Meghan Markle’s reported return to scripted television has collapsed within days of first surfacing, according to royal biographer Tina Brown.
Brown, 71, the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, published the update on her ‘Fresh Hell’ Substack on Saturday. She wrote that Markle, 45, had been in early talks to join a potential third season of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series ‘The Gentlemen,’ but that the casting was abruptly withdrawn after intense public reaction in the United Kingdom.
“I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series ‘The Gentlemen’ has been withdrawn,” Brown wrote.
“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.”
“This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the UK.”
The reported role would have marked Markle’s first scripted acting job since she departed the legal drama ‘Suits’ in 2018, the same year she married Prince Harry and became a member of the British royal family. News of the potential casting had first emerged on Friday, with multiple outlets reporting that the Duchess was in very early-stage discussions for an unidentified role in the Theo James-led series, which films in the United Kingdom.
The speed of the reversal is striking. According to Brown’s account, the sheer volume of UK criticism that followed Friday’s reports made the casting impossible to sustain almost overnight. The series, created by Guy Ritchie, has not yet been officially renewed for a third season, and no contract had been signed, but the talks had been characterized as a significant step in Markle’s potential return to acting.
The timing of the original reports had drawn particular attention because they surfaced in the same week that Markle and Prince Harry announced plans to relocate their family back to Britain for an extended period. The couple, who have lived in California since stepping back from royal duties in 2020, are expected to move with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, by the end of the month.
Royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner said on Friday, before the casting was pulled, that renewed attention on Markle’s career could complicate relations within the royal family. He said it risked putting “William and Kate into a media shade which will not go down well with them and, in reality, increase the difficulties with the warring brothers.”
Since stepping back from royal duties in 2020, Markle has built a broad portfolio spanning streaming content, podcasting, lifestyle brands and philanthropy. She and Harry signed a multi-project deal with Netflix after relocating to California that year, which produced their 2022 docuseries ‘Harry & Meghan.’ That original agreement was significantly scaled back last year, when the Sussexes signed a new ‘first-look’ deal with Netflix widely seen as a downgrade from their initial contract.
Markle’s screen work since leaving ‘Suits’ has largely centered on unscripted content produced under the couple’s Netflix arrangement, including the lifestyle program ‘With Love, Meghan’ and the documentary series ‘Heart of Invictus.’ She also presented the ‘Archetypes’ podcast for Spotify before that partnership ended. She is set to make a cameo appearance as herself in the upcoming Amazon MGM comedy ‘Close Personal Friends,’ starring Brie Larson and Lily Collins, after filming the brief role in Pasadena, California, in November 2025.
In the viral moment that preceded this collapse, news of Markle’s potential casting had spread rapidly across outlets beginning Friday, with reports from Deadline, Variety, and other trade publications characterizing the talks as in “very early stages.” The role was reportedly being written specifically for her, though no details about the character had been disclosed. The reports emerged just hours after news broke that the Sussexes were planning their UK return, leading to speculation that the two developments were connected. Australian outlet News.com.au was first to report that Markle had been offered a role in an upcoming UK-based project, with sources close to the Sussexes not denying the report but keeping details under wraps.
Brown, who wrote ‘The Diana Chronicles’ in 2007 and ‘The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil’ in 2022, has established significant credibility in royal reporting. Neither Markle nor representatives for Guy Ritchie or Netflix have publicly commented on the reported casting decision or its withdrawal. Netflix did not respond to requests for comment from multiple outlets.
The second season of ‘The Gentlemen’ is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on September 3.