Sweet, Not Lasting

Queening

"**Sweet, Not Lasting**" is the fourth episode of the first season of *The Royals*, and the fourth episode overall in the series.

## Synopsis

Prince Liam does his first PR tour; Queen Helena forces Princess Eleanor to do a PR tour of London.

## Plot

Queen Helena appears to want to drum up some good press for her children and so like usual she manages to manipulate them into doing what she says. Only this time Eleanor and Liam actually seem like they do want to go through with their mother’s plans. She leaves with Liam to go on tour and she had her daughter agreeing to do some charity work however her children tend to screw-up. No matter the case or their temperament. When Eleanor agreed to do a charity visit, even going as far to check in with her later brother Robert’s charity. However Eleanor chose to show up for her round of visits, beginning with a stop at a retirement home while on ecstasy. Fortunately by having Jasper at her side and he was able to pull her away from a potential media nightmare. Stopping people from realizing how out of it she was and on top of that he was kind enough to keep up this particular duty for the rest of the day.

While home alone Ophelia decides to hang out with Nick Roane who she has cancelled on a number of times. Liam wasn't so lucky he ended up breaking a cardinal rule he simply assumed a woman with a wide girth was pregnant and so he didn't know how wrong he was until he had already offered up his congratulations thereby insulting the poor woman in front of the whole world via the press. The Queen told him that all he had to do was follow instructions. Stand where he was supposed and say what she had written down for him. But, later, someone else told him that all he really needed to do was be himself. Gemma had also been invited on the tour and it was her duty to act as the Queen’s lady in waiting. Yet while she generally comes off as Helena’s lackey – she chose to side with Liam on what public persona should be and was the one to give him the advice. Which he took and ended up working in his favor. When Ophelia and Nick are exploring the tunnels underneath the palace and Ophelia post a picture of her kissing Nick on the check onto her Instagram. Ophelia then sees a picture of Liam and Gemma with the caption "Put a Gem on it already" leaving her distraught. Nick realizes that Ophelia still has feelings for Liam and offers to show her his side of town and himself and if she is still thinking about Liam then he'll back off.

The royal tour that had started out all rocky and awkward suddenly became a success overnight when Liam stopped trying to be Robert and chose to just be him. Liam learned a few things. The "job" isn't just about the royals getting to keep all their luxuries. They actually have a duty to perform and they have people depending on them. So he chose to help out another young man who was bound to inherit the family business. And in doing that someone at least got to live out their dream. Helena also tried to lend her royal name in doing something good but unlike Liam she ran in a roadblock. Namely a republican who called her brat and had asked that she leave him alone so that he may go back to work in order to pay the very same taxes that funds her lifestyle. Ophelia goes on her date with Nick where she has dinner with his friends and family. He then takes her to a silent disco club where they are secretly being recorded. Nick leans in for a kiss but Ophelia turns him down leading Nick to back off to give her and Liam a chance.

Eleanor, once she was sober, was finally finishing up with her charity merry-go-round when she chose to make Robert’s her last stop. However, what she never expected it to be was a stop a publicly funded detox facility that targets helping out addicts. Her visit there made her take a long hard look at herself. And she didn't like what she saw. Yet that didn’t mean she was ready to get help for herself. If anything it just made Eleanor go to a really dark place. In which she tried to use drugs and Jasper to make herself feel better. When Liam was close to getting bearings and was even excited to tell Ophelia all about it, Ophelia chose to hurt him after she saw a picture of him and Gemma on tour together. She posted a picture of herself and Nick hanging out together on her Instagram page and later followed up that picture with a video of them nearly kissing. When Liam had finally arrived came back, he brought tickets, one for her and one for her boyfriend to the upcoming masquerade. The same day while Helena is watching the news the distillery of the man that had insulted the queen mysteriously burns to the ground.

## Cast

Starring
William Moseley as **Prince Liam**
Alexandra Park as **Princess Eleanor**
Merritt Patterson as **Ophelia Pryce**
Jake Maskall as **Prince Cyrus**
Tom Austen as **Jasper Frost**
Oliver Milburn as **Ted Pryce**
**with** Vincent Regan as **King Simon**
**and** Elizabeth Hurley as **Queen Helena**
Recurring cast
* Sophie Colquhoun as **Gemma Kensington**
* Ukweli Roach as **Marcus Jeffries**
* Andrew Bicknell as **Lucius**
* Victoria Ekanoye as **Rachel**

Guest starring
* Tom Ainsley as **Nick Roane**
* Leanne Joyce as **Imogen**

Co-Starring
* Peter Vollebregt as Dr. Cohen
* Eloise Lovell Anderson as Francisca
* Joel Phillimore as Saddle Maker
* Sophie Stevens as Bar Maid
* Gemma Fray as Little Girl
* Angela Simpson as Girl's Mother
* Samuel Townsend as Townie
* Andrew Bone as Distillery Owner
* Sherry Baines as Tour Guide
* Emily Jewell as Village Woman
* Syreeta Kumar as Group Leader