'Scandal' Premiere Recap: Olivia Pope and Fitz Are Back Together, Princess Emily Dies

— -- On Thursday's season premiere of "Scandal," political fixer Olivia Pope and President Fitzgerald Grant were officially back together. So that meant first lady Mellie Grant got uninvited from the State Dinner honoring the Monarchy of Caledonia. It also meant that Fitz didn't plan to attend Mellie's official swearing-in ceremony after she won the election for state senator. Clearly, Mellie wasn't having a good day.

At the State Dinner, Press Secretary Abby Whelan ran into her old friend Liv and started gossiping about Princess Emily, an American-born woman who became a princess after marrying Caledonia's Prince Richard. But when Princess Emily overheard them she confided in Olivia, saying that she was sad that no one saw her as a real person anymore.

Is this a bit of foreshadowing? Clearly what Princess Em said to Liv was hitting home. If she were to go public with her relationship with Fitz, would people no longer see Liv as a political fixer? Probably.

Tragedy suddenly struck when Princess Emily got into a deadly car accident. When the queen discovered paparazzi took photos of the princess' dead body, she hired Olivia to get every photo. "I know you can't save her life but please try and save her dignity," the Queen told Liv.

With the help of Quinn, Olivia secured every photo by bribery. Still, Quinn noticed one man who wasn't a photog in one photo. The man was wearing a backpack that Quinn said he used to hack into the princess' car and cause an accident to murder her.

But who would want the princess killed?

Liv turned to Attorney General David Rosen to get the princess' autopsy, which revealed she was pregnant. And after analyzing every photo of the princess posted online, it was clear she was rarely around her husband. So they discovered that she was pregnant with her bodyguard's baby. Liv took this information to the Queen, who revealed she had ordered the hit on the princess. Later, Liv told Prince Richard what his mother had done. And while he buried his wife, whom he loved, he also took the crown away from his mother so she could do no more evil.

Back at the White House, Olivia told Fitz that although he told Mellie he wanted a divorce, she wasn't ready to go public. If you get divorced and "if we are broken going in, they will destroy us," she warned Fitz. And he agreed. "Okay, we wait," he told her. Fitz even ended up attending Mellie's swearing-in ceremony for "optics."

But it was too late because former Vice President Sally Langston on her public affairs talk show revealed photos of Liv and Fitz super-close in the White House. The secret was out: Fitz was having an affair with Liv.

"Scandal" returns Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern time on ABC.