Source : the age
The Duchess of Sussex is set to star in a Guy Ritchie Netflix series when she moves to the UK.
The Telegraph understands that the Duchess is in advanced discussions to join the cast for the third series of The Gentlemen. It is unclear how many episodes she will be appearing in.
The action series stars Theo James as a British aristocrat who inherits his family’s estate and discovers it is home to an underground cannabis empire.
News of the Netflix role comes after entertainment sources told news.com.au on Thursday that the former Suits actress had been offered a part in an upcoming project based in Britain, which sources close to the Sussexes have not denied.
The Telegraph revealed on Wednesday that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were returning to the UK later this month, with their children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, already enrolled at a British school before September.
It is understood the offer of the role, which was only made recently, formed part of the decision-making process in the family relocating to the UK but was not the sole reason.
The Duchess worked as an actress before meeting Prince Harry, and was best known for her role as lawyer Rachel Zane in seven seasons of the US legal drama Suits.
In 2017, she went on an acting hiatus and told the BBC that she viewed her career break as “a new chapter”.
She returned to acting for the first time in nearly 10 years, playing herself in the upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends, starring Lily Collins and Brie Larson.
The family intends to relocate from the US to a private, non-royal residence thought to be outside London later this month.
The Duke and Duchess’s status as non-working royals and private individuals will remain unchanged.
It is understood that the King was not aware of the move until last Sunday, but he is said to be pleased his younger son is coming home and is looking forward to spending more time with him and his family.
The Telegraph understands Harry – who misses the UK and wants to be closer to his wider family – hopes to regain the King’s trust by no longer discussing private family matters in public or giving television interviews.
Prince Harry has spent years revealing details about the monarchy and his personal life. However, the couple plan not to expose their children to the public eye and British media organisations have been urged by the regulator not to disclose the location of the new family home or the children’s school.
The Duke, whose own private security team claimed he was the focus of six terrorist plots, has long fought to be guaranteed police protection, but this has so far been rejected by the courts and the Home Office committee responsible for such decisions.
But the family’s return is set to prompt a review of taxpayer-funded security.
Two senior government sources told The Telegraph that the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, the body that determines the security arrangements of high-profile figures, was likely to review the couple’s security arrangements in light of their plan to return to Britain, and that it might be easier to arrange protection when they are in the UK full-time.
Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, said on Thursday that the Duke and Duchess’s security was a “private matter”, despite the potential cost for taxpayers if their security were reinstated.
No. 10 sources said Burnham’s comments reflected the fact that the Sussexes were private citizens, not working royals, and that their security in California was privately funded.
The couple will retain their homes in Montecito, California, and Portugal, while the Duchess will continue to run her US-based lifestyle brand As Ever – which sources insist is thriving – from their new base.
Despite her hiatus from acting, the Duchess has worked on a number of commercial projects with Netflix under her and her husband’s company Archewell Productions.
The Sussexes had a five-year $100 million deal with the streaming service, which imploded last year amid reports published in Variety that the relationship between key executives in the company and the couple had soured.
During that time, the couple produced a six-part documentary on their life, a polo documentary and a lifestyle show named With Love, Meghan, that failed to make the top 1000 most-watched programmes on the streaming platform.
In 2021, Andrew Morton, a royal biographer, said the late Queen had told the Duchess she was not obliged to become a full-time member of the royal family when she married Prince Harry, and could continue with her acting career should she wish.
“[The Sussexes] were given a degree of latitude,” Morton told the Royally Obsessed podcast.
“They did say to Meghan: ‘If you don’t want to embrace royal duties full time, please be our guest and continue your acting career.’ Those opportunities were open to her.”
The Telegraph, London
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