Meghan Markle's ex-husband to produce story of man whose wife leaves him for a British prince
Meghan Markle’s ex-husband has sold the rights to a new comedy series which will tell the story of a man whose wife leaves him for a British prince.
Trevor Engelson, 40, pitched the idea after a conversation with a friend, musing what would have happened if he and Markle, 36, who he divorced in 2013, had children together and a custody battle was complicated by royalty.
Fox, the television subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, confirmed to The Telegraph that there was "a project in development for pilot consideration".
The network said the "logline" - summary of the show - was: "Divorce is hard. Sharing custody is harder. Sharing custody with the British Royal family in the unforgiving spotlight of London’s tabloid media is next level."
Markle and Engelson met in 2004 and married in Jamaica in 2011. But with Engelson, executive producer of the 1980s-era Los Angeles cocaine trade drama Snowfall, based in Hollywood and Markle working on Suits in Toronto, the marriage ended after two years.
The pair did not have children, and the lead characters of the proposed new series are not based on their lives.
However, the premise has got Hollywood executives salivating.
The untitled show has been snapped up by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox network, which was given first refusal for the project.
Executives at Fox brought on Modern Family executive producer Danny Zuker to write, and a British director, Christine Gernon, to direct.
Industry website Deadline reported that the pilot show had sold for a significant sum – “believed to be the biggest commitment for a comedy pitch at the network so far this season."
It was not clear when filming would begin.
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