Netflix is reportedly preparing to move away from “royal-linked vanity projects”, a shift that could put the Duchess of Sussex’s rumoured connection to The Gentlemen at risk.
The streaming giant’s new chief content officer, Peter Rice, is expected to adopt a notably different strategy from his predecessor, Bela Bajaria, who was widely viewed as Meghan and Prince Harry’s strongest supporter within Netflix.
Bajaria left her position last week after a decade at the company. During her tenure, Netflix released the 2022 documentary series Harry & Meghan, followed by Meghan’s lifestyle programme With Love, Meghan last year.
“There will be major casualties. He [Rice] is charged with finding the next Stranger Things or Emily In Paris, rather than some royal-linked vanity project,” a Netflix source said.
Meghan is reportedly keen to return to acting while continuing to oversee her As Ever business. However, the controversy surrounding Guy Ritchie’s hit series is said to have made her “very cautious” about taking on new scripts.
She is understood to feel “used” by those involved with The Gentlemen after speculation emerged that she might join the cast. The reports surfaced only four days before the Sussexes moved back to the UK.
Guy Ritchie was reportedly involved in preliminary discussions with Meghan. Yet, when asked about the possibility of the former Suits actress appearing in the series, he allegedly responded: “Really?” and “Not a chance.”
A source close to the production also insisted last night that the programme had no need for “stunt casting”. The comments followed apparent disbelief from stars including Theo James and Ray Winstone over suggestions that Meghan could appear in a future season.
The episode is said to have upset Meghan, prompting her to become more selective when reviewing acting opportunities. There are also concerns that producers might use the possibility of her involvement as a publicity strategy to attract attention.
Close friends of Meghan Markle claim she was “used” by Netflix to promote Guy Ritchie’s hit series The Gentlemen
Maya Jama is filming the third series of The Gentlemen alongside Theo James
Meghan’s Netflix supporter Bela Bajaria, pictured this month with Ben Affleck, has left the streamer and been replaced by Peter Rice, the former chairman of Walt Disney Television
Despite the reported change in direction, Netflix is still expected to compete for the rights to Harry’s rumoured documentary about his mother, Princess Diana, ahead of the 30th anniversary of her death next year.
Speculation over whether Meghan might make an acting comeback began just days before she and Harry returned to the UK with their children in late August.
Insiders connected to The Gentlemen have rejected claims that Netflix used the Duchess of Sussex to generate publicity for the show’s new season.
People close to Meghan, however, accused those behind the crime drama of publicising her possible involvement to create headlines. They said the episode had left her with a “sour taste”.
Those claims were dismissed by people with close ties to the production team.
“This is not a show in need of stunt casting,” a production insider told The Times.
On August 22, Tina Brown, the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, wrote on Substack: “I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season three of Guy Ritchie’s series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn.”
“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.”
Hollywood entertainment website Deadline also reported that Meghan had been in preliminary talks over a possible role in the third series.
In September, stars of The Gentlemen dismissed claims Meghan could join the cast, with Vinnie Jones insisting the show already boasts ‘a lot of pretty women’.
In his typically direct style, the British actor and former professional footballer said: ‘I think it’s hot air.’
He added: ‘We’ve got a lot of pretty women in this series, so I’m not sure there’s room for any more.’
Theo James, who plays drug baron Eddie Horniman, joked when asked about the Sussex rumours: ‘No. Prince Harry is playing one of my love interests. So that’s the Meghan Markle thing.’
He later said: ‘I think it’s a spurious rumour. She’d fit in well because she’s actually from the Royal Family, but I think the practicalities of that are impossible.’
Ray Winstone, who plays a drugs baron, added: ‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it,’ but said she would be a ‘better-looking’ addition than him.
Hugh Bonneville, who stars as Lord Hawthorne, was equally dismissive, describing it as ‘a genius bit of marketing by the person who dreamt up that idea’, while new star Maya Jama said: ‘I’d be the last person to know.’
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Guy Ritchie declined to give interviews on the red carpet at The Gentleman premiere in September, where he could have quashed rumours that he had held preliminary talks with Meghan over a possible role in the hit’s third series.
But he is said to have responded with a simple ‘Really?’ when the Duchess’s name was first mentioned.
Asked if she had a realistic chance of appearing in the series, he reportedly responded: ‘Not a chance.’
Meghan’s Netflix deal lapsed last year after her lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan was not renewed
Industry experts even claimed that talks of Meghan being linked with a role in the show could have been leaked as a cynical PR tactic to create a buzz around her upcoming arrival in the UK.
Mark Borkowski, one of the UK’s leading PR gurus, said he felt ‘the timing of this has an ulterior motive to do what it’s doing, to generate as much attention as possible without saying anything at all’.
Addressing claims that it was a deliberate leak from the Sussex side, he told Our News Outlet: ‘It’s totally plausible, because there’s not been a single quote from the production, so they’re enjoying all the publicity, it’s good for them.’
And now, two months after her involvement was first mooted, friends of the duchess have broken cover to claim Meghan was ‘used to help promote’ the second series of the show.
One source said Meghan was used to bolster publicity because Netflix knew the second series was not ‘as good as the first’ and had ‘already commissioned a third’.
‘It’s the oldest marketing trick in the book: get a big name to read a script, then leak that you’re “in conversation” with them when, in reality, nothing is particularly far along,’ the source told The Telegraph.
Audience figures showed official ratings for The Gentlemen fell by approximately 15 per cent from the debut of the first series, which was streamed by 3.5million viewers in March 2024.
The first episode of series two had around three million British viewers in the week following its release on Netflix.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan face the prospect of a radically different relationship with Netflix following the departure of Bajaria.
The duchess previously had a longstanding relationship with Netflix, signing a $100million five-year deal in 2020. However, the deal lapsed last year after her lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, received mixed reviews.
Its second series failed to make the top ten in either the UK or the US following its release.
A Netflix consultant who worked closely with Bajaria told The Times: ‘Effectively their biggest champion has gone and they are uncertain about who will be shouting for their cause in the future.
‘Teams at the company were well aware of how she was fiercely loyal to the couple and determined to prove they were a successful signing, even when the response from viewers was different.’
Before her marriage to Harry, the Duchess starred in the popular US legal drama Suits, playing lawyer Rachel Zane for seven seasons.
But after her final episode aired in 2018 and she joined the Royal Family, she stepped away from acting and has not taken a conventional acting role since.
Meghan is said to be keen to return to acting, both on screen and even on stage
In 2022, Meghan insisted she had no plans to return to acting, telling Variety: ‘I’m done. I guess never say never but my intention is to absolutely not.’
However, she has recently dabbled in a return to acting, taking a small part in the upcoming US film Close Personal Friends and making a cameo appearance as herself alongside Lily Collins and Brie Larson.
She also appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef Australia earlier this year, after filming the episode in Melbourne in April during a four-day tour of the country with Harry.
Another source said Meghan was now ‘very cautious’ about reading scripts for acting ventures because of the risk that her potential involvement could be leaked to the press.
They said whatever Meghan eventually stars in would ‘attract huge interest’.
‘The prospect of seeing her return to acting will drive big audiences,’ the source said. ‘And ultimately, someone – whether it’s Netflix, Amazon or another studio – is going to make a lot of money from it.’
The Duchess of Sussex declined to comment. Netflix has been approached for comment.
