The Royals – There’s Daggers in Men’s Smiles

By starrymag | April 15, 2018

By: Luke Joseph

 

 

Even though the lights are back on much of London, its characters are still lost in the dark. However, they are each trying to find their way back into the light and that can be a good or terrible thing depending on who they are.

 

Liam (William Moseley) finds his way to the pub that Kathryn’s father owns only to find and almost be hit by a very distraught Kathryn (Christina Wolfe). “I wanted to check on your family. I thought you were out of the country,” Liam is quick to explain as he looks around the damaged pub. Yeah, we thought you were out of the country too Kathryn. What’s going on with that? “Dad hasn’t answered his phone since the black out. I’ve tried his friends, but he’s missing,” Kathryn comments. Since this is Liam we are talking about it’s no surprise that he wants to lend a hand in helping find her father. With him having the correct sources to find answers, Liam ends up at the morgue with Kathryn after Mr. Hill (Rocky Marshall) informs him that a body was discovered matching the description of Kathryn’s father. Thankfully though, the body is not his and after returning to the pub she reunites with her father (Glyn Grimstead) who had been helping those during the blackout.

 

King Robert (Max Brown) finds his way returning to the streets of London to display to the people and more so the media that he is their true King. You must hand it to this man, he knows how to not only play the people and his family, but the media as well as he’s seen handing a little girl a bottle of water, patting her on the shoulder and looking like the definition of “kingly.” “Listen, my family has food and water, but the people of this nation are my family too. Parliament knew a heat wave was coming and an energy collapse was imminent, yet they did nothing to prepare or provide. The power is still out in South London. Maybe it’s time I made some trouble of my own,” Robert states as he addresses the reporters.

 

Eleanor and Jasper (Alexandra Park and Tom Austen) find themselves in absolute bliss waking up next to each other. “It’s going to take some getting used to,” Jasper says in the softest voice. “What? Being public?” she replies. Yup, Eleanor and Jasper have officially gone public with their relationship. No one should be surprised that the kiss they shared in front of everyone in the palace was recorded by someone. Good news? It looks like the people are embracing them, so much so that Willow later shares with King Robert that the couple is even trending. We’ll leave these two alone for now in their happy bubble considering later some drama will ensue.

 

Queen Helena (Elizabeth Hurley) is shocked that her son has gone rogue and offers a word of advice. “Feed the people cake by all means, but remember Marie Antoinette was the first to lose her head,” she supplies. Helena also begins coming to the sinking realization that once Robert finds his queen that she will no longer be queen. In fact, she doesn’t know who she will be. With the help of Rachel (Victoria Ekanoye), she might find herself in a messy situation.  Last, but certainly not least, Cyrus (Jake Maskall) will find himself still displeased over the situation at hand of how his dear nephew Robert is still King and that annoyance might result in a big consequence.

 

Tyrant in the Making

 

King Robert wasn’t pulling the queen’s leg when he told her that he intended to make some trouble of his own. Trouble or history? “Our noble constitution contains provision, an emergency power granted to the monarch in times of great trouble. If parliament fails, and they certainly have, then the king is compelled to command that parliament stand down until such time as good efficient government can be restored. Therefore, as is my solemn duty per the constitution, I hereby announce that parliament is dissolved. From now on the mantle of power rests entirely on me.” Yup, that’s right! King Robert officially overthrew parliament. Now, this isn’t a noble king because remember he was the one who orchestrated the black out and all the violence and chaos that followed was because of him. He caused London to become an uproar just so he could be the white knight to save the day and now he’s reaping the benefits because of it.

 

King Robert doesn’t just have power over London he also might have the power over Willow’s (Genevieve Gaunt) heart considering they share their first kiss in his study. The two seem completely smitten over one another but that doesn’t mean its smooth sailing for them considering Cassandra (Emily Barber) stills seems locked on the idea of being the next queen. With the blackout occurring she had never gotten her second date and she seems adamant about it so much, so she later has a phone snuck through security and delivered to the king so that they can chat. While she is practically ready for phone sex, Robert just isn’t having it, especially when his attention is drawn to the television were Willow is addressing the press about Robert’s good heart and how she believes in him. From his expression alone, he seems rather touched and surprised that someone is seeing the good in him for a change.

 

Takes from the Royals, Gives Back to those Less Royal

 

Meeting the parents is always awkward but not in Eleanor’s case. Jasper is a whole other story though. After confessing to Eleanor that the Count is his father and not royal, just Earl (Richard Brake), she’s more than eager to meet her boyfriend’s dad. The real kicker is that this con won’t work in Earl’s favor seeing that even when the Duchy croaks he will be left with nothing because she has nothing. Thankfully, Eleanor and Jasper don’t reveal that information to him. It’s no surprise that Earl tries to charm her to which Jasper responds, “Don’t do that. Don’t try to charm my girlfriend. Go back to Mandy.” One would think after Eleanor realizes that Jasper, Earl and herself have all slept with Samantha/Mandy things would get awkward, but not when it comes to Eleanor. In-fact, she’s practically almost giving him a high-five since they all have that in common and even invites him to have tea.

 

Though Jasper is far from thrilled about the past and how his father still is a thief, Eleanor is struck with inspiration when Earl lets it slip that the silver candlesticks he had tried to steal earlier would bring in lots of money if sold at a pawn shop. Enter “Helpeanor,” a modern-day Robin Hood who took those candlesticks and dropped them off at an elderly woman’s home. It turns out the older woman is Dottie (Carol MacReady), who had written to the princess about how she didn’t have enough money for her cat to have her operation. She’s just one of the people reaching out and in need of help and all Eleanor wants to do is give that help, but unfortunately it takes about six months for the funding for her project to go through. This is why she’s decided to take matter into her own hands just like Robert, but rather than getting something in return she’s doing it out of the goodness of her heart.

 

No good deed goes unpunished and right now the one getting punished is Jasper. He must witness his girlfriend and father bonding as he watches him teach her how to pick a lock. For Eleanor it’s all fun and games, but for Jasper it’s a reminder of the past he’s trying to leave behind. “Do you know what the best part of meeting your dad is…it’s realizing that you’re nothing like him. You left all that he stands for and all that he taught you behind,” Eleanor confesses to him. Though her words seem to cheer him up, the fact that she’s sneaking around and lying to him isn’t boding well.

 

Consequences Delivered In Full

 

“The best thing I can do to honor my father is to be loyal to my brother,” Liam passionately states during his confrontation with Cyrus. Finally, he’s cutting ties with his uncle. “You fool,” Cyrus spats upon hearing that Liam wants to support his brother. However, he never finishes his sentence as King Robert bursts into the room and decides it’s high time that Cyrus pay the consequences. That consequence being not only kicked out of the palace but the country as well.

“Must I accept growing old gracefully?” Helena questions Rachel. No, definitely not. Feeling that the queen is in a funk, Rachel decides to take her under her wing for a night out. That night consists of a fifty shades masquerade like club. Helena doesn’t only find herself getting a drink sent to her, but later going home with that man who turns out to be Sebastian (Toby Sandeman). Uh oh.

The biggest shock isn’t Robert popping the question to Willow because we all know he needs a queen. No, it’s when Jasper is summoned to Mr. Hill’s office and it’s revealed that the bullet was never intended for the King but Jasper!