Prince Harry and Meghan buy film rights to Canadian author Carley Fortune’s romantic novel | CBC News

A Canadian author says a production company belonging to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has bought the screen rights for her romantic novel.

Carley Fortune said in an Instagram post she is thrilled to announce she is teaming up with Netflix and Archewell Productions, which is owned by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, on the adaptation of her book Meet Me at the Lake.

The book is about a couple in their 30s who randomly go on a daylong, life-changing adventure in Toronto, where Meghan was living when she met Harry.

Fortune didn’t say whether the adaptation will come in the form of a film or a series in the post but said the book’s love story is dear to her heart, and she can’t imagine a more perfect partnership.

She says writing the book was a tremendous personal challenge, and to see it recognized in this way is truly incredible.

While the novel is a summer romance, Fortune said during an interview with CBC Books in July that her books often grapple with tough subjects.

“Meet Me at the Lake deals with mental health, with grief and loss,” she said. “But ultimately, I want to give people hope. I want people to feel like they’ve snooped on a real relationship and I want to give people an escape.”

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020, moved to the U.S. and, since then, they have launched numerous initiatives including a Netflix production deal and the non-profit Archewell Foundation.

Their Netflix deal included the six-part docuseries Harry & Meghan, which aired in the fall and became the streamer’s best documentary debut ever. Markle’s animated children’s series Pearl was cancelled by Netflix in 2022 as a result of cost cutbacks.

The couple had previously signed a multi-year, $20 million US deal with Spotify in 2020 to produce podcasts. The arrangement ended in June with one podcast released, an interview series hosted by Markle called Archetypes.

It ran for 12 episodes beginning in August 2022 before Spotify announced that it would not renew the podcast for a second season.