Considering the public’s fascination with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, it did not come as a complete shock that Lifetime wanted to double down on its fantasy-fiction treatment of the royal couple. So, following the cable channel’s sudsy smash sensation Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance—which tracked the couple’s whirlwind courtship—Lifetime has fast-tracked a sequel, Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal, which will cover Meghan’s first year as a duchess.

In anticipation of the new film—and with two Becoming Royal stills, shared exclusively above and below—Vanity Fair spoke to screenwriter Scarlett Lacey and star Tiffany Smith (Supernatural), who takes over as Meghan this time around. Below, Lacey and Smith tease what audiences can expect from the sequel—hint: multiple weddings, behind-closed-doors conversations between Meghan and Kate Middleton, and an unexpected bonding moment between Meghan and Queen Elizabeth!

The Royal Wedding (and Celebrity-Studded Guest List) Will Feature Prominently

“The wedding certainly looms large,” promised Lacey, of the couple’s widely watched Windsor nuptials. “Like any movie in the wedding genre, however, the buildup and the aftermath matter as much as the wedding itself . . . This film deals with the drama of planning a wedding: the moment you’d much rather elope, the moment your family might mess it all up—and they nearly do! The moment you actually walk down the aisle, the moment you first wake up as husband and wife, the realities of your new life hitting you hard, the first big fight, the first big make-up.”

“We definitely get to see parts of the wedding,” confirmed Smith, who clarified that the film does not, however, include a peek into the wedding reception. “That was probably one of the most surreal days of shooting for me—just putting the dress on and the tiara,” said Smith, before hinting that she had the opportunity to film another wedding for the Lifetime movie: Meghan’s on-screen Suits wedding, which the actress filmed shortly before retiring from the cable series. “It kind of kicks things off. So that was kind of fun and weird. I was acting as Meghan as an actress.”

Lacey also confirmed that the A-list celebrity guests Meghan and Harry invited to their wedding—including George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Victoria Beckham, and Idris Elba—“definitely play a part in the movie!”

Kate and Meghan’s Relationship Will Be Explored

Smith said that—in spite of reports that there has been drama between Kate and Meghan—the relationship portrayed between royal sisters-in-law in the Lifetime movie is sympathetic and supportive. “We got to do some stuff with Kate, which I really liked,” said Smith. “I think one of the biggest things, obviously, about Meghan is that she’s such a supporter of other women and women’s empowerment. That was something I think was important for all of us to focus on, myself included.”

The message in those scenes, according to Smith, is that “women can support women and uplift each other. Tabloids and magazines can say whatever they are going to say, but I think seeing those women and how we may have misinterpreted what maybe went on, it’s going to be exciting for fans . . . What I loved about the script is that it’s really positive and uplifting and paints [the royals] in a really, really beautiful light.”

Lacey said she relied on a smattering of sources—from real life and reports—for her screenplay. “Some of the people I talk to are close to the royals,” she explained. “Others are Hollywood friends of Meghan, and others are journalists and experts in the royal field. But, at the end of the day, the truth is subjective, and I’m using my imagination. In the first movie, we combined the things we knew were fact with universal things that happen to any couple, from the first time they meet to the moment they get engaged. In this movie, we did something similar: we combined events we knew to be true with the universal things any new couple experiences. Then, there’s all the stuff about finding out you’re going to have a baby, and what that means to any two people making a new life together.”