Author Carley Fortune Gives Update on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Netflix Adaptation of Her Book

Meredith KileTue, June 23, 2026 at 7:44 PM UTC

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Carley Fortune; Meghan Markle and Prince HarryCredit: Leon Bennett/Getty; Craig Barritt/Getty -

Author Carley Fortune spoke with Jenna Bush Hager about the upcoming adaptation of her book Meet Me at the Lake

The film adaptation of the novel is being produced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Archewell Productions

Book fans have pointed out that the story shares a few commonalities with the couple, including a Toronto setting and a character whose parent died in a car accident

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's adaptation of Carley Fortune's novel is in the works, and the author shared a new update on its progress.

The author announced in August 2023 that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's Archewell Productions had acquired the rights to her romance novel Meet Me at the Lake. While speaking with Jenna Bush Hager on Open Book with Jenna this week, Fortune revealed new details about the film's development, including that a director is attached and the script is "still being revised."

Fortune told Bush Hager that she decided to work with Prince Harry, 41, and Meghan, 44, after a "really good, long call" with Meghan and Archewell film producer Tracy Ryerson. She said she felt afterward like their vision for the film — which follows Will and Fern, "two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects," according to its official summary — was aligned with her own.

'Meet Me at the Lake' by Carley FortuneCredit: Amazon

"I felt like they really understood the story and what mattered about the story," the author said. "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. 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."

Prince Harry and Meghan are advocates for mental health causes, which helped Fortune to put the book's tough topics, like post-partum OCD, in their hands as producers.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend Project Healthy Minds' World Mental Health Day Festival in New York City on October 09, 2025Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty

"What I have found through books is I can weave in things that are really important to me, and people engage with them because they are reading this romance, they know it's going to have a happy ending," she said. "But they are learning about mental health."

When the adaptation was announced, fans of the book pointed out that Harry and Meghan shared other commonalities with the story.

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Will and Fern's story takes place in Toronto, where Meghan lived while filming the legal drama Suitsbefore she married Prince Harry in 2018. Additionally, "one of the protagonists in Fortune's story lost a parent in a car crash and struggled with alcohol and drug use," The Independent reported.

"I'm so thrilled about working with Netflix and Archewell to bring Meet Me at the Lake to the screen," Fortune said at the time of the adaptation announcement. "Will and Fern's love story is dear to my heart, and I can't imagine a more perfect partnership."

The film also has yet to be cast; however, fans on TikTok have pitched plenty of ideas, including Ben Barnes and Logan Lerman for Will and Phoebe Dynevor, Lucy Hale and Sarah Hyland for Fern.

While there's still plenty of work to come on their feature film collaboration, Fortune laughed off Bush Hager's teasing question about becoming besties with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

"No, I am not hanging out with Harry and Meghan on weekends," she said.

"You could!" the Today anchor replied.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”