As 2025 comes to a close and 2026 rolls in, Netflix is making numerous changes to its streaming library. The subscription service will add dozens of popular movies and television shows the rest of the month and into January, while simultaneously cutting many others.
One show that is reportedly getting the boot is The Royals, a soap opera/drama starring Elizabeth Hurley that ran on E! from 2015-18. The series is being removed in the United States on Dec. 26, according to What’s On Netflix.
A quick Netflix shelf life for The Royals
On June 26, 2025, Netflix officially added the complete collection of The Royals to its U.S. library, meaning that the program will only have been available in America for exactly six months.
“One of two very short licensed titles on this list is The Royals, which returned to Netflix in the United States this June,” writes What’s On Netflix’s Kasey Moore. “Running for four seasons and 40 episodes on E!, this drama series adapted the book, following the conniving Queen Helena and her royal family, who have flipped the script on what you should expect from them. Produced by Lionsgate Television, the series is departing exactly 6 months after its addition.”
Currently, The Royals is also available on YouTube, with individual episodes costing $1.99. It appears that will be the only streaming option for fans in the United States once the show is taken off Netflix.
‘The Royals’ has earned decidedly mixed reviews
The Royals stars Hurley as Queen Helena Henstridge, the queen of the United Kingdom and also features Vincent Regan as her husband, King Simon Henstridge, along with William Moseley as their son, Prince Liam Henstridge.
Alexandra Park, Jake Maskall, Tom Austen, Oliver Milburn, Merritt Patterson, Genevieve Gaunt and Max Brown also have prominent roles.
While many of the professional reviews of The Royals were tepid at best and negative at worst, the series did earn high marks on IMDB (average rating of 7.4/10) and Rating Graph (average rating of 8.2/10).
However, the show has just a 48% approval rating on Metacritic, with Season 1 garnering a mere 31% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and the
