The Best Series About Royal Families and Monarchy
TL;DR — The Crown is the obvious, deserved reference point for this genre, but it's worth knowing what came before and around it too, from The Tudors' more soap-operatic register to The Great's deliberately unhinged satire of Catherine the Great, since they represent genuinely different ways of treating the same basic subject: what absolute or near-absolute power actually does to a person.
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Take the quizThe genre's modern standard: The Crown
Peter Morgan's Netflix series, tracing Queen Elizabeth II's reign from her early marriage through recent decades, earned its reputation specifically by treating duty as a genuine, ongoing psychological cost rather than a glamorous inheritance, showing the same constitutional restraint that makes the monarchy function as also the thing that quietly costs its central characters their own personal lives, repeatedly, across decades. Its recasting of its entire ensemble every two seasons to age the characters is also a genuinely bold structural choice most television doesn't attempt.
The earlier, soapier version: The Tudors
Showtime's series, covering Henry VIII's reign, leans harder into scandal and spectacle than The Crown's restraint, and it's worth watching specifically as a contrast in tone, real Tudor political history did involve genuine brutality and instability, and this version foregrounds that instead of the quieter psychological toll The Crown focuses on.
The one that goes further back and stranger: Wolf Hall
Based on Hilary Mantel's novels and told from Thomas Cromwell's perspective rather than the monarch's, this BBC series treats Henry VIII's court as a genuinely dangerous bureaucratic environment where proximity to power is as lethal as it is valuable, and it's a smarter, slower watch than The Tudors covering similar historical ground.
The deliberately unhinged satire: The Great
Hulu's "anti-historical" take on Catherine the Great, explicitly announced as such in its own opening titles, uses real historical figures as a launching point for absurdist, savage comedy about the mechanics of a coup and the specific psychological toll of marrying into unchecked power. It's worth naming specifically because it's doing something genuinely different from every straight-drama entry on this list.
The recent addition worth knowing: The Serpent Queen
Starz's series on Catherine de Medici treats her transformation from a politically disposable teenage bride into one of the most feared power brokers in French history with real psychological specificity, and it's a genuinely underseen recent entry in this exact space.
What actually separates a strong royal drama from a shallow one
The best entries in this genre treat the crown or throne as a role that actively deforms the person wearing it, forcing real personal sacrifice for institutional continuity, rather than using royal settings purely as an excuse for costume-drama spectacle. The Crown, Wolf Hall, and The Serpent Queen all commit to that idea consistently.
Frequently asked questions
What's the modern reference point for this genre? The Crown, which treats royal duty as a genuine, ongoing psychological cost rather than a glamorous inheritance, and restructures its cast every two seasons to age with the story.
How does The Tudors differ in tone from The Crown? It leans harder into scandal, spectacle, and dramatized brutality, offering a soapier contrast to The Crown's more restrained, psychologically focused approach.
Is Wolf Hall told from the monarch's perspective? No, it's told through Thomas Cromwell's eyes, treating Henry VIII's court as a genuinely dangerous bureaucratic environment rather than centering the king directly.
Is The Great meant to be historically accurate? No, deliberately not — it announces itself as an "anti-historical" satire in its own opening titles and uses real figures as a springboard for absurdist comedy.
What's a genuinely underseen recent entry in this genre? The Serpent Queen, focused on Catherine de Medici's transformation from a disposable bride into a feared power broker, with real psychological specificity.
What separates a strong royal drama from a shallow one? Treating the crown as something that actively deforms the person wearing it and demands real personal sacrifice, rather than using royalty purely as costume-drama spectacle.
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