Fact vs. fiction: Is The Royals actually based on a true story? - Film Daily

Fact vs. fiction: The Royals is not based on a true story, despite its tabloid-like drama. The E! series ran from 2015 to 2018 and returned to Netflix this June as a glossy nighttime soap. It began as a loose adaptation of Michelle Ray's 2011 novel Falling for Hamlet and evolved into original fiction.

Creator Mark Schwahn has insisted the show is about a family, not a documentary, a point echoed by Elizabeth Hurley, who plays Queen Helena. The cast have repeatedly denied living-royal parallels, and The New York Times described The Royals as a tongue-in-cheek Dynasty-style fantasy, not reportage.