‘The Buccaneers’ Showrunner Explains the Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Parallels in the Apple TV+ Show: “There is an Obvious Comparison There”

Apple TV+‘s The Buccaneers offers a bold new take on Edith Wharton’s unfinished 1938 novel of the same name. This new version, created by British writer and comedian Katherine Jakeways, uses pop music, anachronisms, and pure exuberance to connect the modern viewer to the wildly wealthy Gilded Age heiresses who make up the show’s cast of heroines. However, by leaning into the modernity of Wharton’s work, Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers also is able to trace some fascinating parallels between the plight of the rich American ladies sent to England in the 1870s to marry impoverished lords and one of the most contentious celeb storylines of the last decade: the marriage of Suits star Meghan Markle to Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

Now, you might be thinking, hold on — what does a fluffy period drama have to do with one of the most polarizing tabloid sagas of our time? Well, if you’ve watched the first three episodes of The Buccaneers, now streaming on Apple TV+, you’re bound to notice some similarities between the trials that the free-spirited biracial American heiress Conchita Closson (Alisha Boe) faces in her marriage to Lord Richard Marable (Josh Dylan) to what the Duchess of Sussex supposedly encountered when she wed into the Royal Family in 2018. Not only does Conchita feel explicitly shunned by her in-laws because of her race, but Richard also suggests the solution to their marital woes is to “escape” to America with their infant daughter because they “work there.”

From the beginning of The Buccaneers, we’re told that Lord Richard Marable has reservations about marrying his beloved because he’s unsure how she will fit in with his uptight family. Even though Nan St. George (Kristine Froseth) convinces him to follow his heart, Conchita’s life in England is miserable. No matter what Conchie does, it’s not good enough. Worse, she overhears Richard venting about how she doesn’t fit in towards the end of Episode 2 — but misses the part where he still loves her no matter what.

Without getting into spoilers, as The Buccaneers goes on, Conchita and Richard’s love match will be repeatedly tested by the opposing forces of romance and duty. Lord Marable may love his wife, but his blue blood family’s claws are sunk in deep. Will he choose Conchie or keep the family rooted in the UK? Would matters have been easier for Conchita if she were, like best friend and new sister-in-law Jinny (Imogen Waterhouse), a blue-eyed, blonde-haired, white-skinned people pleaser? And did The Buccaneers‘s writers know they were opening the door to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry comparisons?

“Well, it was certainly something that we talked about. You know, it would be remiss to not spot. That is sort of a familiar theme in the world that people are aware of,” The Buccaneers creator Katherine Jakeways told Decider. “So, certainly, it’s not something that was a surprise to us as a sort of comparison, but all of that is in the book actually.”

Jakeways had previously told Decider that despite surface appearances, she really sought to honor the spirit of Wharton’s unfinished novel. That includes her approach to Conchita’s storyline.

“That’s what’s so fascinating about it. Conchita is described as looking different from — the color of her skin is different from — the Brightlingsea family when she turns up and they disapprove of her. And Richard is from this very aristocratic, buttoned up, duty-bound family and she is a free-spirited American,” Jakeways said. “So, yeah, there is an obvious comparison there, in a sort of played out, in a modern arena, in front of our eyes, and in the press all the time.”

According to Jakeways, The Buccaneers‘s writers were less concerned with the possible comparisons than they were impressed that Edith Wharton was writing already about these social frictions nearly one hundred years ago.

“But how clever is Edith Warton that she was able to sort of write that in the 1930s, set it in the 1870s ,and it’s absolutely something that is still very relevant today?” Jakeways said. “So it’s just a kind of another example of, wow, this is a really sort of pertinent tale.”

The first three episodes of The Buccaneers are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes premiere on Wednesdays.