'The Royals' Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: The Royal Family Chooses Love

In this week’s episode of the E! original scripted series “The Royals,” Princess Eleanor (Alexandra Park) takes a hiatus from men. King Cyrus (James Maskall) receives some bad news about his cancer, while Queen Helena (Elizabeth Hurley) finally chooses to do the right thing for her family. Elsewhere, Ted Pryce digs up some disturbing information about domino.

Princess Eleanor is sad about her recent breakup with Beck. Upon the advice of her new bodyguard, James, she decides to take a hiatus from men. She calls up her friend Mandy, who she met in the previous episode, while sneaking out from Beck.

The two girls have fun painting the town red. They end up back at the palace and Mandy hits on Eleanor. After having a small inspirational chat with her mother and her brother, Eleanor decides to go for it. She ends up in bed with Mandy, but it is soon revealed that the Princess might have made a mistake. While she is sleeping, Mandy sneaks out of her room and snoops around the palace. Jasper catches her, and it turns out that they know each other. Her real name is Samantha and she hints that she and Jasper used to have some plans together. She also kisses Jasper like they have had something between them. It is unclear if they are still working together, or if their plans are in the past.

King Cyrus also has some exciting but tragic developments in his life. First of all, his cancer appears to have metastasized. Despite having the surgery to remove his testicle, he still has cancer. He is starting to get desperate and he’s angry that the people of England still don’t like him.

On a positive note, his new maid appears to like him. She fawns over him and even strips down in front of him and attempts to seduce him, just to prove to him that his equipment still works despite the cancer. With his life hanging by a thread, Cyrus contacts Prudence, the maid that he raped in the previous season. He asks if she is indeed carrying his male offspring. It remains to be seen what Cyrus has planned.

While dealing with his sickness, Cyrus is also trying hard to make sure that he makes a mark as the new King. Knowing that his time on the throne may be short, he starts to panic about the previous King’s shadow that’s still hanging over him. He orders new money to be printed, with his face on it. He also halts the unveiling of the new monument dedicated to King Simon, which was commissioned by Queen Helena. Needless to say, the Queen is absolutely furious, when Cyrus cancels the unveiling.

Prince Liam finds out about what Cyrus has done, and goes out to unveil the monument himself. Cyrus gets frustrated, when he sees how much the people love the previous King. He gets drunk and decides to drive his car straight into the glass monument.

Queen Helena tells Liam how proud she is of how he stood up against the King. She admits that she’s gotten tired of constantly scheming and fighting. She talks to both her children and brings up the advice that King Simon once gave them. He said that they must always choose love, and they will be able to get through their problems. The three of them have a rare bonding moment while enjoying a joint of Princess Eleanor’s pot.

After the chat with her kids, Queen Helena decides to follow her own advice. She asks her bodyguard, Lucius, to deliver a letter to Alistair Lacey, her longtime lover. She intends to start seeing him again, after she broke things off at the end of last season. What she doesn’t know however, is that Cyrus had sent assassins to kill Lacey, shortly after she broke up with him.

Speaking of love, Nigel Moorefield is starting to have doubts about wooing Cyrus’ daughters. Princess Maribel and Princess Penelope are both completely swept off their feet by his efforts. However, he tells Queen Helena that he can’t pretend to like them any longer. Helena has a plan to prove that the two princesses are unworthy of the throne, and she can’t risk having Nigel back out. Luckily for her, he finds renewed motivation, when Princess Maribel’s plastic surgery operations prove to be extremely successful.

On a darker note, Prince Liam finally agrees to let Jasper speak to Ted Pryce about the domino pendant that he found hanging on his neck, the night his father died. Ted, being the head of security, takes it upon himself to investigate. He finds some clues connecting domino with the death of his wife, who was hit by a bullet during an attempted assassination of King Simon. When he revisits the scene of the shooting, a man comes up to him and speaks about his plans to rewrite history. The mysterious man also curiously points out that Ted killed King Simon.

Ted looks stunned at the man’s words, but his reaction will be revealed next Sunday, when “The Royals” returns at 10:00 p.m. ET on E!.