When it was announced Lifetime was making a TV movie about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s romance, we all scoffed and rolled our eyes - but it turns out it rather impressed everyone.
Sure, producers may have used some a lot of artistic license, but after it aired in the US on Sunday (14 May), it actually received a surprising amount of praise on social media.
Airing just six days, before the couple are set to tie the knot for real, ‘Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance’ took a closer look at how first they fell in love, with Parisa Fitz-Henley and Murray Fraser (who you may recognise from ‘Victoria’) taking on the royal roles.
First off, many were astounded by the likeness between Parisa and Meghan:
Many were impressed that it tackled some of the tougher issues, including the racism Meghan has faced:
They did their best to try and recreate the details of their relationship we do know about, including the roast chicken engagement dinner...
... and Harry’s letter to the press asking them to back off Meghan
They even shoehorned in this brilliant line from Meghan’s 2016 Elle essay into the dialogue:
Even the much talked about sex scenes were not as bad as most had anticipated - even though there was rather a lot of them:
However, the depiction of William and Kate fared less well with the public:
While Meghan and Harry have kept their relationship largely private, Scarlett Lacey and Terrence Coli - who wrote the TV movie - have insisted they didn’t stray too far from Harry and Meghan’s real story.
“There was so much drama in the real story, we didn’t have to make a lot up,” Terrance said (via Los Angeles Times). “It almost feels like we cheated in a way.”
Executive producer Michele Weiss added: “There were plenty of lawyers who looked over everything… and we cleared.”
While it isn’t yet known what the couple make of the movie (and we seriously doubt we ever will), the palace were said to be concerned about it.
Director Menhaj Huda told Vanity Fair: “What I’ve heard is that they’re seriously worried about the sex scene. My wife’s best friend has been dating the press secretary of the palace.”
You can catch ‘Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance’ on UK screens on Monday at 9pm on Lifetime, available on Virgin and Sky.
Watch the trailer below...