And the battle continues…
Tension inside the palace was at an all-time high as the council vote for the throne grew nearer on tonight's all-new episode of The Royals. While everyone was on edge, both King Cyrus (Jake Maskall) and Prince Robert (Max Brown) employed sneaky and deceptive strategies to get ahead.
Meanwhile, Prince Liam (William Moseley) continued to brood in his brother's shadow, while Princess Eleanor (Alexandra Park) formed a stronger connection with Prince Sebastian (Toby Sandeman) and Jasper (Tom Austen) tried to right his wrongs.
Keep reading for the night's top five moments!
1. Jasper struck a deal.
After Harper's (Margo Stilley) threats to expose his past, Jasper went back to turn the tables on her. He blackmailed her and promised to expose her background if she didn't drop the story about him and Eleanor. In exchange, he offered her confidential information about Prince Robert's attempted murder for a new article. Jasper then tracked down Brandon Boone (Tom Christian), the man who Ted Pryce (Oliver Milburn) hired to kill the future king. He forced Boone to admit to Harper he remotely crashed Robert's plane. But once the interview, Boone had even more to tell Jasper...
2. Eleanor showed her stripes.
Eleanor and Sebastian stripped down to their skivvies for the naked tiger run through the city. But Eleanor made sure to stress the outing with Sebastian wasn't romantic. "No flirting," she scolded him. "Not a date."
3. Queen Helena was caught in a love triangle.
Spencer Hoenigsberg's (Jules Knight) jealousy grew as Helena (Elizabeth Hurley) continued to spend more and more time with the wealthy businessman Jack Parker. After she returned from a whirlwind trip to Paris, Spencer turned in his resignation because he couldn't deal with the rejection.
"You want to resign over a schoolboy crush?" Helena asked him incredulously. "I need you here. You're my friend. In a very short amount of time, you have become essential to me, important. So, stop being a pussy and get back to work!"
4. Liam made amends with Robert.
Liam decided to be the bigger man and apologize to Robert for the way he behaved after the boxing match. "When you were gone, I finally found some direction and meaning, and it's been a struggle giving that up," Liam explained to his brother. Robert then agreed they should figure out how to make the situation better for him.
5. Queen Helena got caught in another triangle.
Robert later apologized to Liam and suggested their mother should be the one to decide which one of her sons would be the best to face Cyrus in the council vote since Liam had been so close to the throne before. But Helena was completely ambushed when her sons forced her to make that impossible decision. "No," she told Liam firmly. "This is Robert's time and no matter how we got here, no matter what transpired along the way, this has always been Robert's destiny."
Liam stormed out of the room as Helena turned to confront Robert. "How could you put me in that position?" she demanded. "You tell him you'll support him as king and then make me the bad guy. We both know he's not ready." Robert admitted it was a treacherous tactic, but he needed Liam to be completely supportive of his claim to the throne.
"I respect your point, but I don't respect your methods," Helena told him. "This was an ambush, a manipulation, and I won't be manipulated." However, they were both in agreement that Cyrus' reign would soon be coming to an end.
"Long live King Robert," she said.