Novelist speaks out about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s film adaptation of wildly popular book after fears it was ‘in limbo’
Novelist Carley Fortune has finally given an update on her page-to-screen adaptation with Meghan Markle three years after it was revealed the former royal had purchased the rights to her book.
It was reported in August 2023 that the Duchess of Sussex, 44, and her husband Prince Harry, 41, had acquired the writer’s second fiction story, Meet Me at the Lake, in an eye-watering $2.9 million deal for a Netflix film adaptation.
After months of no news, however, it was feared the project was ‘in limbo.’
But speaking in a new interview, Fortune, 42, shared a promising update on the movie while also sharing insight into her working relationship with Markle.
In an interview with Jenna Bush Hager, Fortune declared it is ‘so wild’ to be collaborating with the royal couple.
She went on to reveal that she signed over the rights to Archewell after a ‘really good, long call’ with Markle and Archewell film producer Tracy Ryerson.
‘I felt like they really understood the story and what mattered about the story,’ she said in the June 18 episode of Open Book with Jenna.
‘It’s a romance, but it’s very much about a mother and daughter, too, and we talked a lot about parenthood, and also about how these love stories are about so much more.
Carley Fortune has given a sneak glimpse into working alongside Meghan Markle
The Sussexes acquired the rights to Fortune’s bestseller Meet Me at the Lake in 2023F
‘It’s a story about grief, it’s a story about mental health, and so I felt like it was in good hands with them.’
Fortune added that although the project remains in development, a director has been attached and the script is still being revised.
As it currently stands, Fortune’s friendship with Markle remains strictly business.
‘No, I am not hanging out with Harry and Meghan on weekends,’ she joked to Bush Hager.
‘You can, you could!’ Bush Hager, 44, replied.
Meet Me at the Lake is a romance novel that follows ‘two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects.’
‘Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter,’ the official synopsis reads.
‘She spent just 24 hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in the city.
Fortune revealed to Jenna Bush Hager she had a ‘really long call’ with Markle about her book
The Sussexes have a slate of projects underway at Netflix after striking a deal with the streamer in 2020
‘The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.’
The novel sold 37,000 copies in its first week when it was released in May 2023.
Themes in the book include postnatal depression, mental health and childhood trauma relating to the death of a parent.
When news broke three years ago that the Duke and Duchess had bought the rights, Fortune said at the time that she was ‘so thrilled’ about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring her book to the screen.
‘Will and Fern’s love story is dear to my heart, and I can’t imagine a more perfect partnership.’
The Sussexes bagged their massive Netflix deal after stepping back as working royals in 2020.
And while their confessional documentary Harry & Meghan proved to be a huge success, other projects, such as Polo – a documentary about the upper-class sport – only attracted 500,000 viewers.
Last August, the couple signed a new ‘multi-year’ contract with the streamer.
However, the deal has so far not been as lucrative as imagined as the Duchess’s cookery show – With Love, Meghan – was canned in January.
‘As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently, and we look forward to celebrating how she continues to bring joy to households around the world,’ a Netflix spokesperson said at the time.
