It's a birthday celebration they'll never forget!
On this week's episode of The Royals, the palace is buzzing with the excitement of Queen Helena's (Elizabeth Hurley) birthday! However, the queen is already having a bit of a private party in her bedroom with Sebastian (Toby Sandeman), who she has been sleeping with behind her daughter's back.
Their relationship may have an expiration date, but the one between King Robert (Max Brown) and Willow (Genevieve Gaunt) is only beginning. At least Robert hopes it is! "You proposed to me. The sweetest proposal and I said, 'Maybe,'" a remorseful Willow shared. "I'm such a disaster. I just, I didn't know what to say. It was all so sudden."
"It was sudden," Robert agreed. "It was everything I was taught not to be. Tempestuous, irrational, impulsive, but it felt right and it still does. The good thing about the word maybe is there is a 50 percent chance of it becoming a yes. Take some time. Think about it." Who knew Robbie could be such a softy?
Later that night, everyone gathers for the queen's birthday dinner which starts off with a fun surprise. "Mom, Len and I have a surprise for you for your birthday," Robert tells her. Then, Hansel von Liechtenstein (Damian Hurley) makes an appearance. "Happy birthday, bitch!" he said upon arriving.
But that's far from the most interesting guest to make an appearance for the evening. "Hello Mum, you know Katherine (Christina Wolfe)," Prince Liam (William Moseley) introduced his date for the evening. "Wow Liam," Robert said. "I haven't been this surprised since you pulled a gun on me."
As if that wasn't already awkward enough, Robert invited Sebastian to attend and Count Belagio (Richard Brake), a.k.a. Jasper's (Tom Austen) dad, is accompanying the grand duchess (Joan Collins). While she ends up leaving the dinner early because of all the hostility, the count stays and tries to make amends with his son.
Everyone is too distracted with their own drama to know or care. After Robert lashed out at Liam for, you know, bringing his ex to a family dinner, the queen told Robert to leave. Being the stubborn man that he is, he refused and instead she splashed wine in his face.
He finally got up to leave, but not before dropping a major bombshell on them. "Willow and I are getting married," he shared while Willow showed the engagement ring. "Happy birthday, mother. God save the queen!"
With things getting a little heated, everyone took some time to themselves before returning to the table. Jasper finally had a conversation with his father, where he told his son that he was the one who shot him in order to bring them closer. An insane plan, but it did work! When they came back to dinner, it seemed that everyone was a lot more levelheaded and Liam gave an inspirational toast.
"Its been a long time since I've said I'm sorry, but I am. Its been a long time since I've said I'm proud of my brother and sister, but of course I am. Its been a long time since I've been the person I want to be. The person I expect to be. I love my family and I'm sorry I took that for granted," he shared.
"Someone told me recently, 'If you're strong enough to destroy something, you're strong enough to repair it.' I plan to repair what I've destroyed, because you all deserve better." Aww it looks like the Liam we know and love is back!
While things seemed to have worked themselves out, when Robert gets back to his office he finds an unwelcome visitor. "You called me at Christmas and offered me a deal and I took it," Jasper's dad said. Giving up the Count Belagio ruse.
"You benefited nicely. I gave you a story about your son and the princess and you sold it for a great sum," Robert reminded him. "End of transaction. Or don't you people believe in honor among thieves?" It's not going to be that simple.
"Your problem with my son isn't that his father's a con-man…Your problem with my son is that he's common. How about we fix that?" Jasper's dad told the king. "Otherwise, I'm sure the lovely Ms. Day would be thrilled to run an exclusive on the jealous king and his duplicitous and reprehensible actions towards the princess and his very popular bodyguard who saved his life."
Robert decides to tell Jasper that he is going to be knighted, and just when he thought he had solved one problem, another one appears. Cassandra (Emily Barber) is back and has some very provocative intentions.
After she throws herself at Robert while wearing lingerie, the king insists that she leave. She goes willingly, but not before giving him a warning. "You think you're playing with her heart, but she's playing with yours," Cassandra shares. "One thing I know with complete clarity, she doesn't love you." That's something to think about. Until next time, loyals!
Watch the video above for this week's full recap!