Entertainment

Elizabeth Hurley Is About To Be A Royal, Finally

by Kaitlin Reilly

E! may be known for shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians and, uh, other shows involving the Kardashians, but documenting the lives of the famous-for-being-famous isn't the only thing the network is doing this year. E! is getting into the scripted programming game, and has just ordered its first drama. Elizabeth Hurley has just signed on for E!'s The Royals, and once you read her role, you'll know that it's the perfect show for this actress, model, and never-aging goddess.

Executive produced, written and directed by One Tree Hill's Mark Schwahn, the show will premiere in 2015 and is about something that our society is already completely obsessed with. The Royals is set and filmed in London and centers on Hurley's character Queen Helena, a royal who must fiercely protect her family's image in the age of swarming paparazzi and social media. Queen Helena must keep the scandalous private lives of her family out of the press in order to protect their long-cultivated image. According to executive Vice President of original programming & development, Jeff Olde:

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

This show sounds like a mashup between Gossip Girl and Reign, which makes it both perfect for E!'s first venture into scripted drama — and perfect for Elizabeth Hurley. Elizabeth Hurley could nail the role of the young matriarch of a royal family who has a ton of secrets and scandals to keep hidden. Let's just start with the obvious reason why Hurley should play a royal, and that's her amazing, Kate Middleton-rivaling hair. But just as important is Hurley's credentials on a certain other scandalous show that proves that she was made for steamy dramas that deal with the woes of the upper class.

Hurley's role as the mysterious and sexy businesswoman Diana Payne (who also happened to be the leader of a high-class prostitution ring and Chuck's fake Mom for about an episode, because, hi, it's Gossip Girl) was one of the best parts of Season 5. She killed it as a powerful UK import determined to protect her image and her interests while hiding her many secrets from the rest of the Upper East Side. Swap in "Upper East Side" for "the rest of the world" and you've basically got The Royals.

While this will be E!'s first attempt at a scripted drama that's actually supposed to be scripted, I have faith that Hurley will make this show the guilty pleasure that Gossip Girl was for me. We hope that Hurley has practiced her best Blair Waldorf.