E! has just greenlit its first original scripted series. From Lionsgate, the one-hour drama “The Royals,” starring Elizabeth Hurley, is set to premiere in 2015.
The series is executive produced, written and directed by Mark Schwahn (“One Tree Hill”), and executive produced by Brian Robbins and Joe Davola (“One Tree Hill,” “Smallville”).
“The Royals” follows a modern day British royal family and sheds light on their lives both in the public eye and in their personal moments.
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“We are excited that E!’s first original scripted series will transport viewers into a world that they are already intensely interested in, but reality cameras would never give them access to. ‘The Royals’ will offer a fictional look behind the very public gilded façade of the palace gates to imagine the private, lush, fun, sexy world of the most-watched celebrity family on the planet,” said E!’s executive vice president of original programming and development, Jeff Olde, in a statement. “It’s a perfect series to introduce E! viewers to scripted pop culture programming on the network.”
E!’s senior vice president of scripting programming, Kevin Plunkett, added, “This is a big idea and Mark, Brian, Joe and the Lionsgate team delivered. They have an extraordinary track record at crafting buzz worthy content that reflects and drives the pop culture discussion. This team, working on this concept, with this cast is a great way for us to launch our first scripted show.”
Hurley stars on the drama alongside William Moseley, Alexandra Park and Vincent Regan.
Read E!’s synopsis for the series below:
Queen Helena (Hurley) has the power, beauty and intelligence to get anything and everything she wants. And failure isn’t an option, especially when it comes to protecting her family’s image, which she will stop at nothing to control. King Simon (Regan) is a moral compass amidst the chaos of palace life. He is a good king, yet one who controversially places his own family above the people he rules. The youngest son of Simon and Helena, Liam (Moseley) is thrust into the spotlight when he unexpectedly becomes the heir apparent in the pilot. Liam enjoys the many perks of being the world’s most eligible bachelor while coping with the rigors and pressures that come with being the future King. Sole daughter Eleanor (Park) is a controversial princess whose bad choices play out in the tabloids, much to the Royals’ chagrin. She is raw, intelligent and forever waging a battle between her desires to be young and independent and the rules and tradition she was raised to live by. Ophelia, a young American girl, is modern, self-reliant and independently thinking, which causes her to butt up against the traditions and rigidity of the Royal family when she embarks on a romance with Liam. The monarchy is a world she has known for a long time as her father is the head of security, but she now experiences the spotlight in a different, more personal way when she starts dating the prince.