Harry and Meghan's New Project Signals Move Away From 'Dishing Royal Dirt'

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's new project could see them enter the next phase in their entertainment careers, moving away from outputs connected with their ongoing rift with the royal family, a new episode of Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast has heard.

Reports began circulating earlier this month that Netflix and Harry and Meghan's Archewell Productions are working together to adapt the hit novel Meet Me at The Lake, by Canadian author Carley Fortune.

The novel features plot points that align with Harry and Meghan's life experiences: from the main action being based in Toronto where Meghan lived while filming the Suits TV show; to the theme of grief after losing a parent in a car crash, baring parallels to Harry's experience of losing his own mother, Princess Diana.

Though these reports have yet to be confirmed by Netflix or Archewell Productions, the long awaited move of Harry and Meghan into the realm of scripted entertainment could not come at a more important time for the couple, as they move past the controversy surrounding their biggest media releases to date which have focused on their lives in the royal spotlight.

Chief royal correspondent Jack Royston told listeners of The Royal Report that the idea of the novel adaptation was "exciting" for the couple, who have started to see their popularity slowly rising in the U.S. after taking a dramatic hit following the debut of their bombshell docuseries for Netflix last December and publication of Harry's memoir in January.

"It sounds like maybe they've heeded all the warnings and realized that the dishing of royal dirt, while it can draw in huge audiences, doesn't actually necessarily do them any favors in the long run," he said.

"You know, actually they need to be reborn. They need to become something new and different to what they were when they were working royals."

In January, the couple gave their biggest hint that they were planning on moving away from basing projects about their former lives within the British monarchy, instead looking forward to other opportunities.

In an announcement of staff changes at their Archewell Organization, the couple's global spokesperson thanked the outgoing members of their team, highlighting the new direction the royals were taking, telling Variety: "They played a critical role in helping to tell the stories of the Duke and Duchess thus far and the couple remain hugely grateful for their support on those vital 'look back' projects, as they now look forward."

Referring to the potential new novel adaptation, Royston said: "If this is a success, and they can make it work, it could be a whole new lease of life for them [Harry and Meghan]."

"They've so far been caught between the fact that, you know, people want the royal bombshells and they want the explosive drama of the royal soap opera, but it's also this kind of huge reputation or bin fire for them because it just makes them look like they're constantly at Harry's family, including in the aftermath of Prince Philip's death, and also the queen's death in September," he said. "It's really important to leave that behind."

Royston also noted the difficulty that the couple face in a total move away from their royal story, highlighting their leadership docuseries Live to Lead which debuted to little fanfare at the end of 2022. The absence of any royal bombshells or personal testimony from the couple saw it glossed over by reviewers and critics.

"Fiction offers them the opportunity to be really dramatic and captivating, and you know, to give people a literal soap opera instead of the royal soap opera," Royston said of their move into adaptations for screen. "But without having to make themselves the selling point."

In October 2022, Meghan expressed her desire to work on scripted projects for the couple's production company—which is in a multi-million-dollar partnership with Netflix signed in 2020.

The duchess told Variety she wanted to build projects developed from "love stories" which were "fun."

"It doesn't always have to be so serious," she said. "Like a good rom-com. Don't we miss them? I miss them so much. I've probably watched When Harry Met Sally a million times. And all the Julia Roberts rom-coms. We need to see those again."

Newsweek approached representatives of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Netflix via email for comment.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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