The Royals
If going back to the past is not what you are looking for and some delicious drama is right up your alley, then this show is the one for you. The Royals is about a fictitious family of modern British monarchs, which means sex scandals, social media frenzy and paparazzi along with political intrigue. Elizabeth Hurley plays the Henstridge family matriarch and while oldest son Robert is being groomed for the throne, twins Liam and Eleanor get into all sorts of trouble without thinking of the consequences. The show is fun in a Gossip Girl kind of way, only with royalty in the picture. You have three seasons to binge and it has already been picked up for a fourth.
The Tudors
Though it is called The Tudors, the show focuses specifically on King Henry the VIII, his six marriages, the political dissension, and clash with the Roman Catholic Church. Sounds boring? Not a problem when a sensuous Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays the lead as King Henry VIII, an act he received a Golden Globe nomination for. Full of court intrigue, manipulations, machinations, and lots and lots of steamy sex, the four-season-old show is pretty addictive. Gorgeous costumes and the setting of Ireland make it a visual treat as well. For those who need more convincing, this show also made the world sit up and notice Henry Cavill and Natalie Dormer, and those who watch Game of Thrones will know how perfect the role of Anne Boleyn is for our Margaery Tyrell.
The white queen
This 10-part miniseries based on Philippa Gregory’s The Cousins’ War trilogy is based during the War of the Roses and told from the perspectives of three royal women from the Houses of York and Lancaster — Elizabeth Woodville (Rebecca Fergusson), consort to Edward IV; Margaret Beaufort (Amanda Hale), mother of Henry Tudor; and Anne Neville (Faye Marsay), queen consort to Richard III. The show has some great acting, soapy plots and steamy sex, received three Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards, and is followed by another eight-part miniseries titled White Princess, which follows the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, which ended the War of Roses.
The crown
As the longest serving British monarch (63 years and counting), Queen Elizabeth II is a public figure you cannot not know. What The Crown did was it gave us Lilibet, the girl behind the queen. Created by Peter Morgan, who had already proved his royal credentials with The Queen in 2006, this show takes us right into the royal bedrooms and dinner tables, and stokes our collective curiosity by not shying away from royal scandals, secrets, clashes and complexes. The uncanny resemblance of Claire Foy to the young queen, Matt Smith as the sulking royal consort Prince Philip and the sparkling Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret, Elizabeth’s younger sister, add to the must-watch quotient.
Reign
The show’s not very historically accurate, which is the least of your concerns if you are just looking for some queenly drama. Reign, which just ended this year, follows the life of Mary, Queen of Scotts (played by Adelaide Kane). It starts in 1557 in France when she’s already bethrothed to Prince Francis and focuses on her life in the French court. Gorgeous period costumes and lots of sex and scandals is what you are signing up for if you get your Reign binge on.
Victoria
The first season of this British miniseries, starring Jenna Coleman of Doctor Who fame, focused on the early reign of Queen Victoria who is crowned as a dimunitive teenager in 1837 and grows into one of the most powerful monarchs in the world. Scandals, corruption, political intrigue are of course a part and parcel of the life of a monarch, which the show has aplenty. It also follows Victoria’s infatuation with Lord Melbourne and her marriage to Prince Albert. The show’s second season focused on a woman torn between her duties to the crown and to her family. There is also a Christmas special coming up.
The hollow crown
This is a series of film adaptations of Shakespeare’s historical plays. The first cycle was the adaptation of his second tetralogy the Henriad: Richard II; Henry IV, Part I; Henry IV, Part II; and Henry V. Watch out for some stellar performances by Ben Whishaw as Richard II, Jeremy Irons as Henry IV and Tom Hiddleston as Henry V, performances that got Whishaw a British Academy Television Awards for lead actor, and Jeremy Irons a nomination for Screen Actors Guild Awards for best actor. The second cycle called The Hollow Crown — The War of the Roses focused on Shakespeare’s first historical tetralogy Henry VI, Part I; Henry VI, Part II; Henry VI, Part III; and Richard III with Benedict Cumberbatch turning out a scene-stealing performance as Richard III. Here’s all the royal “drama” you could ask for.
