Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been exceptionally busy since their stateside move, trying their hand at everything from starring in Netflix documentaries, hosting Spotify podcasts and writing children's books, and now the royal couple has another plan up their sleeve.
According to The Sun, the Duke and Duchess have acquired the rights to turn the best-selling tear-jerking novel, Meet Me At The Lake, into a Netflix film, with the duo planning to produce it.
The emotional novel, by Canadian author Carley Fortune, was released in May 2023 and became an instant bestseller. The fictional story features difficult storylines including childhood trauma over losing a parent in a car crash, mental health and postnatal depression – issues the Duke and Duchess have experienced themselves.
© InstagramMeet Me At The Lake also echoes Meghan's pre-royal life, being set in Toronto, where she lived while starring in Suits, and details a couple who meet and fall in love in their thirties, just like the Sussexes did.
The project marks Meghan and Harry's first foray into producing, though both are familiar with the making of TV shows and documentaries having worked on several over the years.
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What is Meet Me At The Lake about?
Carley's second novel Meet Me At The Lake is described by the author as being about "the unexpected turns life takes, despite our planning."
Carley goes on to share a full synopsis, writing: "Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiralled into a daylong adventure in the city. 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.
"At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s lakeside resort—something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.
© RT Youth Power Fund"She needs a plan—a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.
"But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?"
We can't wait to see how Meghan and Harry produce the book into a film – and who they cast in the piece!
HELLO! has reached out to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's representatives for comment.
