Lifetime's 'Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace' Shows Royal Ties Breaking

The third installment of a Lifetime movie franchise, Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace, attempts to shed light onto the British Royal Family behind closed doors. Fans of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are likely already familiar with the explosive Oprah interview that covered their reasons for leaving royal life behind, but Lifetime digs further into their motivations with a fictionalized version of events.

In the made-for-TV movie, viewers are noticing a character named Victoria, who is an aide to Prince William and Duchess Kate and is painted as "the Firm" (and thus, the villain). Is Victoria a real person? Here's everything we know about the character.

Previously, both Harry and Meghan have spoken about "the Firm" or the royal family, which is sometimes known as the "Firm of eight." The eight people "the Firm" would include are Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Edward; Sophie, Countess of Wessex; Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge; Prince William; Prince Charles; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and Princess Anne.

While the details have been kept scarce to the public, it's implied that "the Firm" is the more business end of the royal family and makes decisions about issues that affect the unit as a whole. CNN reveals that the palace employs people in five departments ranging from the Treasurer's Office to the Private Secretary's Office.

During her interview with Oprah, Meghan remarked, "So, there's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution. Those are two separate things. And it's important to be able to compartmentalize that." Meghan appealed to the palace's human resources department for help with her mental health and says she was told that as a member of the royal family, she didn't qualify for help.

The character of Victoria in Escaping the Palace might not be a real person, but she is representative of real institutions in place that were unhelpful in getting Harry and Meghan what they needed to lead happy lives within the royal family. Victoria takes the role of the villain to also avoid throwing blame directly onto royal family members such as Prince William or Kate.

Victoria is played by actress Keegan Connor Tracy, whom fans might recognize as the Blue Fairy from Once Upon a Time, Professor Eleanor Lipson in The Magicians, or as an adult Belle from Disney's Descendants. In a post advertising the Lifetime film, she wrote coyly, "If you love them, you’ll hate her. If you hate them, you’ll love her. It’s complicated."

While Victoria seems to be based entirely on fiction, it's not out of the question to consider that there are people within the British Royal Family who have been disapproving of or unhelpful to Harry and Meghan's needs. After all, the couple's decision to leave the royal family was influenced by their public and private scrutiny. Hopefully, should Lifetime ever do a fourth Harry and Meghan movie, the ending is much happier.

Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace premiered Sept. 6, 2021.