The Duchess of Sussex’s anticipated return to scripted television in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix gangster comedy-drama The Gentlemen has been cast into doubt following a public backlash.
The reported reversal came less than 24 hours after GB News confirmed on Friday that Meghan was in advanced discussions for a significant part in the show.
The role would have coincided with the family’s planned move back to Britain alongside Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie, aged seven, and Princess Lilibet, aged five, scheduled for the end of this month.
By Saturday evening, claims emerged that the deal had collapsed entirely, raising questions about the duchess’s prospects of resuming her acting career on British soil.
The Duchess of Sussex’s anticipated return to scripted television in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix gangster comedy-drama The Gentlemen has been cast into doubt following a public backlash
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Tina Brown, the former editor of Tatler and Vanity Fair who is considered well-connected in American entertainment circles, posted on X that the casting had been pulled.
“I learned this morning the casting of Meghan in The Gentlemen has been withdrawn,” she wrote. “The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable. This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the UK.”
Netflix is expected to make its commissioning announcements next week.
GB News has sought comment from both the Duchess of Sussex and the streaming platform.
The Gentlemen on Netflix is directed by Guy Ritchie
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GETTYNeither the duchess nor Netflix had responded publicly at the time of writing, leaving the status of any agreement unconfirmed beyond Brown’s claim.
According to sources, the offer, made only recently, played a role in the couple’s decision to relocate to the UK but was not the sole factor behind the move.
Having spent more than six years in the United States, the duke and duchess plan to settle in a private, non-royal property believed to be outside London later this month.
Their status as non-working royals and private citizens will not change.
Meghan Markle was previously in Suits for seven seasons | GETTYThe Gentlemen, which first aired in 2024 as Ritchie’s debut television project, stars Theo James as a man who inherits a family estate only to discover it conceals an underground cannabis operation.
His character’s journey from aristocrat to drug lord drives the action-comedy, which Netflix commissioned for a second series before the third was mooted.
Before meeting Prince Harry, the duchess was best known for portraying lawyer Rachel Zane across seven seasons of the American legal drama Suits.
She stepped away from acting in 2017, describing the decision to the BBC as “a new chapter” following her introduction to the duke the previous year.
More recently, she made a return to the screen with a cameo appearance as herself in the upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends, which stars Lily Collins and Brie Larson.
A part in The Gentlemen would have deepened an already extensive relationship between the duchess and Netflix.
The streaming service served as a commercial partner for her US-based lifestyle brand, As Ever, which she intends to continue operating from Britain, and hosted her unscripted programme, With Love, Meghan.
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