Meghan Markle’s reported return to acting continues to generate speculation, with conflicting accounts as to whether the Duchess of Sussex is being lined up to star in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix crime drama The Gentlemenfollowing her U.K. move.
Deadline first reported on the rumors that Meghan could join the show’s cast last week but cautioned that talks were hypothetical, in part because Netflix hasn’t yet officially renewed The Gentlemen beyond its second season, which premieres Sept. 3.
On Saturday, Tina Brown, the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, reported that the offer had been withdrawn, citing a backlash in the U.K. Brown, a prominent journalist who is widely regarded as an expert on the royals, wrote in a Substack column: “I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn. 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.”
However, U.K. newspaper The Sun reported on Sunday that Meghan remained in talks to star in the show, citing an unnamedonal account reported by The Times of London on Sunday suggested that Netflix executives had been unaware of any preliminary offer
red a role, the BBC reported. Bronte Coy, the news.com.au reporter who first reported it, told BBC Radio 4 the project is a “top secret” U.K. production and that it played a “significant” part in the family’s decision to return
Meghan, her husband Prince Harry and their two young children are reportedly moving back to the U.K. this month, ahead of their children starting school in Britain in September. The Associated Press reported that they have already been enrolled, citing a person close to the Sussexes who was not authorized to speak publicly.
According to ABC News, the couple hasn’t decided how long they will stay in the U.K. They plan to remain for an “extended period of time,” according to a
Apart from a recent cameo as herself in the Amazon MGM Studios movie Close Personal Friends, which stars Lily Collins and Brie Larson and is currently in post-production, Meghan’s acting career has been on hold since her last episode of Suits aired in 2018. She played paralegal Rachel Zane in the USA Network legal drama for seven seasons.
Much of Meghan’s recent television work has centered on the Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, which she hosted and executive-produced. The 2025 series grew out of Meghan and Harry’s wider relationship with Netflix. In September 2020, eight months after stepping back from their duties as senior royals, the couple signed a deal with the streaming service through what would become their production company, Archewell Productions. The deal was widely reported to be worth around $100 million.
Their Netflix projects have included the six-part 2022 documentary series Harry & Meghan, Live to Lead (2022), a docuseries profiling prominent activists and leaders; Heart of Invictus (2023), which followed competitors preparing for the Invictus Games; and Polo (2024), a five-part series about players competing in the U.S. Open Polo Championship.
In August 2025, Netflix announced that Archewell Productions had signed a new multiyear first-look deal covering its film and television projects. The terms were not disclosed. Their new output included the second season of With Love, Meghan and a holiday special in December 2025.
Alongside her potential return to acting, the BBC reported that Meghan hopes to expand the global reach of her U.S.-based lifestyle and cooking brand, As Ever, after returning to the U.K. A partnership between the brand and Netflix helped launch it, but the streaming giant stepped down as a backer in March. “As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently,” a Netflix spokesperson told Variety at the time.
Upon their reported return to the U.K., the Sussexes are expected to settle in a privately owned home outside London rather than a royal property, according to the Associated Press. They also intend to keep their Montecito, Calif., home and a vacation property in Portugal. Harry and Meghan do not plan to resume their roles as working members of the royal family.
The Daily Telegraph was the first outlet to report the plans. People magazine subsequently reported on the relocation, while Reuters said a
Neither a spokesperson for Harry and Meghan nor Buckingham Palace has publicly confirmed the move. Harry said he had “nothing to say” when asked about the reports Wednesday night during an event with U.S. veterans in Washington.
The reported move comes as Harry has sought to repair his relationship with his family, particularly his father, King Charles III.
