If, on the off chance, you ever end up marrying a royal, make sure your ex doesn't consider themselves the new Shakespeare or Nicholas Sparks-inspired novelist.

Unfortunately, this is a predicament Meghan Markle and Queen Letizia of Spain know all too well, as their relationships with their ex-husbands is providing the perfect fodder for stirring up rumours about their previous marriages.

As we know, Meghan Markle divored her ex-husband, producer Trevor Engelson, in 2013 after just two years of marriage.

And despite only a handful of well-known television titles under his belt, in September, it was revealed Fox had picked up a fictional pilot he'd written about an ex-wife who marries a prince.

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Wow, Engelson really has taken some liberties with the word 'fictional' here, hasn't he.

The show's pitch reads as follows: 'Divorce is hard. Sharing custody is harder when an ex-wife marries a British prince. Sharing custody with the British Royal family in the unforgiving spotlight of London's tabloid media is next level.'

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While the main characters in the pilot aren't based on Markle or Engelson (so they say) we can't help but wonder where the producer found the inspiration for his new project.

However, Markle isn't the only one with an ex-husband using his high-profile relationship for finance and fame.

In 1999, Queen Letitia of Spain divorced high school teacher Alonso Guerrero Pérez after a year of marriage. Five years later, the then-journalist married King Felipe VI when he was a prince, who ascended the throne when his father abdicated in 2014.

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Similar to Meghan, Letizia was welcomed into the Royal Family, despite protestations from far-right Catholics who didn't think a divorcée should be allowed to marry into the Monarchy.

Now, Guerrero Pérez is reportedly publishing a book called El amor de Penny Robinson (The Love of Penny Robinson) based on their marriage, breakup, and her second marriage.

Funnily enough, the protagonist is called Alonso Guerrero.

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However, unlike Engelson's characters, Guerrero Pérez holds his hands up and admits to being inspired by his marriage to the now Queen.

Royal Central reports the book's publisher's claim the story 'tells an unprecedented real case'.

'The transformation of a man with a life without fright in a media character to whom, by the fact of having been married to the one who was to become the Queen of Spain…

'It just so happens that whoever lived this anomaly is a writer. Now he writes the story of what he lived and, above all, how he lived it.'

Well, inspiration does take many forms, doesn't it?

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Katie O'Malley
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.