If you follow the lead players from E!'s The Royals on social media, you've got to be getting geared up for the second season of the show. With the show coming back in November (it's less than four months away!), is the whole cast returning on The Royals Season 2? While most of the leading cast will be back based on photos that The Royals cast has been sharing on social media, there will be some notable missing persons in Season 2.
The core family of Elizabeth Hurley's Queen Helena, William Moseley's Liam, Alexandra Park's Eleanor, and Jake Maskall's Cyprus will be returning to the show — because what would the show be without them? But, a lot of the supporting actors have either left the show or are only in part of the season. After the death of the patriarch of Season 1, Vincent Regan most likely won't be back as King Simon. Yet, it wouldn't be out of the question for Regan to return since the show already tapped into its Hamlet-like elements when a coma-ghost Simon talked to Liam at the end of Season 1. But, while some actors have clear-cut reasons not to return to the E! show, other characters who ended up alive in Season 1 won't be coming back either.
Here's a look at some of the actors who will — and won't — be returning when The Royals returns to E! in November.
Merritt Patterson
Liam and Ophelia may have broken up in the Season 1 finale and Moseley is promising that Liam will be seeing a lot of women in Season 2, but Ophelia and Liam fans shouldn't be too sad. Ophelia actress Merritt Patterson posted on Instagram that she was back on the set of The Royals on July 10. Liam and Ophelia will be reunited as shown in the Season 2 trailer, but it looks like a bittersweet moment, so don't expect them to be getting back together just yet.
Sophie Colquhoun
Although Ophelia won't be as central of a character in Season 2 as she was on Season 1, fans of Liam and Ophelia may have a slight reason to celebrate since actress Sophie Colquhoun, who played Liam's ex-girlfriend Gemma, has left the show. While she portrayed Gemma's snootiness and vulnerability perfectly, she was a roadblock for Ophelia. Without her, fans can hope that maybe one day Liam and Ophelia will be reunited.
Hatty Preston
Actress Hatty Preston, who played Princess Maribel, has chosen to leave the show as well. Preston wrote that she "officially bid farewell" to The Royals on Instagram and Twitter, and her fans lamented the loss of Preston as the ludicrous Maribel, but Preston did not indicate why she left the show. Also, I could not find anything official indicating whether Preston's onscreen sister, Lydia Rose Bewley, will be reprising her role as Princess Penelope. But, I guess we'll see come Season 2.
Ukweli Roach
Other missing cast members besides Colquhoun and Preston will be Ukweli Roach as Liam's bodyguard and friend Marcus. Marcus and Liam's relationship was one of the most endearing on the show, but Digital Spy reported that Moseley said Roach will be on the NBC show Blindspot and has left The Royals. So their bromance is officially over, unless the show recasts Marcus instead of just replacing him with a new character. That wouldn't be the same though.
Tom Austen
And, what about the show's most loved (and hated) bodyguard? The dynamic duo of Park as Eleanor and Tom Austen as Jasper have been making fans of Jeleanor super excited for Season 2 with photos of them hanging out on and off set. Thank goodness the most dynamic romantic relationship of The Royals will return. Maybe Jasper can take over Liam's security detail?
Joan Collins & Other Supporting Actors
Don't be too sad about those leaving since at least a few other supporting actors haven't left the show. Social media indicates that Victoria Ekanoye as Rachel (Queen Helena's dominatrix servant), Poppy Corby-Tuech as Prudence (the ex-royal servant who is carrying Cyrus' baby), and even Joan Collins as the Grand Duchess Alexandra of Oxford (Liam and Eleanor's "Duchie") will return to reprise their roles.
Season 2 of The Royals will have a lot of changes when it comes to cast and plot, but I have faith that E!'s version of the British royalty can keep me hooked. Let's just hope the show can handle the cast departures with the same dignity and class that the characters displayed in Season 1.
Images: Frank W. Ockenfels 3/E! Entertainment; varietyofwords/Tumblr
