Aug. 22, 2026

Did Meghan Markle’s Acting Comeback Already Collapse? Inside “ActingGate,” Money Trouble and the Sussex Split

Show Notes
Transcript

Was Meghan Markle preparing to join season three of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen? Why were the discussions described as “hypothetical”—and did intense British backlash cause the opportunity to be withdrawn?

We examine “ActingGate,” whether returning to acting could revive Meghan’s career, and why some Hollywood observers believe the Duchess of Sussex needs a bold dramatic role rather than another lifestyle project. Could acting succeed where With Love, Meghan struggled—and what would a popular British television role mean for Princess Catherine and the Royal Family?

Plus: Can Harry and Meghan afford an £8 million UK home while maintaining their Montecito mansion? How much are security, mortgages and their international lifestyle costing them? And are Harry and Meghan developing separate professional identities, with Meghan pursuing entertainment and business while Harry concentrates on Invictus, charity and his legacy in Britain?

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

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Ah Calorouga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue.

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I am your host, Mark Francis. There were reports that

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Meghan was in discussions about potentially appearing in season three

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of Gaya Ritchie's Netflix series The Gentleman, which films in

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the UK. This excited The telegraphs Ed Power, who wrote

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The Gentleman would be the perfect vehicle for her to

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restart her screen career. Nobody would ever accuse the Duchess

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of being the second coming of Meryl Streep. However, she

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was perfect for the hokey yet addictive suits, and The

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Gentleman is more of the same, so bad. It's good

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guilty pleasure fodder. But what sort of character might Megan play?

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An American? Obviously, no one wants to hear her attempts

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at role play. Deadline, which first reported the talks, described

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the Gentleman conversations as hypothetical at this point. Royal correspondent

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Bronti Coit l BBC Radio four Today that the opportunity

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was significant and that Megan is very excited about it.

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A source had told The New York Post, you wait,

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they will announce the deal, and then we'll say after

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being back on set, I realized my true passion has

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always been acting. They also saw us an insider who

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knows the couple as saying I thought Harry was driving

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all of this, and Meghan was like, fine, I'll come along,

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only to find out that she also has this acting

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gig lined up. One at observer on X asked who

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moves from California to the Cotswolds to pursue acting. This

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may all be a moot point, as this morning, Tina

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Brown posted on her substack, I learned this morning that

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the casting of Meghan Markel in season three of Guy

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Ritchie's Netflix series The Gentleman has been withdrawn. The backlash

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in the UK was so intense it became untenable to

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go forward. Dan Wakeford, founder of Celebrity Intelligence, told Fox

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News that Megan needs to find an extraordinary script the

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way Demime Wu did with Substance, and do something shocks

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people and gets away from the princess arc. She needs

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to go back to what she loves and what made

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her famous in the first place. With Love, Meghan became

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a punchline when it really needed to be a launch pad,

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and when the show was mocked it poisoned as ever,

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because the credibility was gone. The problem is that Meghan

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and Harry believe the big Netflix deal and Spotify check

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meant they had leverage, when in actuality, the deal and

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the check were the leverage. British broadcaster and photographer Helena

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Charld believes acting is her thing, what she knows best

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and enjoys. Let's hope it's a good production. Royal broadcaster

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Ian Pellham Turner sees the potential career movers part of

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a much broader reset as Harry and Meghan returned to Britain.

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Turner said, Meghan, ever resourceful, has found a way back

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both to acting, which she loves and a lifestyle which

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compliments Harry and the children. I personally feel they will

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create a new life for themselves and try to heal

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the wounds over the next two to three years and

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become an asset rather than a drama for the Royal family.

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But Turner also sees a potential complication if Meghan's acting

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career begins generating substantial attention while with Sussex's simultaneously pursue

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their charitable work in Britain. He believes that could create

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an uncomfortable comparison with the Prince and Princess of Wales.

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Turner warned that it could put William and Kith into

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a media shade which will not go down well with

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them in reality increase the difficulties with the warring brothers.

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Chard meanwhile offered a much sharper assessment, saying it has

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been toe curling watching Meghan put herself on a pedestal

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on occasion when she lacks the skills or merit. It's

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time for Megan, along with Harry, to put a line

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in the sand. Keep busy, work hard, earn money and

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stop undermining the monarchy or palas In just a moment

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in the Daily Mail, Allison Bouschoff asks I wonder which

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billionaire will pay their bills now? She writes, Say what

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you like about Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and of

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course people do. She is well practiced when it comes

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to presenting a highly polished image as a member of

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the super wealthy global elite. It has all become part

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of the lifestyle. She is selling one jarub jam bottle

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of rose at a time via her brand as ever,

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which makes it all the stranger that one of the

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recurring questions about the Sussexes is how much money do

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they actually have? They will now, though, need to find

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or borrow enough money to get themselves up again in

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the UK. Friends say that they are searching for a

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large new forever home and a part of the country

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that cannot be specified for security reasons, but will require

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a budget probably north of eight million pounds, and all

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the while they will have to continue to fund the

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upkeep of the Montecito mansion from which Megan intends to

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continue running her business. It cannot be denied that the

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Californian lifestyle they chose after leaving the UK in twenty

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twenty has been an enormously expensive one. Security costs alone

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is said to have cost at least three million dollars

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a year. Plus they're said to be two mortgages on

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the property. Add local tax x as private school fees

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and all the rest that goes with such a high

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end lifestyle, you might conclude that the funds they bring

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in are stretched rather thin. In recent years, the cosmetics

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mogul Victoria Jackson is understood to have loaned them her

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plane to hop from Montecito to La and from La

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to New York to attend charitable and social events, including

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the seventieth birthday party for Kardashian matriarch Chris Jenna last year.

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Megan and Harry also thought to frequently use Jackson's homes

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in LA and New York, thus saving money on hotels

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and security. Holidays are sometimes taken that the private homes

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of wealthy friends too, again making further savings. It is

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worth considering at this point the sad fate of their charity, Archwell,

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which was essentially wound down in December last year with

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all staff leaving. The only remaining employee, Shorn and Knapp,

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is retained on a consultant basis As the charity transitions

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to a new status, now called Archwall Philanthropies. It is

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no longer an independent charity, but follows a fiscal sponsorship model,

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meaning that another entity will take over its administration. The

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question remains, however, no matter how thinly it's spread, is

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there enough jam in the pot? Now? Also in the

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Male Allison Vine writes, Ostensibly they are doing this so

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that children can benefit from a British education and get

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to know their extended family. But we all know there

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is more, much more to it than that it's not

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just that all those lucrative contracts have melted away, leaving

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little bit jam and flower sprinkles in their wake. It's

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also that the couple's status as royals so important, since

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without it, he is really just a balding, middle egged

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man with very little experience of real work or life,

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and she is just a retired soap actress. Is a

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fast depreciating asset. They need to re establish their royal credentials,

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and how better to do it than to plug straight

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back into the source Britain and the great British public.

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In the US, they were small fish in a big pond.

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Here there will be big fish with plenty of opportunities

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to ingratiate themselves. Mark my words, there will be a

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charm offensive. Who knows, we might even get to see

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the children's faces. Radar Online is claiming that Harry and

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Meghan may be moving toward increasingly separate professional identities as

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they prepare to spend more time in Britain. One source

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told Radar Harry increasingly wants an identity professionally that stands

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independently from Megan's business. That doesn't mean abandoning everything they

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have created. Together, but his priorities have changed. He is

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much more interested in causes, carrying his name and creating

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something with a lasting charitable legacy, particularly in Britain. Royal

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biographer Andrew Lowney has made a similar argument publicly. Lowney

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said Meghan is hopeful that she can make lots of money,

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while Harry has lost interest in all of that, and

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he wants to create a legacy. He wants to go

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back to his inheritance. Another unnamed source told Radar Meghan

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is naturally entrepreneurial and appears comfortable building consumer facing businesses.

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Harry's strengths and interests are different. He gets far more

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satisfaction from Invictus and organizations where he can see a

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tangible social impact. The expectation is that their professional identities

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will become increasingly distinct. The US chapter isn't simply being erased.

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Megan has businesses she wants to develop there, but Harry

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sees the next stage differently. He wants his own professional

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direction rather than every project being presented as Harry and

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Meghan and Britain could become increasingly important to that, and

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they have it. If you'd like to email us who

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and Mike Francis my thanks to John McDermott. This is

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Palace Intrigue. Good terms,

Did Meghan Markle’s Acting Comeback Already Collapse? Inside “ActingGate,” Money Trouble and the Sussex Split

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