Royalty pains: if you had a shot at the crown, would you take it?

https://youtu.be/9NjB2NHvCSw

Succession in the British monarchy used to be determined by two factors: bloodline and gender. As of 2011, however, the first-born child of the heir has the greatest claim to the throne, whether they’re a boy or a girl, so gender isn’t a factor any more these days.

But what happens when the de facto heirs are twins, and one’s a boy and one’s a girl? That’s the dilemma the royal family face in fun drama series The Royals (2015-2018, S1-3 are now on Showmax).

While fictional British royal twins Prince Liam and Princess Eleanor (William Moseley and Alexandra Park) enjoy their fair share of partying and wild behaviour, their big brother Robert (Max Brown) has the responsibility of remaining level-headed as first heir to the throne. But where’s the fun in that, tease the cast?

“Robert is killed in a mysterious plane crash and their mother Helena (former supermodel Elizabeth Hurley) is forced to decide who will take the crown,” says William.

As with any patriarchal society, there isn’t much of a competition and “Liam is automatically ‘the chosen one’. He goes from being a royal rockstar to having a diary full of duties. It’s hard for him to change his entire life and rethink his personality; he can’t spin his head around having to rise to the occasion,” adds the actor.

Liam is required to clean up his act and exude positive qualities in the public eye, which means that he must ditch his love for booze, narcotics and most importantly, his American girlfriend Ophelia (Merritt Patterson). That goes to show that being the King of England is a lot more boring than we realise!

Living like a king

Being a British royal means putting the needs of the country first. Although Liam would like to renounce his new role to be with Ophelia, he steps up to the plate and sucks up to his parents’ demands.

“Prince Liam doesn’t have that arrogant hierarchy thing going on. He’s a normal guy and his reactions are normal too,” says William.

Liam, unlike Robert, is far from perfect. He’s stubborn and would like to enjoy a bit of freedom. “I wanted him to have a Prince Harry feel because he’s probably what a normal person would be if they were royal,” he adds.

Just as Liam makes peace with being a king in episode 7, Queen Helena announces that she had a secret affair behind her husband King Simon’s (Vincent Regan) back – and the royal twins aren’t of royal blood after all.

“The castle (and country) goes into shock-mode and they scurry to figure out who’s going to be next in line. It gets messy and chaotic with everyone out for the power.”

Drama queen

Everyone but Eleanor is fighting for power by Season 2. They want a seat at the table with King Simon’s health deteriorating, but it’s a different story for the princess.

“Eleanor is still a young girl who wants to mean something to someone,” says Alexandra. “She’s on a mission is to find out who killed her brother Robert. She’s dealing with coming into her 20s and searching for purpose.”

Eleanor rebels against the monarchy – like a typical youngster: “It’s because she doesn’t know how to figure stuff out. She’s struggling to find her way with her family plotting against each other and trying to take charge of the throne. She just wants to be a young woman!”

PS: While the family are fictional, some of the storylines are based on royal rumours from the British monarchy… Oh! So! Scandalous!

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