E! network has cancelled the one-hour drama series The Royals after four seasons.
“E! will not be moving forward with another season of The Royals, which launched in 2015 as the network’s first original scripted series,” a spokesperson for E! told variety.com in a statement.
“Over four seasons, The Royals took viewers behind the palace gates on a scandalous journey filled with twists and turns. We are grateful to the cast and our producing partners at Lionsgate and Universal Cable Productions.”
According to sources, the show could continue at the cable network Pop, which is a joint venture between CBS Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment. Sources also said that any deal with Pop is by no means final.
The Royals followed a fictional modern day royal family as they find love, conspire against one another, and are forced to face long hidden secrets, all in the name of the crown.
It starred Elizabeth Hurley, Max Brown, William Moseley, Jake Maskall, Tom Austen, Alexandra Park and Genevieve Gaunt.
The cancellation comes after series creator and showrunner Mark Schwahn was fired from the show in December after a report on allegations of sexual harassment during his time on One Tree Hill.
Twenty five cast and crew members of The Royals also said in a letter that Schwahn engaged in “repeated unwanted sexual harassment of multiple female members of cast and crew”.
Schwahn had earlier said: “I wish we had more episodes for The Royals. Fifteen is a much better number than 22 or 10. I don’t like that the fans have to wait so long for the next season. But it’s the model of the studio.
“I think it is financially beneficial to the studio but it’s tougher on the fan base. I still spend a year making 10 episodes just like I spend on making 22 episodes. I’d rather make more episodes quite frankly,” he added.
Asked if he was expecting The Royals to be renewed for a fifth season, Schwahn said: “I always tell the cast and crew to treat it as the last season so that we appreciate it but never plan on being the last season. When I did the pilot of The Royals, I felt that if we don’t do five seasons ... I had made a mistake along the way because I still got a lot of stories to tell,” said the creator of One Tree Hill, which had over 22 episodes in almost all its nine seasons.
“We felt like we were on the right network at the right time and they were committed to scripted drama. I just felt 50 episodes were barely more than two seasons of my last show (One Tree Hill). So I felt like we could do 50 episodes easily. I set my baseline at five seasons.
“Obviously, we are one season short right now and I hope that we get it but I’d like to do the show even if they don’t let me do the show anymore as I like the cast, the stories, I enjoy making it and I like being in London. I like that we have such a nice international fan base,” he added.
