Stand and Unfold Yourself

"Stand and Unfold Yourself" is the pilot episode of The Royals. It originally aired on March 15, 2015.

## Sypnosis

The royal family of England is thrown into disarray when the heir to the throne is killed in an accident. Prince Liam and Princess Eleanor struggle to fit into their new roles now that their brother is dead, Queen Helena attempts to maintain the family's image, and King Simon questions the future of the monarchy.

## Characters

* Vincent Regan as Simon
* Elizabeth Hurley as Helena
* Jake Maskall as Cyrus
* William Moseley as Liam
* Alexandra Park as Eleanor
* Hatty Preston as Maribel
* Lydia Rose Bewley as Penelope
* Merritt Patterson as Ophelia
* Tom Austen as Jasper
* Ukweli Roach as Marcus
* Oliver Milburn as Ted
* Victoria Ekanoye as Rachel
* Poppy Corby-Tuech as Prudence

## Important Plot Points

* Prince Robert is pronounced dead.
* Prince Liam becomes the next heir to the English throne.
* Prince Liam begins his romance with the commoner Ophelia.
* Princess Eleanor hires a new bodyguard, Jasper.
* Jasperbegins to blackmail Eleanor with a sex tape of them.
* King Simon considers abolishing the monarchy.

## Full Recap

The episode begins with Queen Helena walking down one of the many palace hallways with several servants walking quickly next to her. One of the servants informs Helena that "Sir" Elton John wishes to drop in for a visit. Next, we are shown camera flashes of Prince Liam and Princess Eleanor's nights out. Eleanor is at a nightclub with a friend. They are drinking and dancing with men at the club. Eleanor climbs on top of the table and begins dancing seductively when she loses her balance and flashes everyone. Liam is at a party playing a round of darts when Ophelia yells down at him, "It's a game, you idiot!" He looks up at her and smiles, then shows off his skills by shooting three darts at the board, the last one hitting dead center without him even looking. Later, he takes her back to the palace. Ophelia asks if they can go somewhere more private and Liam offers to take her to Paris. She says, "I was thinking more like your bed."They go to Liam's room and have sex.

The next morning, a sleeping Eleanor arrives on the palace lawn in a helicopter. She enters the palace to find Helena, who pounces on her with three newspapers, all reporting on her wardrobe malfunction the night before. One headline reads, "Royal Beaver." Eleanor interrupts her mother with the news of Prince Robert's death. Marcus enters Liam's bedroom and tells him to wake up and for Ophelia to go back to her father. Liam runs until he reaches his family and receives the news of Robert's death.

Ophelia returns back to her home in the palace and is lectured by her father, Ted. She says that she is ashamed of herself, but admits that she had good, protective sex with the prince.

Helena and Simon are staring at Robert's coffin alone. Helena begins to tear up at his death. A palace employee walks into the room unexpectedly and leaves when he sees Helena crying. She wipes her face and walks away. Simon tells her that when someone's firstborn son dies, it's okay to grieve. Helena says that it's not okay when that someone is the queen.

On the day of Robert's funeral, the royal family has a short meeting before going outside the palace doors. Helena scripts Liam and Eleanor to ensure that they do not misbehave. Cyrus stares out of a window and shares with Eleanor how close he is to having the throne now. She tells him that he'll have to kill her first. We meet Penelope and Maribel. The royal family then steps out of the doors. Liam comes forward to the press first to talk about his brother. When the funeral is over and Helena, Liam, and Eleanor are in the car, Helena scolds them. Liam and Eleanor argue back, saying that ahe should be grieving as much as their father is over Robert's death instead of caring only of outside appearance. Helena slaps Liam and says, "At least I'm not sleeping with the help."

Eleanor hires Jasper as her new bodyguard. They go to the wine cellar, where Eleamor asks him to carry a crate of wine. She sees his concerned look and explains that there are 25,000 bottles of wine in the palace's wine cellar. Since it is her house, the wine is hers. She tells him to lighten up because she is taking him out later. That night, they go to a nightclub and later return to the palace. Eleanor has sex with Jasper and an unidentified blonde girl. She tells them to leave. Jaspers gets dressed and tells Eleanor that he remembers putting drugs in her drink and "every deprived, self-loathing thing" she did after that. He says, "And if I forget, I can just waych the video." Eleanor is shocked that Jasper took a sex tape of them without her knowing.

Liam asks Ophelia to come eat dinner with him aometime. She shows up to eat dinner with the royal family later that week. Simon and Eleanor appear excited that Ophelia joined them, but Helena does not. Eleanor and Maribel exchange drugs from underneath the table. Simon and Cyrusask Ophelia her opinion on the monarchy and Robert. Liam is about to leave dinner with Ophelia but Simon tells everyone to stay and listen. He announces that he is considering asking Parliament for a referendum to abolish the monarchy. Penelope asks what that means and getse upset because she doesn't want to be poor and American like Justin Bieber. Maribel says that Justin Bieber is actually Canadian.

Eleanor tells Maribel and Penelope to come to her room. They bring drugs and Eleanor picks from the variety they brought her. She hands a packet of birth control pills back to Penelope and says, "Keep these. God forbid we have anymore of the likes of you running around." They go to the throne room and get high. Eleanor leaves to find something to eat, leaving Penelope and Maribel alone. Penelope complains that she can't feel her legs. In the kitchen, Eleanor eats a pie made for the Prime Minister. Simon finds her there and they talk. Eleanor asks if she disappoints him, and he says that he loves her. Simon returns to his and Helena's bedroom and tells Helena that he found Eleanor stoned and eating the Prime Minister's pie. Helena says that they are her children too.

Eleanor is standing on the balcony drinking and calls Ophelia in to have a drink with her. They talk about how Eleanor used to go to a park when she attended University and would see Ted there. He always sat on the same bench and cried. Eleanor thought he was crying over Ophelia's mother, his wife. When Opheliagoes home that night she hugs him. Ophelia reassures Ted the next day that she isn't "seeing" Liam, only hanging out with him. Liam stops by to visit Ophelia at her apartment in the palace. He asks her to coffee and she accepts.

The episode ends with Liam and Ophelia walking out of the palace into a crowd of paparazzi on their way to their first coffee date.

## Quotes

> "At least I'm not sleeping with the help."
>
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-Queen Helena

> "No, I'm just a b\*tch with money and power. But I do make it look good."
>
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-Princess Eleanor

## Music

*Gimme Shelter* - The Rolling Stones

*Problem* - Natalia Kills

*Always* - Panama