Insiders connected to Guy Ritchie’s hit series The Gentlemen have rejected claims that Netflix used the Duchess of Sussex to generate publicity for the show’s latest season.
Earlier this week, sources close to Meghan alleged that the streaming platform had publicised her possible involvement in the crime drama to attract attention and boost viewing figures.
Those claims, however, were dismissed by people with close links to the production of The Gentlemen.
“This is not a show in need of stunt casting,” an insider told The Times.
In August, entertainment website Deadline reported that Meghan was in preliminary discussions about a possible role in the third season of the Netflix crime series.
The report emerged just two days after it was revealed that Meghan and Prince Harry would return to Britain indefinitely with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
However, the reported talks were said to have been abandoned less than 24 hours after they became public, amid fierce viewer backlash.
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“I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn.”
Close friends of Meghan Markle have claimed she was “used” by Netflix to promote Guy Ritchie’s hit series The Gentlemen (pictured in February in Los Angeles)
Season two of The Gentlemen, starring Theo James and Kaya Scodelario, premiered last month
“The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.”
Two months later, friends of the Duchess claimed that Meghan had been “used to help promote” the show’s second season, which premiered last month and stars Theo James and Kaya Scodelario.
One source alleged that Netflix sought to strengthen the show’s publicity campaign because the second season was not “as good as the first season”, despite the third series already having been commissioned.
“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.
The source also claimed the episode had “left a bit of a sour taste in the Sussex camp’s mouth”, arguing that Netflix ultimately “got what it wanted” through increased publicity and higher viewing figures for the new season.
Audience data showed that official ratings for The Gentlemen fell by about 15 per cent compared with the first season’s debut, which was streamed by 3.5 million viewers in March 2024.
The opening episode of season two attracted around three million British viewers in the week after its Netflix release.
Yet questions remain over whether Meghan was ever genuinely in contention for a role in The Gentlemen.
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Meghan played lawyer Rachel Zane for seven seasons in the US legal drama Suits
Meghan’s Netflix deal lapsed last year after her lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, lapsed (pictured: Meghan Markle on With Love, Meghan)
Director and creator Guy Ritchie is said to have responded with a simple: ‘Really?’ when the Duchess’s name was first mentioned, according to The Sun.
When asked if she had a realistic chance of appearing in the series, he reportedly responded: ‘Not a chance.’
Harry and Meghan also face the prospect of a radically different relationship with streaming giant Netflix following the departure of Bela Bajaria.
The Duchess previously had a longstanding relationship with Netflix, signing a $100million five-year deal with the service in 2020. However, this lapsed last year after Netflix panned her lifestyle show, ‘With Love, Meghan’.
The show received mixed reviews from critics, with its second series failing to make the top ten in the UK or the US since 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 last episode aired in 2018 and she joined the Royal Family, she paused her acting career and has not had any parts since.
In 2022, Meghan insisted she had no plans to return to acting – telling Variety magazine: ‘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 – having a small part in the upcoming US film Close Personal Friends, 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.
Yet another source said Meghan was ‘very cautious’ about reading scripts for acting ventures due to the potential of her involvement being leaked to the press. They said whatever Meghan might star 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 and Netflix have been approached for comment.
