The Royals to Premiere March 2015

Upcoming E! scripted drama The Royals is set to premiere March 2015, the network announced Thursday.

From Mark Schwann (One Tree Hill), The Royals focuses on the lives of a fictional Royal family, with the series entirely shot in the UK and set in London. With ethical King Simon (Vincent Regan) struggling to keep the peace within his family, the royal family is dominated by elegant Queen Helena (Elizabeth Hurley), a manipulative social climber who will do anything in her power to make her family look good and keep her spot at the top of British society. But her children aren’t exactly making that goal feasible, with Prince Liam (William Moseley) dating a commoner from the United States and Princess Eleanor (Alexandra Park) more famous for her nightclub partying and outlandish fashion than anything that would bring her family positive press.

The Royals also stars the likes of Tom Austen (Jo) as Eleanor’s bodyguard Jasper; Sophie Colquhon (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Gemma, Liam’s socialite ex-lover; Ukweli Roach (One Day) as Liam’s bodyguard Marcus; Jake Maskall (EastEnders) as Simon’s cynical brother Cyrus, who would take the first chance he got to unseat his brother and claim the throne for himself; and Oliver Milburn (The Descent) as Ted, the head of Royal security.

A more exact premiere date for The Royals should be announced either later this year or early next. You can check out a trailer for the series here.

Will you be watching The Royals? Is this the type of project that could put E! on the scripted content map? If The Royals works out, what type of scripted programming would you like to see E! pursue?