MEGHAN MARKLE’S PLANNED RETURN TO THE SCREEN HAS COLLAPSED AMID CLAIMS SHE WAS CAUGHT UP IN A PUBLICITY GAME! The Duchess of Sussex appeared to be considering a remarkable television comeback, with talks reportedly taking place over a role in Netflix’s hit drama The Gentlemen. For a former actress who stepped away from Hollywood after marrying Prince Harry, the opportunity carried particular significance. But those discussions have now fallen apart, and Meghan’s friends are painting a very different picture of what happened. Their account raises an awkward question about how her name became attached to the project in the first place. READ MORE BELOW 👇👇👇

Meghan Markle is no longer in talks for Netflix’s The Gentlemen.

The Duchess of Sussex, 45, was previously being considered for a part in the third season of the Guy Ritchie-created drama amid her and Prince Harry’s move back to the U.K.

However, sources close to Meghan told The Telegraph she is no longer in talks for a part, and they accused Netflix of leaking Meghan’s potential involvement, alleging she was “used to help promote” the series.

“Some people in her camp feel she was used to help promote season two, because they knew it wasn’t as good as the first season and had already commissioned a third,” one insider told the outlet. “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.”

Representatives for both Meghan and Netflix did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Sunday, Oct. 18.

Season 2 of The Gentleman, which stars Theo James and Kaya Scodelario, premiered on Netflix on Sept. 3.

The show — set in England and filmed in the U.K. — was renewed for a third season earlier this year, with Variety reporting on Aug. 24 that the new season was already in pre-production and scripts were still being finalized.

Deadline previously reported that talks for Meghan to join were in the “very early stages,” while The Hollywood Reporter reported that the role “is currently being written, so it’s unclear how many episodes she would appear in.”

The role would have marked Meghan’s most significant acting role since she left Suits. Meghan played Rachel Zane in the legal drama for seven seasons.

Meghan notably told Variety in a 2022 interview that she was “done” with acting, though she filmed a cameo in Close Personal Friends, an upcoming movie starring Lily Collins and Jack Quaid. A release date for the film has not been announced.

Insiders said Meghan and Harry, 42, had been discussing Meghan’s return to acting for some time before the opportunity arose. PEOPLE understands that Meghan is excited to return to acting and is exploring opportunities.

In recent years, Meghan has dabbled in on-screen projects, filming two seasons and a holiday special for her Netflix lifestyle show With Love, Meghan, which premiered in 2025.

PEOPLE previously learned the Duchess of Sussex had been offered a major new project, with the offer helping shape the timing of her and Harry’s return to the U.K. with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.

The family landed in Britain on Aug. 26, just days after Meghan and Harry announced their plan to move their family back to the U.K. Archie and Lilibet began school in Britain in September.

PEOPLE previously reported that the family would establish a private, nonroyal home base believed to be outside London, and that they would also retain their residence in Montecito, California, as well as their vacation property in Portugal.

“Step by step, they want to be in the U.K.,” a source close to Harry told PEOPLE in a recent cover story. “They want to have the time and give the kids the opportunity to be here.”

The source close to the couple added that Harry “never really stopped missing home.”

“He’s missed that sense of connection and belonging. Britain is still home in many ways,” they said.