Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson Enters Talks to Turn New Novel Into ‘Bridgerton’-Style Period Drama

Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is in talks with streaming platforms to turn her debut novel, “Her Heart for a Compass,” into a “Bridgerton”-inspired period drama series.

The British royal, who is Prince Harry’s aunt, is already working on a treatment of her historical novel, Variety has learned. The book, which will be published by William Morrow in the U.S. and Mills & Boon in the U.K, is set to be released on Aug. 3.

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“[Her team] is already in talks with at least one streaming service and will be approaching others once a 360-degree treatment of the book is finalized,” a source told Variety. “These will include Amazon and Netflix. Everyone involved is looking at the success of ‘Bridgerton’ as a demonstration of the immense appeal of period drama on streaming services.”

Co-written with her longtime collaborator Marguerite Kaye, “Her Heart for a Compass” is a historical fiction based on the life of Ferguson’s great-great-aunt Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. Set during the Victorian era, it takes place in a series of grand mansions across England, Scotland and Ireland as well as hopping across the Atlantic to 1870s New York.

If the series does get picked up, it won’t be Ferguson’s first foray into entertainment. She conceived of and produced “The Young Victoria,” which was written by Julian Fellowes (“Downton Abbey”) and starred Emily Blunt (“Mary Poppins”).

The duchess is also the author of popular children’s book series, “Budgie the Little Helicopter,” which was turned into a British animated show, running for three seasons in the mid-1990s.

“I’m really hopeful that ‘Her Heart for a Compass’ will come to life on screen: I see it as a TV series rather than a film,” Ferguson told Variety. “Things are at a very early stage but we’re already in talks with some program makers about the potential to make it into a historical drama.”

Ferguson isn’t the only royal to have set her sights on streamers, of course. Her nephew Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex signed a wide-ranging deal with Netflix last year that will encompass documentaries, feature films, scripted television shows and children’s series.

Ferguson is represented by Lacy Lalene Lynch at Dupree/Miller & Associates.

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