Meghan Markle's casting in The Gentlemen reportedly withdrawn after UK backlash

Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, wrote on Saturday that she had learned Meghan Markle's casting in the third season of Guy Ritchie's Netflix series The Gentlemen had been withdrawn. She said the backlash in the UK had been so intense that continuing with the plan became untenable.

The report followed news from Variety a day earlier that the Duchess of Sussex was in discussions to join the show's third season, which has not yet received an official greenlight. The Gentlemen is a spin-off of the 2019 crime comedy of the same name, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam, with Ritchie serving as creator on both.

Meghan built her acting profile through the legal drama Suits, in which she played Rachel Zane for seven seasons. Her other television credits include CSI: NY and 90210, while her film work has included a small role in the comedy Horrible Bosses and the 2015 crime thriller Anti-Social. She also starred in two Hallmark films, When Sparks Fly and Dater's Handbook. More recently, she filmed a cameo as herself in the Amazon comedy Close Personal Friends alongside Brie Larson and Jack Quaid.

Separately, it is understood the Duke and Duchess of Sussex plan to relocate to Britain this month with their children, seven-year-old Prince Archie and five-year-old Princess Lilibet, six years after moving to the United States. The family is expected to settle in a property believed to be outside London, and King Charles was reportedly told of the move last Sunday.

Last year, Harry and Meghan signed a new multi-year film and television deal with Netflix, building on their original five-year agreement from 2020, reportedly worth around $100m. Meghan's main project for the streamer was the lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, which drew largely negative reviews from critics, including a one-star write-up from the Guardian's Chitra Ramaswamy.