Meghan Markle’s casting in The Gentlemen reportedly withdrawn after UK backlash

Duchess of Sussex was believed to have been under consideration for season three of Guy Ritchie’s crime caper

The Duchess of Sussex’s reported casting in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen has been withdrawn, it was reported.

Tina Brown, the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, wrote on Saturday: “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this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn.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.”

The development comes a day after reports that the Duchess of Sussex was in talks to make her acting return in The Gentlemen.

According to Variety, Meghan was in discussions to join the third season, which has yet to receive an official greenlight.

The Gentlemen series is a spin-off from the 2019 crime comedy film of the same name, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam, with Guy Ritchie acting as creator of both.

The duchess made her name in the legal drama Suits, in which she played the character Rachel Zane for seven seasons.

Her other small-screen appearances include CSI: NY and 90210, while film roles have included a small part in the comedy Horrible Bosses and 2015’s crime thriller Anti-Social. She also led two Hallmark movies: When Sparks Fly and Dater’s Handbook.

She recently filmed a cameo playing herself in the Amazon comedy Close Personal Friends alongside Brie Larson and Jack Quaid.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain this month, six years after leaving for the US, it is understood.

The couple and their two children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are expected to relocate to a property believed to be outside London.

King Charles was reportedly informed last Sunday that his son and daughter-in-law would return to Britain.

Last year the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a fresh multi-year film and television deal with Netflix.

Harry and Meghan struck the original five-year deal in 2020, reportedly worth $100m (£78m), which resulted in a number of projects.

Meghan’s main release with the streamer was the lifestyle series With Love, Meghan. The show received negative reviews from many critics, with the Guardian’s Chitra Ramaswamy calling it “toe-curling stuff” in a one-star review.