Meghan Markle was set to work with Netflix on an animated show several years ago before the project got cancelled(Image: Getty Images)

Meghan Markle is being accused of “ripping off” an author’s book series for a now-cancelled Netflix project through Archewell Productions. There’s said to have been “striking” similarities between her project and the books.

It was announced in July 2021 by Archewell Productions – a production company founded by Meghan, 43, and Prince Harry, 40 – that Meghan was working with the streaming platform on an animated show with the working title Pearl. It was expected to focus on the adventures of a 12-year-old girl, with it reported at the time that she “will be inspired by a variety of influential women from throughout history.”

Meghan was named as an executive producer alongside David Furnish, Carolyn Soper, Liz Garbus, Dan Cogan and showrunner Amanda Rynda. The following year though, it was reported that any references to the project had been quietly deleted from Archewell Productions’ website after the series was dropped by Netflix.

It’s now been reported by the Daily Mail that children’s author Mel Elliott, 51, has said that she sent a legal letter over the project, suggesting a potential infringement of copyright related to her literary character Pearl Power. She’s said to have later followed up with two personal letters to Archewell Productions.

By the time that the Netflix show was announced, it’s understood that Mel had already released three Pearl Power books in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. It’s reported that she had also begun turning Pearl into an animated TV series herself in 2019, with her reportedly introducing the historical element of the character meeting women in history that year when she started early work on the project.

It’s been suggested that a Netflix project Meghan Markle was attached to produce had ‘striking’ similarities to a book series(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

In her initial letter, according to the outlet, her lawyers said that she had been discussing her proposed series with her agent for over two years. They reportedly added that the project was mentioned on her website and on one connecting creators with film and TV producers.

The Telegraph previously reported though that Meghan “was in discussions with Netflix about her animated television series in 2018, when she was still a working member of the Royal family”. It reported four years ago that her and Prince Harry’s team insisted that any discussions with Netflix dating back to 2018 were “exclusively about the Pearl project”.

Speaking to the Daily Mail though, Mel said: “Meghan is a feminist who sticks up for other women, so I was disappointed and confused to see how similar Netflix’s proposed show ‘Pearl’ was to my own Pearl Power who had been created seven years earlier. Of course, I can’t know if anyone on her team had seen it and been inspired by it, but the similarities were too great for me to ignore.”

She added that the arts and media are “very competitive,” with her saying that it’s “quite common” for “powerful” people to “rip off” works of less high-profile creatives. Mel however added that she’s not saying “that’s what happened here”.

Author Mel Elliott claims to have contacted the streaming platform and Archewell Productions over her concerns (Image: @LatestTV/YouTube)

Mel said: “What saddened me most is that, having brought the similarities between my Pearl and Meghan’s Pearl to the attention of Netflix and Archewell, my objection was never acknowledged – neither Netflix nor Archewell responded to me when I would have loved to have contributed and collaborated.”

The outlet reports that Mel’s lawyers wrote to Meghan, through Archewell, in July 2021 that the “similarities” between the proposed animated show and Mel’s work appeared to be “too many” and “too striking” to be a “coincidence”. Her lawyers are said to have added that it also appears there was a “risk” that the proposed Netflix show could “infringe intellectual property rights” belonging to Mel. They are quoted as having said that it could lead to a claim in “passing off” or, in the US, “some form of unfair competition”.

It’s said that no remedial action was taken and that Meghan did not respond. The outlet reports that Mel says she then sent personal letters to Archewell and Netflix in October 2021 and February 2022 asking for updates – amid no further details about the show being released since the initial announcement – but still heard nothing back.

Mel has released several Pearl Power books(Image: Mel Elliott)

The Daily Mail reports that Netflix’s Pearl was cancelled 10 weeks later at the start of May 2022. It was reported at the time that it was one of several animated projects dropped by Netflix amid an apparent reduction in subscriber numbers.

Mel said that she’s “glad” that Meghan’s show was among those dropped and expressed hope that she had “something to do with it”. She said that she had “really wanted” for it to go ahead with herself “acknowledged” or invited to collaborate on it. The author added that if she now works on her “dream project” again, it may now look like she’s “copied” someone else.

It isn’t the first time that Meghan has been accused of “copying” other people’s work in the past, with Mel’s comments coming amid reports of alleged examples in recent years. Recently, apparent similarities between her lifestyle show With Love, Meghan and actor Pamela Anderson’s Cooking With Love series, for example.