By: Samantha Simon
On The Royals, Elizabeth Hurley plays a ruler unlike any you’ve ever seen before. “She’s not a cookie-cutter queen,” Hurley told InStyle about her character, Queen Helena, at the show’s premiere party in New York City this week. “She’s her own self and she’s out there, so I got to make a lot of it up.”
While it’s certainly clear that Hurley is bringing her own glamorous twist to the new monarchy, she did take a bit of inspiration from the actual royals for her role. “Even though she’s a different generation, I watched the real Queen of England a lot on tape to see how dignified she was when she met her subjects,” Hurley said. “I looked at how she conducted herself, how she stood, and how she shook hands.”

And Queen Elizabeth isn’t the only royal that Hurley channeled when prepping for the part. “I like to think about how Princess Diana could have looked and dressed, had she ever become Queen of England,” Hurley said. “She looked very modern, very fresh.”
See Hurley’s regal look in the show’s trailer below, and tune in for the series premiere tonight (Wednesday, March 25th) at 9 p.m. ET on E!.