Meghan Markle’s dream of an acting comeback could be over before it ever really got off the ground.
Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, are relocating their family from California back to the United Kingdom, and it was reported on Friday that Markle was in talks to join the third season of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series, The Gentlemen.
But long-time royal correspondent and legendary editor Tina Brown broke the news on Saturday that the offer was no longer on the table.
“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this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn,” Brown—who co-founded the Daily Beast with Hollywood mogul-turned-internet entrepreneur Barry Diller—wrote on her Substack, Fresh Hell.
“The backlash in the U.K. was so intense, it became untenable to go forward. This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the U.K.,” Brown wrote.
The potential role in The Gentlemen was reportedly a key reason the family of four had decided to head back to the U.K., Brown had previously reported.
The Theo James-led gangster caper’s second season will premiere on Netflix on Sept. 3. A third season has not yet been greenlit, but Ritchie—who also wrote the 2019 film starring Matthew McConaughey, upon which the series is based—was reportedly writing a part expressly for Markle.
The role would have marked the Duchess’s return to acting, something she has not done since she finished up her part on the now-cult series Suits in 2017.
Representatives for the Duchess, Guy Ritchie, and Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since leaving Suits, Markle has appeared in numerous documentaries and factual or reality programs. She also filmed a cameo as herself in the upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends.
Markle has struggled to win over the British public during her time as a royal, and the backlash to the announcement of the potential role in The Gentlemen was swift.
Comments on articles reporting the casting were harsh, with many readers saying they wouldn’t watch if Markle was in the show.
On social media it was a similar scene.
“When will people learn? EVERYTHING and EVERYONE, that hitched their wagon to hers, will end in disaster! She hasn’t been successful in anything. Well, except grifting! She is more than gifted at wasting other people’s time and spending other people’s money. That’s her only ‘talent,’” wrote one of many critics on X.
But if the role isn’t actually off the table and Markle is ultimately cast, Britain’s The Sun on Sunday is reporting her fee would be more than seven figures.
“Meghan will be getting at least £1million for a role on The Gentlemen, perhaps even more," the paper reported. “Signing her would be a major coup for the show’s bosses and it would absolutely be worth parting with a sizeable fee.”
