Lifetime will not be silent or silenced. In the aftermath of Oprah Winfrey’s enlightening interview with the artists formerly known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Lifetime has green-lit Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace, promising to “reveal what ultimately led to the couple’s break from the royal family,†per a release. This is the third film in Lifetime’s chronicle of their love story. It follows 2018’s Harry & Meghan and 2019’s Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal, which each had different actors playing the couple: Parisa Fitz-Henley as Meghan and Murray Fraser as Harry in 2018, then Meghan Markle doppelgänger Tiffany Smith and Charlie Field in 2019. Casting is currently underway on the third film and production is set for spring, with an eye toward a fall release. Menhaj Huda, director of the first two films, and Scarlett Lacey, who co-wrote the original and wrote the sequel, both return while Meredith Finn and Michele Weiss executive produce.
“The movie 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,†reads the logline. “Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace will also reveal the private family feuds between Will and Harry, Kate and Meghan, and Harry with Will and Charles, that lead to the ultimate break from the royal ties.†2021 brings a third Harry & Meghan, yet the Cambridge cheating scandal lives only in a Nicole Cliffe thread. Lifetime, do we have a drama for you …