If you spent any part of the mid-2010s glued to E!, you know the drill. Low-rise jeans, heavy eyeliner, and a fictional British monarchy that made the real Windsor family look like a boring Sunday school class. But even among the backstabbing and the palace intrigue, one specific dynamic held the entire show together. Jasper and Eleanor.
Honestly, their relationship was a total train wreck. A beautiful, high-stakes, "I-can’t-look-away" train wreck.
When The Royals first premiered, everyone expected Princess Eleanor Henstridge—played with a perfect mix of vulnerability and "don't touch me" energy by Alexandra Park—to be the typical rebel. You’ve seen it before: the princess who parties too hard to spite her mom. But then came Jasper Frost. Tom Austen played him with this weird, quiet intensity that felt dangerous because, well, it was.
The Blackmail That Started It All
Let’s be real for a second. The way Jasper and Eleanor started was problematic as hell. In the pilot, Jasper isn't some knight in shining armor. He’s a con artist from Las Vegas who lies his way into a security job to rob the palace. He records a sex tape of the Princess without her knowledge and uses it to blackmail her.
Yeah. Not exactly a Hallmark movie meet-cute.
💡 You might also like: Why This Is How We Roll FGL Is Still The Song That Defines Modern Country
But that’s why people obsessed over them. It wasn't "nice." It was "Jaspenor." The show leaned into the toxicity and then spent four seasons trying to redeem it. Most viewers forget that Eleanor actually gave Jasper "blackmail sex" just to keep him quiet. It was dark. It was gritty. It felt nothing like the polished royal dramas we usually get.
Why "Jaspenor" Actually Worked
So, how does a relationship built on a felony turn into the heart of the show?
It’s about the chemistry, obviously. Austen and Park had this spark that made even the most ridiculous plot lines—like Jasper knocking out an Olympic swimmer just to get him away from Eleanor—feel weirdly romantic. But deeper than that, it was about two broken people finding the only person who actually saw them.
Eleanor was surrounded by people who wanted something from her: her mother (Queen Helena) wanted her to be a puppet, the press wanted her to be a scandal, and her flings wanted her status. Jasper? Once the con fell apart, he was just... there. He became the only person who didn't flinch when she hit rock bottom.
📖 Related: The Real Story Behind I Can Do Bad All by Myself: From Stage to Screen
- The Vegas Lie: Jasper’s entire backstory was a sham. He wasn't British. He was a small-time crook whose dad was an even bigger crook.
- The Queen Helena Complication: Remember when Jasper slept with Eleanor’s mom? Talk about a deal-breaker. He did it to protect Eleanor's secrets, but man, that’s a lot of therapy waiting to happen.
- The Love Letters: The Season 3 storyline involving the hidden love letters in the palace library gave the relationship some much-needed softness. It shifted them from "toxic games" to "us against the world."
The Robert Problem
Everything changed when Robert came back from the dead. Suddenly, Jasper wasn't just fighting his own past; he was fighting a King who hated him. Robert Henstridge was the ultimate barrier. He knew Jasper’s history and used it as a weapon, essentially forcing a breakup because a princess can’t date a felon.
This is where the show really tested the fans. Jasper’s "sacrifice" at the end of Season 3, where he tells Eleanor he doesn't love her just to protect her reputation, was brutal. It was the classic "if you love them, let them go" trope, but with way more leather jackets and gin.
What Really Happened in the Finale?
The show was cancelled after Season 4, leaving a lot of fans hanging. But we did get a version of a happy ending. Jasper, having been shot and nearly killed (standard Tuesday in this show), finally gets the recognition he deserves. He’s knighted. Sir Jasper Frost.
In the series finale, they share a dance in the church before Robert's wedding. Jasper basically promises her the world. It wasn't a wedding, but for a show that lived in the gutters of London, it was as close to a fairy tale as they were ever going to get.
👉 See also: Love Island UK Who Is Still Together: The Reality of Romance After the Villa
The Legacy of the Bodyguard and the Princess
People still talk about Jasper and Eleanor because they subverted the "Bodyguard" trope. Usually, the bodyguard is the moral compass. In The Royals, the bodyguard was just as messed up as the girl he was protecting.
If you're looking to dive back into the Jaspenor rabbit hole, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the eyes: Tom Austen does more acting with a squint than most actors do with a monologue.
- Listen to the soundtrack: The music during their big moments (like when Eleanor finds out there was never actually a sex tape) is top-tier 2015 alt-pop.
- Ignore the logic: Don't try to figure out how Jasper didn't go to prison immediately. Just enjoy the ride.
The reality is that Jasper and Eleanor shouldn't have worked. On paper, they’re a disaster. But in the world of The Royals, they were the only thing that felt real. They taught us that you can start in a really dark place and still find someone worth being a "better man" for.
Next Steps for Fans
If you're still feeling the Jaspenor void, your best bet is to check out the cast reunions on social media; Alexandra Park and Tom Austen are still close friends in real life, which makes the ship even better. You can also find the deleted scenes from Season 4 on YouTube, which fill in some of the gaps regarding Jasper's recovery after the shooting and his eventual knighthood. Also, for the real deep-divers, Alexandra Park wrote a memoir called Sugar High that touches on her time on the show and the "Jaspenor" phenomenon.