Netflix Caves After Staggering UK Backlash Forces Major Casting Reversal

Liberty Check

• Duchess of Sussex dropped from Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series after massive UK public outcry
• Royal biographer confirms backlash became ‘untenable’ for streaming giant
• Decision signals deepening divide between Sussexes and British public six years after royal exit

Meghan Markle has been dropped from consideration for Guy Ritchie’s hit Netflix series “The Gentlemen” after intense backlash from British audiences, according to royal biographer Tina Brown.

“I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series ‘The Gentlemen’ has been withdrawn,” Brown, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, wrote Saturday on her “Fresh Hell” Substack, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed. “The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward. This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the UK.”

Brown, a best-selling author of “The Diana Chronicles” and “The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor – the Truth and the Turmoil,” has maintained extensive sources within royal circles.

Reports surfaced Friday that Markle was in early discussions to join the yet-to-be-announced third season of Ritchie’s British action-comedy series. The role would have marked her first acting project since marrying Prince Harry and joining the royal family in 2018.

The swift reversal underscores the enduring tensions between the Duchess and British audiences. After stepping back from royal duties in 2020, Markle pursued streaming projects, podcasting ventures, lifestyle brands and philanthropic initiatives alongside her husband.

Royal broadcaster Ian Pelham Turner warned that renewed attention to Markle’s entertainment career and the couple’s charitable work could “put William and Kate into a media shade which will not go down well with them and, in reality, increase the difficulties with the warring brothers.”

The casting news emerged just as reports revealed the Sussexes were planning to relocate their family back to England by month’s end—a move that would place them once again in the British spotlight after six years in California.

The couple signed a lucrative deal with Netflix for multiple projects when they departed England in 2020. That agreement included their controversial 2022 docuseries “Harry & Meghan,” which featured extensive criticism of palace life and royal family members.

Last year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a new “first-look” agreement with Netflix that industry observers widely considered a downgrade from their original contract—raising questions about the streaming platform’s commitment to the Sussex brand.

The rapid collapse of Markle’s potential casting demonstrates the growing gap between the Sussexes’ Hollywood ambitions and public sentiment in the United Kingdom. Despite years away from Britain, the couple’s decisions continue to generate fierce debate across the Atlantic.

Americans deserve better than Hollywood elites who lecture from California mansions while cashing checks from the institutions they publicly criticize.