the royals of the U.K. may have some opinions about their positions being portrayed so scandalously, so what do the British royals think of E!'s The Royals? While the series takes place in England, it is from the American network E! and the American creator Mark Schwahn, who also created One Tree Hill. But despite the series being American, something tells me that the current British royal family would have no problem accessing the American TV show if they wanted to. And as you watch the shocking antics of Queen Helena, King Cyrus, Princess Eleanor, and Prince Liam, it's fun to wonder if the real royals have seen their dramatic shenanigans and what they think of it.
During the Dec. 18 episode, "Aye, There's the Rub," Elizabeth Hurley's Queen Helena was shown watching the (fictional) reality TV series Royal and Beautiful. The show-within-a-show is about the prince of Liechtenstein (played by Hurley's real-life son Damian Hurley) and it provided Helena not only something to relate to, but some escapism as well. So could The Royals offer something similar to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Harry, and the like? Well, according to a statement from the Director of Royal Communications Sally Osman to Bustle, probably not.
Osman noted that she was unfamiliar with The Royals, but that, "It is fiction. We deal in fact." This was a similar statement to what the royal communications office had to say about The Crown — Netflix's latest drama. Osman said the royal household had "no comment to make on fictional drama" and previously stated they were not involved in the creation of The Crown. Yet, there's one major difference between these two TV shows: The Crown is actually based on the history of the current Queen of England while The Royals is completely fiction.
Inevitably, when the E! series first premiered, some comparisons between the fictional characters on The Royals and the real-life royals were made — even though The Royals is not based on any sort of reality. It seemed playful to compare the fun-loving Prince Harry to Princess Eleanor, but the forced similarities between Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to Princesses Maribel and Penelope (who have been missing in Season 3) seemed a bit cruel with even the British newspaper Daily Mail noting the resemblance. So although The Royals isn't portraying any truth about their family, that doesn't completely mean that the real royals wouldn't have any opinion on it.
Yet, if the real royals' view of the show matches their press office's, then perhaps they haven't even heard of the series. While I may suspect the younger generation has at least heard of The Royals — especially since it stars the famous British actress and model Hurley — it may be for the best if Queen Elizabeth doesn't know about the series. After all, I don't think that the Queen of England ever considered knighting a prostitute like King Cyrus did on The Royals.
So unless the royal family states otherwise, they have nothing to say about the E! show. And considering the multitude of more important matters they must worry about, that's OK. Although, if The Royals proved anything with Royal and Beautiful, it could be a good guilty pleasure show for the real royals.
