The Palace

Buckingham Palace. Today. King James III and Queen Charlotte reign with dignity, duty and decorum. Then a heart-attack at the opera throws the country into chaos. The King is dead. And so the crown passes to his hard drinking and womanising 24-year-old son Richard. The Playboy Prince is thrown into a role he thought he?d have twenty years to perfect,... More »

Buckingham Palace. Today. King James III and Queen Charlotte reign with dignity, duty and decorum. Then a heart-attack at the opera throws the country into chaos. The King is dead. And so the crown passes to his hard drinking and womanising 24-year-old son Richard. The Playboy Prince is thrown into a role he thought he?d have twenty years to perfect, while the nation waits with bated breath for him to mend his ways and fill his father?s shoes.

At least he has the support of the Royal Family and an entire army of staff. Whether they are loyal or have his best interests at heart is another story?

When King James takes his very public last breath, Princes Richard (Evans) and George (Armesto) are busy clubbing, having escaped the opera with the help of Richard?s sassy secretary Abigail (Telford).

Watched through the bottom of a gin bottle by the reclusive Queen Charlotte (Asher), Richard stumbles into his new role with bewilderment. It doesn?t help that he is caught in a compromising position with a mystery woman on the eve of his father?s funeral either.

As Eleanor ? film star glamorous and with a charity profile to die for - plots against him and his siblings George and Isabelle (Lunghi) tick away like tabloid intriguing time bombs, Richard clings to Abigail?s friendship. Yet she too is a traitor ? the book she is researching on the handsome young prince is now destined to become an even bigger bestseller. It?s now a book about the King of England, a King she is beginning to regret deceiving.

The Palace is the story of the first year of King Richard?s reign, as he deals with private insecurities and public expectations, with politicians, foreign dignitaries and religious leaders, with a secret mistress and a potential wife, with media intrusion and spin, with his somewhat traditionalist staff and with the turbulent family of which he is now, to his own amazement, the Head.

As this dysfunctional family struggles to show a united front to the world, The Palace will also follow the staff who tend to their every need ? from Chief of Staff Sir Iain (Marsden) and Princess Eleanor?s scheming aide-de-camp Simon (Harewood) to the footmen and maids who eavesdrop on the Royal family?s most private moments. Taking care of a Royal Family may be hard work but there are ancient traditions to uphold below stairs; decanters of spirits to be siphoned and royal toenails to be sold on Ebay.

EPISODE GUIDE (SPOILER ALERT!)
Ep 1
Richard, Prince of Wales is out clubbing when his father dies. He?s driven to Buckingham Palace where he's met by his family, but is he ready to be King? His Assistant Private Secretary, Abigail Thomas, is there to help but she?s writing a secret expose of the palace from the inside. His glamorous older sister Princess Eleanor is adamant that the wrong sibling is now the monarch. She encourages a growing affair between her own Private Secretary, Major Simon Brooks, and Abi.
Richard is caught with a mystery girlfriend on the throne; a tabloid threatens to publish the story. Richard is advised to keep his head down, but he tells his horrified staff that he wants to spike the story by doing a live TV interview. Eleanor pours poison in his ear, then spikes the interview by revealing Richard was at a night club when his father died. Richard's temper and his honesty get the better of him and he shows more of himself than a King should; he crashes, but in style. Abi's there to watch it all, aware of her betrayal as Richard thanks her for her constant support. She leaves the palace with a confidential document ? more material for her book.

Ep 2
Prince George and his Personal Protection Office Ray Mellor, hit something in the road coming back from a party, but George drives on. He confides in PPO Pete Bayfield who finds the victim; an old man, critical, in hospital. Once Abi finds out she has to decide how much Richard should be protected from knowing. Meanwhile Richard is being patronised by Prime Minister Edward Shaw, mocked for his interest in wanting to help the widow of a solider; so Richard writes directly to the widow. But the letter is published in the press. Unfortunately the woman Richard loves, the mystery girl on the throne, is Miranda Hill, the Prime Ministers Communications Director.
Eleanor finds out about George, but waits for the perfect moment to drop Richard straight in it, hoping he?ll cover up George?s involvement in the accident ? then she can destroy both brothers in one go. Shaw and Miranda Hill fight back; they plant half-true stories about Richard, making him appear spoilt, aloof, uncaring. Richard is devastated that Miranda would take something personal and use it against him. The perfect moment having arrived, Eleanor drops the small problem of George?s potential fatal hit and run into Richard?s lap. Now his brother?s fate is in his hands.

Ep 3
Richard is faced with deciding the fate of Prince George - his closest mate and the only person who really understands him. Then, pressurised by events with the PM, Miranda dumps him. Richard?s response is to fight back against the PM. He realises he could, if he wanted, destroy this politician (and Eleanor is egging him on?). His first taste of proper power is very sweet. Miranda begs for him to stop and along with Sir Iain and Abi force Richard to recognise his true responsibilities; he saves both the PM and his relationship with Miranda.
But as King, Richard realises he can?t turn a blind eye to George?s stupid and damaging behaviour. He takes the tough line, sending George to apologise to the man he hit and to take the consequences. A protesting George goes to the hospital and is forgiven but at the expense of the brothers' close bond. Abi is getting plenty for her book; she uncovers Richard and Miranda?s relationship. Richard goes to her flat to confront her, but he?s snapped leaving by paparazzi ? and the press ?out? Abi as the mystery lover.

Ep 4
The press go for Abi ? saying she?s the secret lover. But Eleanor carefully directs the press to Miranda?s door. Miranda offers to fall on her sword to Shaw, but the PM and Sir Iain prepare a plan whereby Richard and Miranda could continue, if Abi were to take the fall. Abi?s told she?d be doing her duty to protect the King and the institution and would be rewarded handsomely. The plan looks like going ahead, Abi quickly feels utterly isolated, and dismayed by a King who she thought was changing for the better. Richard knows that using Abi is wrong, but it saves him from more terrible press and lets him keep the woman he loves.
Richard ultimately decides he can't sacrifice Abi. Instead, he allows his affair with Miranda to become public knowledge ? at great personal emotional cost, but saving Abi's job and future life. At his lowest ebb, he?s unable to cope with his mother, Queen Charlotte attempting to ?help? and their relationship is spectacularly damaged. Now fully involved in a relationship with Simon, but forced to completely re-think how she feels about Richard, Abi finds she can no longer write her book.

Ep 5
Eleanor presents Queen Charlotte with a controversial diamond necklace to wear during an Indian state visit. The sidelined Queen sees her opportunity to get her son?s attention. Sure enough the Indians request the jewel be returned. Meanwhile downstairs the unpopular chef finds himself under attack by Vinny when he discovers the chef has bedded Ruby. The Foreign Office demands Richard returns the diamond, but a grieving Charlotte asks him to let her keep it.
A remorseful Queen Charlotte decides Richard needs a fairytale romance. She gives Abi the job of introducing Alice, a beautiful childhood friend into the equation. Footmen Jimmy and Jeremy vow to avenge their wronged friend Vinny who has been threatened with the sack for hitting Milton Bishop, the chef. Meanwhile Simon discovers there?s an insider in the Palace writing a book. At the Banquet, the massed forces of the household stand up to Milton?s bullying. Richard proposes a generous donation instead of returning the diamond. Diplomatic chaos threatens, but his mother and he are united ? giving her the strength to do the right thing and return the rock herself? averting crisis. Richard knows he has Abi to thank, and together, tipsy, and alone at last she kisses him, then flees.

Ep 6.
A break-in at Clarence house finds Natalie saving Princess Eleanor from the intruder, and a move into Buckingham Palace for the scheming Princess. Richard is under enormous pressure, from the Church, from the public and his family to be the perfect monarch ? and having Alice around is doing wonders for his PR. So he allows his old friend Alice to be used as a decoy girlfriend, not really taking into account her actual (hidden) feelings for him. Amongst all this it?s Abi he turns to. Attending Neil the Valet?s gay wedding proves an ideal opportunity to provoke the Archbishop and get away from the pressures of it all. Unfortunately Alice notices where his real feelings lie (even if he?s not facing up to the truth) and as their public profile shoots sky high he gets cold feet about how far he can use her.

Abi?s finding it tougher to juggle Simon, and her feelings for Richard while pushing Alice?s agenda. And her publisher won?t let her give up the book. Natalie is upset when Eleanor takes the credit for fighting off the intruder, but she puts her own position at risk when she finds the Princess in tears. Alice puts an end to the game, making Richard acknowledge who he really wants. Richard knows he can rely on Eleanor to take on his duties, (little knowing he?s boosting her profile at the expense of his own.) leaving him to rush back to tell Abi how he really feels ? but he can?t quite make the jump over their disparate status, saying they can never be together. While Abi is with the King, Simon has let himself into her flat and discovered her book.

Ep7
Princess Isabelle attempts to take hold of her life by returning her HRH. When no-one takes her seriously she gives a speech at her eighteenth birthday party, damning the institution, her family and all they stand for; then posts the footage on the internet. Sir Iain and Jonty suggest that her behaviour shows a mental instability that requires treatment. Eleanor notices Queen Charlotte?s excessive grief over the death of an old ?friend?. Issy is tracked down and Richard finally sees how complicated his sister?s position is ? he wants to help Issy but doesn?t quite know how and the person he?d normally ask, Abi, is dealing with Simon. More importantly what Simon will do now he?s read her book ? a book that reveals how much she loves the King.
Abi has to keep Simon sweet, while trying desperately to help the man she really loves work through the toughest family crisis he?s ever faced. She?s there at the right moment for Richard although it means standing Simon up. She helps Richard decide that Issy really does need his help, and supports him through having to make such a tough call. Richard knows all this and tells her he loves her for it, but just as he?s on the verge of kissing her, she?s called out of the room at Princess Eleanor?s behest. Simon?s told Eleanor about the book. Eleanor spells it out: If Abi wants Richard to be kept in the dark about it, she?ll have to start working for Eleanor too.

Ep 8
Eleanor has known that Queen Charlotte had an affair a long time ago, but on the eve of the coronation she realises that the dates of the affair could mean that Richard isn?t actually the rightful King. She leaks this to the Archbishop ? who in turn questions Sir Iain, who raises it with Richard who must then go to his mother. Queen Charlotte reluctantly admits to her son it could be true ? leading him to have to take a DNA test to prove his lineage. It is decided that all the children should take the test. Jimmy and Ruby fear for Natalie after she disappears.
Abi realises she can?t live under Eleanor?s blackmail and having confronted Simon and learnt the extent of the Princess?s ambitions she confesses to writing the book and hands it over to Richard. Betrayed, he sends her away, but is then able to confront his sister over Abi?s allegations; Eleanor shows her true colours. George has to face with consequences of potentially taking the throne. The DNA test results arrive proving Richard legitimate. He faces Eleanor down, and steps back up to his duties. The coronation looms and the only question left unanswered is over Abi. Once crowned he calls her in. He now knows how much she loves him, and he still feels the same. But the book would always threaten their relationships ? they cannot be together. Abi?s parting words are to fight for her, for their relationship. But then he?s called to greet his subjects from the balcony and for the moment she steps back into the shadows as the family take to the stage, put aside their conflicts, smile and wave.

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