Meghan Markle is set to produce a film with a politically-motivated ‘renegade’ as a main character, in a project that could ruffle feathers in the White House.
The Duchess of Sussex, 38, is believed to have worked out a deal with the author of Election Year, Lloyd Scott.
They are said to have drawn up non-disclosure agreements, which will see Meghan overseeing the script’s development in a producer role, The Sun reported.
Meghan Markle is set to produce a film with a politically-motivated ‘renegade’ as the main character, based on author Lloyd Scott’s novel Election Year
Scott’s novel, Election Year, follows Senate staffer Maverick Johnson Malone working for a popular senator Suni Wainwright, who is revealed to be a Russian operative.
Maverick unravels the mystery and is determined to stop Wainwright from becoming the next president in 2020.
Meghan is said to have ‘related’ to the ‘main character’ and reached out to the author about the book.
But the former actress, who starred as Rachel Zane in Suits, has insisted she does not want to act again.
Meghan Markle, who starred as Rachel Zane in Suits from 2011 until 2017 (above), has insisted she does not want to act again
A source told The Sun: ‘Lloyd has been excitedly telling people about the deal. She says Meghan contacted her after being alerted to an internet blog about the book.
‘It would be a great screenplay and Meghan would have all the contacts to make it huge.
‘It contains messages about democracy and standing up for what is right — which Meghan is all about.’
It is not the first time Meghan has taken on the presidency, as she has previously called Donald Trump ‘misogynistic’.
She also labelled him as ‘divisive’ during his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.
This comes after it was revealed on Friday that Meghan has applied to trademark the name of her and Harry’s new foundation, Archewell, for ‘television shows’ and ‘motion picture films’.
Meghan Markle labelled Donald Trump as ‘misogynistic’ and ‘divisive’ during his 2016 campaign against Hilary Clinton
The couple listed many potential ventures in their application to the Intellectual Property Office in London.
They detailed everything from ‘digital entertainment content’ to ‘providing a website featuring information in the field of physical fitness’ and a site ‘featuring information in the field of nutrition, general health and mental health’.
The name Archewell originates from the Greek word arche, meaning sources of action, which inspired the name of their 14-month-old son, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
How are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle filling their days in a 12-bathroom Hollywood mansion? Six months after making a break for ‘freedom’ they are keenly speaking out against racial injustice (but seem obsessed with what they left behind)
By Emily Andrews, Royal Editor for The Mail On Sunday
Why is it that a couple so keen on wanting a new life seem so obsessed with the past? For that is the very strong impression that Harry and Meghan are giving the world. Just six months ago, the couple announced they yearned for a new beginning.
Ripping up the royal rule-book, they stood down as members of the Royal Family, dropped their HRH titles, moved thousands of miles away and embarked on their own way of doing things. A new start. Finally, as they saw it: freedom.
But instead of looking to the future, they seem consumed with what they left behind.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been living in an ultra-luxury Beverly Hills mansion (above) that belongs to Tyler Perry. The eight-bedroom, 12-bathroom Tuscan-style villa sits on the top of a hill in the exclusive Beverly Ridge Estates gated community
Trapped in their vast Los Angeles mansion by coronavirus, their new lives on pause, the couple issue regular reminders to the British people of their charitable concerns, such as saying how ‘humbled’ they are by the work of an organisation that has been delivering food to people during the lockdown. Or Harry apologising for not doing enough to combat racism, that is ‘endemic’ in society.
Last week, we saw Meghan’s explosive accusations over the way she feels she was treated by courtiers and staff who serve the family into which she married.
The former actress claims she was left ‘unprotected’ while pregnant with Archie, that her mental health suffered and she was ‘prohibited from defending herself’.
With remarkable chutzpah, too, she claims their wedding was a £1 billion money-spinner for the UK and that public money spent on her was ‘relatively nominal’.
Perhaps the £2.4 million of taxpayers’ cash blown on renovating Frogmore Cottage had slipped her mind, although they have promised to repay that – eventually.
Far from escaping what the couple saw as the conspiracy against them, and starting anew, this latest salvo, revealed in court documents, has just rubbed salt into old wounds.
For it puts on the record for the first time the very differing approaches towards public duty as perceived by the Palace and by Meghan. Most significantly, she makes clear that she will not abide by the Queen’s lifelong adage of ‘never complain, never explain’.
But if she is ‘relieved that the true extent of what she believes she has suffered’ is now in the public domain, as her slick new LA-based spokesperson says, it has come at a price: attacking the Palace aides who had tried so hard to protect her.
Certainly, courtiers have been amazed at the suggestion that staff were able to overrule the Duchess over what she wanted to do or say, when, in fact, it was clear she was in control of every aspect of her life. The sad truth is that her former Palace team, originally hand-picked by her and Harry, found it hard to deny reports of her deteriorating relationship with her staff because they were largely true.
Meghan’s speech, recorded for the virtual graduation ceremony at her old LA high school Immaculate Heart, paid tribute to George Floyd amid Black Lives Matter protests in the US
‘The stories were a drop in the ocean compared to what was going on,’ said one who knows the Duchess well. ‘They [the Sussexes] come across as needy, entitled and professional victims. It is always someone else’s fault, never theirs.’
Meanwhile, as they sit in their £14.5 million, rented Beverly Hills villa with 12 bathrooms and a swimming pool, what of their lofty aims to ‘effect change’ by ‘pursuing their own charitable interests’ as their website Sussex Royal so grandly claimed?
So far, progress has stalled.
They have postponed the launch of their charity Archewell – named after son Archie – until next year. Trademark applications were rejected by the US courts last month as they were not completed properly, forcing the couple to submit them again, this time including applications for TV shows.
Originally, they had planned to launch a ‘not for profit’ organisation which would ‘advance the solutions the world needs most’, in April. The Mail on Sunday understands that this was to include a Tig Mk 2 – an updated version of 38-year-old Meghan’s lifestyle blog where she mused on travel and cooking, which ended when she married Harry.
Their focus was to be on ‘wellness’, which would include mental health, the environment and female empowerment.
Harry had also planned to advance his rather amorphous plans for sustainable tourism through Travalyst, an organisation established with partners such as Visa, Tripadvisor and Booking.com to encourage holiday-makers to travel in a more environmentally friendly way. The fact that Harry has taken at least seven international trips by polluting private jet in the past year appears to not have made it on to the slick new website.
Of course, these initiatives have been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Forced to hide themselves away in American comedian Tyler Perry’s luxurious mansion, in a gated community with staff and security, Harry and Meghan realised that this was not the ideal time to launch themselves on the world as Brand Sussex.
The couple have been keenly speaking out against racial injustice, as Harry apologised for not doing enough to combat racism, that is ‘endemic’ in society
Instead, the couple were photographed delivering food to vulnerable residents in their neighbourhood and they released video of themselves talking via webcam to a community kitchen project back in the UK.
But as members of the Royal Family back in Britain went into overdrive at a time of national crisis, taking to the digital airwaves, meeting charity staff, clapping for carers, thanking the NHS and jollying the population, the Sussexes were starting to look, frankly, irrelevant. Time, therefore, to up the ante. Letters sent to their UK charities such as Street Games, thanking them for work during the pandemic, contained the phrase: ‘We have been touched to witness from afar the coming together of the organisations we champion and so deeply care about.’
And the protests supporting Black Lives Matter that swept the US offered the perfect cause at the perfect time. Cue Meghan’s speech, recorded for the virtual graduation ceremony at her old LA high school, Immaculate Heart, and Harry’s recent video, recorded for the Diana Award ceremony, apologising for the ‘institutional racism still endemic in society’.
As one observer commented: ‘Harry was apologising and looking to the heavens as if he were some self-appointed world leader. Yet, in truth, he is the epitome of white privilege.’
The Sussexes’ publicists, the celebrity experts Sunshine Sachs, have ensured that their clients’ interests in racial and social injustice are well documented – telling publications that the couple have spoken to a number of Black Lives Matter leaders and community elders. The couple have also blundered controversially into the public debate about Facebook advertising, supporting an advertising boycott of the social media giant over hate speech and fake news.
A spokesman for the couple was happy to say: ‘As we’ve been developing Archewell, one of the areas the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been keen to address is online hate speech, and we’ve been working with civil rights and racial justice groups on it.’
But a Californian source observed there is a big risk with their alignment with the Stop Hate for Profit pressure group: ‘Harry and Meghan want to make their money through public speaking. And yet it is the big businesses and tech giants of Silicon Valley who will pay the big bucks to hear them speak,’ the source said. ‘Is it really so sensible for them to berate them before they’ve even started? Have they torpedoed themselves before they’ve launched themselves on the speaker circuit?
The couple’s Their house-hunting has been put on hold by the pandemic (above, the mansion they are currently living in). Reportedly the couple are looking for a large mansion, with pool and staff quarters, in one of the exclusive gated communities high in the Hollywood Hills
‘Silicon Valley does not forget attacks against it – and has Meghan forgotten that Facebook owns her beloved Instagram [with the Sussexes’ site having 11 million followers]? They seem to flip-flop to a different cause each week, as the fancy takes them.’
One thing the couple were happy to announce to the world, through the trusty channel of ‘sources close to them’, was that they had signed up to the Harry Walker speaker agency, which also has the Obamas, Bill Clinton and Serena Williams on its books.
The most high-profile clients are thought to charge up to $1 million (£800,000) a speech – a revenue stream that the Sussexes will need if they are to find a new home, befitting their celebrity status, not to mention cover their ever-burgeoning legal and security bills.
Their house-hunting has been put on hold by the pandemic. As, apparently, has Meghan’s ambition to publish a children’s book based on the adventures of her rescue dog, Guy.
Reportedly the couple are looking for a large mansion, with pool and staff quarters, in one of the exclusive gated communities high in the Hollywood Hills.
Meanwhile, they have hired a new nanny for one-year-old Archie as they settle in at their borrowed mansion and are still adhering to lockdown rules in Los Angeles.
But how, exactly, are they filling their days?
A friend said: ‘They are not going out much. They cook for themselves and also send their security out for food. They are real homebodies and enjoy doing yoga together in the garden, walking the dogs and watching TV.
‘Their new nanny enables them to work, talking to their team and progressing Archewell.’
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have said they hope to add to their family before Archie’s second birthday next May. Last year, Harry said he wanted two children ‘maximum’ due to the environmental impact
Californians were surprised to see the couple popping into a local hardware store last month – with a big security retinue – and last week they visited a cafe to help prepare food for those in need.
The couple have made no secret of the fact they hope to add to their family before Archie’s second birthday next May, with Harry saying last year he wanted two children ‘maximum’ due to the environmental impact.
But as they officially wind up their old Sussex Royal foundation (yet still keep the website, despite promising they would no longer use the SussexRoyal name), are they contented? Harry has left behind his family, many of his friends and his beloved military duties.
Another major loss for Harry are the Metropolitan Police protection officers who have been with him for years, becoming friends and in some cases mentors. None has remained with him in LA, as the couple have hired new American security provision.
Conservationist Jane Goodall has become a close friend since she met the couple last year in Windsor. In an interview with the Radio Times, she said she had spoken to Harry, and said: ‘I think he’s finding life a bit challenging right now, I don’t know how his career is going to map out.’
Despite the understandable temptation to keep looking backwards, it may help to start looking forward.
Will Meghan Markle’s court case put more strain on her friendship with Jessica Mulroney?
They were once inseparable, but the Duchess of Sussex’s friendship with stylist Jessica Mulroney could come under almost intolerable strain because of Meghan’s legal battle over privacy.
The relationship has already become fraught after 40-year-old Jessica dragged her pal into an online row over racism.
And if she is called to testify under oath about their friendship and what she knows of the Duchess during the case in London’s High Court, those bonds could be broken irreparably.
The Duchess of Sussex’s friendship with stylist Jessica Mulroney could come under almost intolerable strain because of Meghan Markle’s legal battle over privacy
A mutual friend of the women said: ‘Meg needs to be careful. Jess is the keeper of her secrets. She knows where all the bodies are buried and she does not forgive and forget public disavowals easily. She is said to be keeping a note of everyone who has come out for or against her.’
The pair were once incredibly close, having met in Toronto when Meghan was filming the legal TV drama Suits, which made her name.
Jessica’s twin sons Brian and John, now nine, were pageboys at Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, with her daughter Ivy a flower girl.
Jessica helped Meghan choose her wedding dress and was reportedly made a godmother to 14-month-old Archie, although she could not attend last year’s christening at Windsor Castle.
In turn, Meghan is Ivy’s godmother. But last month, Meghan failed to get in touch on Ivy’s seventh birthday, despite normally marking such celebrations with multiple presents.
The relationship appears to have cooled after Jessica became embroiled in a row with social-media influencer Sasha Exeter, who called for high-profile people to be more vocal in support of Black Lives Matter movement, which Jessica took to be a personal attack.
This comes after Jessica Mulroney dragged Meghan Markle into an online racism row with social-media influencer Sasha Exeter, putting strain on their once incredibly close friendship
Ugly messages were sent behind the scenes, with Jessica reportedly threatening to harm Sasha’s career. When Sasha accused Jessica of trying to silence her, as a black woman, Jessica name-dropped her friendship with bi-racial Meghan as evidence that she wasn’t racist.
Jessica apologised, but lost lucrative TV jobs hosting a Canadian reality show and as a correspondent on Good Morning America.
Meghan’s publicists then briefed reporters that the Duchess was ‘mortified’ by her best friend’s behaviour and that she ‘could no longer be associated with her’.
Another friend told the New York Post their relationship was already on the way out, even before that row, because Meghan felt that Jessica was ‘making a career out of the friendship’.
‘The white privilege row has really given Meghan the excuse she was waiting for to cut Jess off for good,’ they said. ‘I don’t know what the tipping point was, but Jess has been on the outs for some time.
‘Their friendship is definitely not what it was. And really, how can you have such a close friendship when one person is basically making a career out of the friendship?’
Meghan’s court case against The Mail on Sunday revolves, in part, around five of her friends who spoke about the Duchess to America’s People magazine.
The lawsuit last week revealed Meghan’s anger with the Palace staff who she claim left her ‘unprotected’. Above, Jessica Mulroney and Meghan Markle together in 2016
In the article, they mentioned a letter she sent to her father, Thomas, which is at the centre of the privacy claim.
The lawsuit last week revealed Meghan’s anger with the Palace staff who she claim left her ‘unprotected’. Turning on her former courtiers, she claims the communications team ‘prohibited [her] from defending herself’.
That claim was met with incredulity by those who know her. ‘Anyone who has met the Duchess knows she cannot be prohibited from anything,’ said one source
The court case raises the possibility that staff who worked in Kensington and Buckingham Palaces may also be called as witnesses.
The court papers, detailed in written answers provided to The Mail on Sunday’s legal team by the Duchess’s lawyers, add to the very public fallout from the Sussexes’ departure from the UK.
The Duchess is suing The Mail on Sunday on the grounds of breach of privacy, data protection and copyright, over the publication of parts of the handwritten letter to her father.
Archie’s first steps! Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son is ‘just about walking’ and is ‘loving life in Los Angeles’, reveals royal expert
By Harriet Johnston for MailOnline
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son Archie is ‘just about walking’ and is ‘loving life in Los Angeles’, a royal expert has revealed.
The Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, are currently living with Archie, one, in Tyler Perry’s $18 million mansion in California, having stepped back from royal duty in March.
Speaking to Entertainment tonight, Katie Nicholl revealed: ‘I think he is just about walking. He’s a very happy little boy, he’s loving life in L.A.’
The royal expert went on to explain how the couple had been ‘loving family time’ and added: ‘They both feel very grateful for that time they’ve had at home with Archie, watching him achieve all of those milestones.’
Meghan Markle, 38, and Prince Harry’s, 35, son, Archie Harrison, one, is ‘just about walking’ and ‘is loving life in Los Angeles’
The royal expert went on to say that the couple are still searching for their ‘forever home’, and will remain at Tyler Perry’s mansion until they have found what they’re looking for.
In March, the Duchess revealed how her son was ‘trying to walk’ during a school visit on her final royal engagements before stepping back from The Firm.
Ms Dear, one of the original ‘Dagenham Girls’ who campaigned for equal pay for women at the Ford car factory in Essex, said: ‘I just had to ask her about the baby. She said to me, ‘He’s exactly ten months today and he’s started trying to walk.’ ‘
The news about Archie comes days after Meghan’s best friend Daniel Martin revealed he joined a ‘fun Zoom call’ to celebrate the youngster’s first birthday in May.
Baby Archie, who celebrated his first birthday in May, is said to be ‘loving life in Los Angeles’ and is ‘a very happy boy’
Daniel, who lives in New York, told People magazine that he has been ‘checking in with’ the Duke and Duchess during the coronavirus lockdown.
The makeup artist, who has been close friends with Meghan for over a decade after meeting on Suits, explained: ‘We did a birthday Zoom for Archie that was fun…Since we haven’t been seeing each other, everyone has been making a conscious effort to check-in, so it’s nice.’
Daniel has often joined the Duchess at key moments in her royal life, including her wedding and baby shower, as well as around the time of Archie’s christening, sparking rumours he was one of the baby’s secret godparents.
The makeup artist, who has been isolating at his home in New York, said he had been ‘checking in’ with Prince Harry and Meghan during the lockdown.
The Duke and Duchess are currently living at Tyler Perry’s $18 million mansion in Los Angeles while they look for their ‘forever home’
The Duke and Duchess have been spending the period at Tyler Pery’s $18 million mansion in Los Angeles, having stepped back from royal duty at the end of March.
They celebrated Archie’s first birthday in May, with a source telling People magazine how Meghan crafting a strawberry and cream smash cake while Prince Harry decorated their LA mansion with balloons.
Insiders revealed how the couple crafted a ‘really simple but incredibly joyous’ celebration for their son, with the trio taking time to video call to chat with his godparents and family.
Charlie van Straubenzee, Prince Harry’s childhood friend, Tiggy Pettifer, Prince Harry and William’s former nanny, and Mark Dyer, his minder, are the only of Archie’s godparents to be revealed.
During a visit to a school in Dagenham in March as part of her farewell tour, Meghan revealed that Archie was ‘trying to walk’
The source explained: ‘Meghan made the cake — strawberries and cream. And Harry helped with decorations and blew up balloons.’
The ‘simple’ and ‘incredibly joyous’ day involved Meghan baking a birthday smash cake for her son with strawberry and cream flavours.
The ‘smash cake’ has been huge in the US for several years and has now taken off in the UK, with celebrities adopting the messy trend. Coleen Rooney celebrated her son Cass’ second birthday with a professional cake smash photo session that she uploaded to her Instagram account earlier this year.
Daniel is believed to have known Meghan for over a decade, having met her while the former actress worked on Suits.
The makeup artist, who is believed to have been close to Meghan for a decade, revealed he has been ‘checking in’ with the Duke and Duchess during lockdown
He has remained in contact with the Duchess throughout her life in the royal family and has often seen her over the last year.
Daniel was by Meghan’s side on her wedding day as he perfected her make-up and attended her famous baby shower in New York last February alongside celebrities like Gayle King and Serena Williams.
He was one of the first to visit the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they moved into Frogmore Cottage shortly before Archie’s birth.
And the makeup artist sparked rumours he could be one of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor’s secret godparents when he shared pictures from London in the days after the baby’s christening.