Ademola Olonilua
The ‘Megxit’ saga will be brought to screens in a Lifetime movie about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, it has been announced.
Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace will reveal ‘what really happened inside the palace that drove Harry and Meghan to leave everything behind to make a future for themselves and their son Archie,’ according to Deadline.
It is the third in a trilogy of Lifetime films about the couple. It follows 2018’s Harry & Meghan, which covered the early days of their relationship, and 2019’s Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal, which focused on the royal wedding.
Casting for the third film is underway with production scheduled to begin this spring for a release later this year.
According to Deadline, the new film will ‘detail Meghan’s growing isolation and sadness, their disappointment that “The Firm” was not defending them against the press’s attacks and Harry’s fear that history would repeat itself and he would not be able to protect his wife and son from the same forces that caused his mother’s untimely death.’
It will also look at ‘family feuds’ between Kate and Meghan, Charles and Harry and Harry and William, it is reported.
Producers will no doubt draw heavily on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s explosive Oprah Winfrey interview, which aired earlier this month.
It remains to be seen who will play the lead roles, with two sets of actors appearing in the first two films, dailymail.com further reports.
Parisa Fitz-Henley and Murray Fraser played Meghan and Harry, respectively, in the first biopic, which explored how the couple’s relationship blossomed from their first date in 2016 to their engagement in November 2017.
It aired in May 2018, just days before the couple’s royal wedding.
The second movie offered a playful, fictional account of the events immediately leading up to Harry and Meghan’s May 2018 wedding and their first few months as husband and wife. It aired in May 2019.
Actress Tiffany Smith played the Duchess of Sussex, while British star Charlie Field took on the role of the Duke of Sussex in the film.
Family members including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall appeared in the first two films and will no doubt be integral to the third instalment.