Meghan Markle And Netflix’s The Gentlemen: What’s The Actual Story?

For the past few days, the entertainment world has been abuzz with conflicting reports about Meghan Markle making an acting comeback in the unlikeliest of places.

Word on the street has been that the Duchess of Sussex had been eyed for a role in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen.

First, she was in, then she was out, then she was never “in” in the first place – with the whole thing being made even more complicated by the fact that none of the parties involved had actually spoken out to confirm or deny the bizarre story.

So, for those who’ve not been following, or just need a recap, here’s a quick reminder of everything that’s been said so far – and, notably, who’s been saying it. Just keep in mind, none of this has actually been confirmed to true (so far!)…

It’s now been over six years since Prince Harry shocked the world by announcing that he and his wife Meghan would be stepping down from their roles as senior royals, and eventually moving overseas.

The rest has been well-documented, but after a Netflix documentary, a tell-all book and numerous revealing interviews, it’s fair to say that relations between the Sussexes and the rest of the Royal Family haven’t always looked the rosiest.

So, it came as another bolt from the blue last week when People magazine reported that the couple were planning to move back to the UK alongside their two children, seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet.

People’s report claimed that two would “establish a private, non-royal home base in Britain” while keeping their production company Archewell overseas, and maintaining properties in the USA (Montecito, California, to be more specific) and Portugal.

It was also suggested that the wheels were already in motion, with Harry and Meghan having already enrolled their children in a school, where they’d begin classes when term begins in just over a week’s time.

This is when things began veering into “hold onto your hats, folks” territory.

While the motivations behind the Sussexes’ move were not disclosed, Australia’s news.com.au was the first to allege that the couple’s decision was based on the fact that Meghan had been “offered a role in an upcoming project based in the UK”, according to their undisclosed “entertainment sources”.

BBC News even picked up on the story, after which the showbiz outlet Variety claimed to have had it “confirmed”.

The journalist who broke the story, Bronte Coy, later told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the role was “significant”, and that the Duchess of Sussex was “very excited about it”.

Meghan last acted in Suits, the TV show where she made her name internationally, before stepping down from the series in 2018 ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry.

Since then, she has had a number of on-screen roles, though not in an acting capacity, perhaps most notably her ill-fated Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan and a guest judging stint on the Australian version of MasterChef.

Later this year, she’ll also make a cameo appearance as herself in the comedy Close Personal Friends, starring Oscar winner Brie Larson, Emily In Paris’ Lily Collins and Crazy Rich Asians’ Henry Golding.

Once whisperings about a return to the acting world for Meghan and a mysterious role she’d been offered, Deadline alleged within hours that she was being “eyed” for a role in a future season of Guy Ritchie’s hit gangster series The Gentlemen.

They cited unnamed “sources” who’d told them she was in the “early stages” to play a role in a potential third season, with a specific part having supposedly not yet “been identified”.

The Gentlemen is a spin-off of Guy’s film of the same name, and proved to be a huge hit with both critics and viewers when it premiered on Netflix in 2024, with a second run due to debut next week.

In the next run of episodes, series regulars Theo James and Kaya Scodelario will be joined by some new additions, most notably Love Island host Maya Jama.

Crucially, Deadline pointed out that the rumoured talks between Meghan and The Gentlemen were “hypothetical” because the show hasn’t even been commissioned for a third season yet.

They also alleged that reps for both the Sussexes and Netflix had “declined to comment”.

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter had its own version of the story that same morning, suggesting these early talks were actually in the “advanced discussions” stage, and that Meghan’s role was “being written” after she and Guy met “through mutual acquaintances”.

Naturally, news of Meghan potentially appearing in a show like The Gentlemen raised eyebrows, with former Tatler and Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown – who penned the explosive royal book The Palace Papers in 2022 – claiming the following morning that the talks had abruptly ended.

“I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season three of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn,” she wrote on Substack. “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.”

She also teased “more to come”, but has not posted since Saturday morning.

Crucially, it’s worth remembering that Meghan’s “casting” in season three hadn’t even been established to be “withdrawn”, with the initial report claiming she’d only entered preliminary talks with show bosses, rather than receiving any kind of formal offer.

A day later, Complex quoted a journalist supposedly in the know, who’d posted on X that Meghan’s casting in The Gentlemen wasn’t “off” because “it was never on”.

He wrote that he knew Guy Ritchie, and that the original story was a “total fabrication” and “ridiculous”.

Well, that’s the exactly it – none of them have commented publicly, although HuffPost UK has contacted reps for the Duchess of Sussex, Netflix and Guy Ritchie for comment.

The second season of The Gentlemen, meanwhile, will begin streaming on Thursday 3 September…