The Royals is an American primetime television drama soap opera that premiered on E! on March 15, 2015. Created by Mark Schwahn and starring Elizabeth Hurley, it is the network's first scripted series. It began as a loose adaptation of the 2011 Michelle Ray novel Falling for Hamlet. E! renewed it for a second season two months before its debut, and picked up a third season on January 5, 2016. E! renewed it for a fourth season on February 16, 2017, which began airing on March 11, 2018. E! cancelled the series after four seasons in August 2018. Lionsgate Television was shopping the series to other networks with discussions for a pick-up by sister network Pop, but on September 24, Lionsgate failed to find a new home for the series and it was officially cancelled.

Hurley stars as Queen Helena, a fictional contemporary queen consort of The United Kingdom, along with William Moseley and Alexandra Park as her twin children, Prince Liam and Princess Eleanor; Jake Maskall as Helena's brother-in-law and nemesis, the new King Cyrus; Tom Austen as Eleanor's bodyguard and blackmailer, Jasper Frost; and Oliver Milburn as Ted Pryce, the Royal Family's head of security. Season 1 also starred Vincent Regan as Helena's husband, King Simon, and Merritt Patterson as Liam's love interest, Ophelia Pryce.