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Another Queen Liz? Hurley cast in pilot for American drama about contemporary Royals

Hurley will play a fictional Queen who is mourning the death of her son

Daisy Wyatt
Thursday 05 September 2013 13:21 BST
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Can she take the crown? Liz Hurley has been cast as Queen Helena in a new drama about the British Royal Family
Can she take the crown? Liz Hurley has been cast as Queen Helena in a new drama about the British Royal Family

Elizabeth Hurley has been cast in a pilot for a new US TV drama series based on the British monarchy.

Following the huge popularity of Downton Abbey in the US, the series aims to indulge the American love of the British upper class - but in a contemporary setting.

Hurley will play “sexy, devious and conflicted” Queen Helena in the series, which will follow the lives of a fictional British royal family who are “informed by the regal opulence of the British monarchy,” according to Deadline Hollywood.

The Royals will also take inspiration from one of Britain’s best-known plays, Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

The plotline centres on Hurley’s character, Queen Helena, who is struggling to cope with the death of her oldest son and the crisis of confidence this creates with her husband.

Meanwhile, she must also work to deter the relationship between her middle son- now heir apparent- and his American girlfriend.

In what promises to be part-fairy tale, part-cautionary tale, part-revisited Edward & Mrs Simpson, The Royals looks set to have more high drama than an Estée Lauder ad.

But with only a pilot commissioned so far, time will tell if the US appetite for the British upper class fronted by Hurley is big enough to garner more money for a series.

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