‘Suits’ Creator Shared How The Royal Family Controlled Meghan's Role
Before she became the Duchess of Sussex, Megan Markle was building a solid acting career for herself. As Rachel Zane in Suits, it seemed she’d finally found her breakout role. But as Meghan’s romance with Prince Harry got more serious, she was no longer just a regular actress. The royal family started influencing on her role in the show, and they even banned a specific word from the actress’ dialog, a move that baffled the show’s creator.
A blossoming acting career
By the time Meghan joined the cast of Suits in 2011, she boasted over 15 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She made her debut in a 1995 episode of Married with Children, and the future duchess then went on to appear in various other TV shows.
Fans of Fringe, 90210, General Hospital, Castle, or CSI: Miami might remember spotting a young Meghan pop up on their screens! The actress also made her way into some pretty big movies, including Remember Me, Horrible Bosses, and Get Him to the Greek.
The breakout role
While these roles no doubt helped Meghan’s career along, none of them had yet made a bona fide star. But Suits changed all that. A legal dramedy penned by writer-producer Aaron Korsh, it focused on the entertaining exploits of a New York law firm.
Meghan’s character first appeared in the opening season: she played Rachel Zane, a paralegal desperate to make the next step up the career ladder. The actress subsequently starred in over 100 episodes prior to her departure from the show, which she announced in 2017, the year before she married Prince Harry.
“One of the worst auditions I’d ever done”
Mind you, Meghan believes that she came very close to missing out on her big break altogether. “I had gone and auditioned [for Suits] and thought it was one of the worst auditions I’d ever done,” she told Larry King back in 2013.
“I didn’t realize that, behind closed doors, they disagreed with me on that fact and brought me back to test for it,” she added. Instead of feeling instant relief upon getting the part, though, her self-doubt continued to linger.
Overwhelming concern
In fact, all through shooting the first season, Meghan was utterly “convinced” that she’d get the boot. “[I thought about it] all the time,” the Suits star revealed to Variety in 2022.
“It got to a point where the creator was like, ‘Why are you so worried about this?’” Meghan’s nerves ultimately subsided, though, and she gradually settled into her new gig. She began building great reltionships with her colleagues on the show, too.
Strong bond
Yet these relationships weren’t just achieved on the Suits set. “We were in a group email the other day, and I was saying we’d all lived in the same corporate housing — so on top of working together, we were living together,” Meghan explained in 2017, after the show hit had 100 episodes. “Which makes a whole different dynamic, I think.”
She continued, “We just became this whole family right out the gate.” Years later, many of Meghan’s Suits costars were guests at her wedding to Prince Harry in Windsor, including Patrick J. Adams, Sarah Rafferty, Abigail Spencer, Gabriel Macht, and Gina Torres.
Success wasn’t guaranteed
As good as the vibe was, though, Suits’ success wasn’t a sure thing at first. And Meghan was acutely aware of that, given her own previous small-screen disappointments before getting cast.
In 2017 she revealed to Glamour, “I’ve done so many pilots that have never [seen] the light of day and we didn’t know what Suits was going to become at the time. So it’s been such a good transition!” But why did this show resonate while her other efforts had faltered?
“People really relate”
Well, Meghan put it down to one thing in particular: the eclectic cast of characters. “I really do think, like, the sexiness and the intrigue of the show is the fact that these characters are so layered, and people really relate to them,” she told Larry King.
“They know someone or they want to know someone like they see on that show. So I think that's what brings people back. And then the New York of it all is pretty enticing.”
Character growth
Meghan is personally a big fan of her own character, Rachel, on the show and is proud of her development over the years. “I am so happy [with it],” she said in 2017. “She’s worked so hard.”
“I love that, as a role model, how she’s been crafted to balance it all and now have this place at the firm where she really knows her standing,” Meghan added. “[She didn’t get an office] because she’s a good researcher; it’s because she’s an associate.”
Meeting Harry
But while the show and Meghan were at the height of their success, everything changed off screen. In 2016 the actress met Prince Harry. A romance quickly blossomed, and in the winter of 2017, the royal popped the question.
Before things even got to that stage, though, the Suits crew began to notice a shift when it came to working with Meghan. Suddenly, she wasn’t just an actress anymore.
“We’re dating a prince!”
Due to her relationship with Harry, Meghan now had a beefed-up entourage that kept watch over her as she was working on the show. The actress was very much under an intense microscope. That would’ve been pretty hard to ignore on the set!
Looking back on that time, Korsh recalled what the dynamic was like during a fascinating interview with The Hollywood Reporter in August 2023. “I mean, your initial reaction is, like, ‘We’re dating a prince!’” the producer said.
Royal focus
Korsh continued, “But the security and all that stuff, we shot in Toronto and the writers room was in L.A., so other people were dealing with that.” One less thing to worry about, right? But in addition to the entourage, Meghan’s work on-set came into royal focus as well.
For instance, Harry felt compelled to look up her love scenes on the show during the initial stages of their relationship. And it’s fair to say that the prince had been left more than a little uncomfortable!
“Mauling each other”
Harry went into more detail on that front in his much-talked-about book Spare. The royal wrote, “I’d witnessed [Meghan] and a castmate mauling each other in some sort of office or conference room. I didn’t need to see such things live.”
The sequence he’s referring to came in the final episode of season two, as things got steamy between Rachel and the co-lead, Mike. It’s a pretty charged scene, so you’d hardly blame Harry for feeling awkward!
Unusual position
One person who didn’t feel awkward, though? Patrick Adams. The actor who took on the role of Mike was put in a rather unusual position himself when Meghan started dating Harry, as his character was still with Rachel. Yet he took it in his stride, as proved by the following interaction in an “Ask Me Anything” thread on Reddit.
A fan wrote, “What’s it like making out on-screen with the potentially future princess of England?” Adams replied, “The same as it was before she was potentially a future princess of England.” Smooth!
Stepping in
Could the royals have intervened and looked to cut Meghan’s on-screen romance short? Fortunately for the show, that didn’t happen — the love story played out to its natural conclusion. But according to Korsh, they did step in at one point to alter a certain scene involving the future duchess.
Even now, he’s still perplexed as to how they’d managed to read the script for that episode before it was shot. The TV producer provided more detail as his chat with The Hollywood Reporter continued.
“A little irritating”
Korsh said, “I will say, and I think Harry put this in the book, because I heard people talking about it — [the royal family] weighed in on some stuff. Not many things, by the way, but a few things that we wanted to do and couldn’t do, and it was a little irritating.
“I remember one was a particular line of dialog and, look, I’ll just say what the line was. My wife’s family, when they have a topic to discuss that might be sensitive, they use the word, ‘poppycock.’”
“It’s poppycock”
“Let’s say you wanted to do something that you knew your husband didn’t want to do, but you wanted to at least discuss it,” Korsh explained. “In just discussing it, you wouldn’t hold him to anything he said, you’d be like, ‘It’s poppycock.’
“So, in the episode, Mike and Rachel were going to have a thing, and as a nod to my in-laws, we were going to have her say, ‘My family would say poppycock.’ And the royal family didn’t want her saying the word.”
Why was the word cut?
It’s a strange one at first glance — what’s wrong with poppycock? We’ve all heard worse in other TV shows and movies across the years! The word isn’t offensive or anything like that, so why were the royals insistent on cutting it from the script?
Well, after giving it some thought, Korsh offered his views on the matter to the magazine. And to be fair, it starts to make a little more sense when looking at the decision from that perspective.
“Cutting things together”
Korsh noted, “[The royals] didn’t want to put the word ‘poppycock’ in [Meghan’s] mouth. I presume because they didn’t want people cutting things together… So, we had to change it, and I didn’t like it because I’d told my in-laws that [poppycock] was going to be in the show.
“I don’t know how they got [the scripts]. I was aware that they were reading them because I got the feedback, but I don’t remember the process by which they got them.”
Frustrating call
So who informed Korsh that the line had to be changed? Was Meghan herself involved in the discussions? Apparently not. The producer recalled, “No, Meghan didn’t call me. I can’t remember. It might have been the directing producer at the time, or her agent.
“Whoever it was, they didn’t like having to tell me any more than I liked having to hear it.” Putting his frustrations aside, though, Korsh did eventually understand the necessity of the edit for the actress’ sake.
“People are crazy”
“When they explained it that way, and I’m pretty sure it got explained to me that it was about that [splicing potential], I had some sympathy because I wouldn’t want somebody doing that to [Meghan] either,” Korsh continued.
“And the thing is, I didn’t think anybody really would, but also I don’t know. People are crazy. [But] when you’re making and running a show, any time that anybody tells you that you can’t do what you want to do, [being irritated is] your initial reaction.”
Walking away
But following Meghan’s engagement to Harry, the producer faced an even bigger conundrum. As she was now officially joining the British royal family, she decided to walk away from acting. That meant saying goodbye to Rachel before Suits’ small-screen run had concluded.
Luckily for the show’s fans, Korsh gave her a happy ending in the last episode of season seven, as she and Mike got married. The characters then swapped New York for Seattle, Washington, riding off into the sunset.
“A new chapter”
Meghan opened up about her decision to leave acting in the rear-view mirror during an interview alongside Harry in the winter of 2017. And she made some interesting points. “I don’t see it as giving anything up,” the Duchess of Sussex explained.
“I just see it as a change. It’s a new chapter, right? And also, keep in mind, I’ve been working on [Suits] for seven years. We were very, very fortunate to have that sort of longevity on a series.”
“Very proud”
In the same vein, Meghan continued, “I’ve ticked this box, and I feel very proud of the work I’ve done there, and now it’s time to work with [Harry] as a team.
"I think what’s been really exciting as we talk about the transition out of my [acting] career and into my [royal] role is the causes that are really important to me that I can focus even more energy on.” Her final Suits episode hit the small screen towards the end of April 2018. That was just weeks ahead of her royal wedding.
One fewer viewer
Off the back of Meghan’s departure, the show lasted for another two seasons, finally wrapping up in 2019. With 134 episodes under its belt, Suits enjoyed a fantastic run and built a loyal fanbase in the process. But did the duchess stick with it after leaving?
Well, this might come as something of a surprise — she dropped it from her viewing schedule! Meghan admitted that she hadn’t watched the post-Rachel episodes while chatting at the Coach Core Awards in September 2018.
An unexpected resurgence
Mind you, while the show might’ve lost one starry viewer, it gained a boatload more some four years after the final episode aired. Yes, Suits enjoyed an unexpected resurgence in the summer of 2023 on both Netflix and Peacock. Incredibly, Korsh’s creation earned close to 18 billion minutes viewed across the two streaming platforms that July.
No other “acquired title” had ever reached that figure in the Nielsen record books. So how did this happen? Might Meghan have been a contributing factor, considering her continued media presence?
“Fresh material”
Television expert Eric Deggans offered his views on NPR’s All Things Considered show in August 2023. He said, “I’m sure Meghan has her fans. But there’s a few other things here.
“Even though there are usually fewer new broadcast TV shows on in July, the strikes by writers and performers in Hollywood over this summer have halted production and that’s left people looking more to streaming for fresh material. I also think there’s some comfort in starting a series, knowing that there are nine seasons to enjoy if you like it.”
Acting comeback?
The renewed interest in Suits has also had a rather intriguing ripple effect, too. After showing tentative interest in returning to the world of showbiz, Meghan is now reportedly eyeing something of a comeback herself.
Yep, according to entertainment insiders, the Duchess of Sussex has been encouraged to give acting another go, thanks in part to Suits’ summer renaissance. How’s that for a turn-up for the books? One of those individuals went into further detail with Life & Style.
“A demand”
The unnamed insider said, “Suits is such a hit in reruns that Meghan’s being told there’s a demand from fans to see her act again." And he added, She’s excited.
“She’d gotten a bunch of offers over the last five years, but turned them down because she really was trying to embrace royal life and, later, forge a new path behind the scenes in Hollywood with Harry. But now that’s all changed.” From there, the unnamed source shared some very interesting information about Meghan’s ambitions.
"Opportunities drying up"
“With other opportunities drying up, [Meghan is] actively looking for roles and talking to some big-name directors and producers,” the insider added. “Harry is 100 percent supportive of all of it. Acting is what Meghan knows and what she’s always loved.” Given the financial blow their change in circumstances these past few years must have brought, it's little surprise that Harry is in support of his wife's career shift.
After all, the "non-active" royals can no longer depend on their famed relations to cover their travel costs, or their house renovations, or their security... or anything else, for that matter. Which begs the question, could Meghan's reported move back in front of the camera be more a case of need rather than want?
Breaking down Meghan net worth
Meghan and Harry have been on a heck of a ride since January 2020 — and their net worth has hit a few speed bumps as a result. The couple's change in financial fortunes was all part of the plan, of course. But just how much is Meghan actually worth?
It all changed when Harry and Meghan announced they were taking leave of their senior royal status. The pair said in their official statement that they would "work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty the Queen." Which, naturally, meant giving up access to a great deal of money and stability.
Pass the Duchy
Forbes magazine noted in 2021 that Harry and Meghan probably received as much as $800,000 a year from King Charles III — then Prince of Wales — via the Duchy of Cornwall. The duchy is a property and business portfolio estimated to be worth about $1.3 billion.
The fund covers the cost of being a royal — the travel, the staff, and the security needed to work for the monarchy. Now Harry and Meghan have to find this money themselves.
Paying back the Crown
There were other expenses involved in becoming financially independent, though. For example, Harry and Meghan's home at Frogmore Cottage had a $3 million makeover between the years of 2018 and 2019.
But this expense was covered by U.K. taxpayers via the Sovereign Grant. So in September 2020, Prince Harry said the couple paid the sum back into the grant as part of their stepping-back process.
An uncertain future
So while Harry and Meghan had far more advantages than, say, your average college graduate venturing out on their own for the first time, they still faced a somewhat uncertain financial future.
They lacked the stability of Harry's brother, Prince William, who could still rely on the Duchy and the Sovereign Grant. Yet the couple were determined to strive onward.
Essential for their mental health
“It was never walking away; it was stepping back rather than stepping down,” Harry told James Corden on The Late Late Show in 2021. “We all know what the British press can be like and it was destroying my mental health. This is toxic. So I did what any husband, what any father, would do. I need to get my family out of here.”
Harry and Meghan had one major advantage in their favor, too. You could argue that the main reason Harry and Meghan could step back from the royal family was Princess Diana.
Diana's helping hand
Harry's late mother was hounded by the paparazzi throughout her royal life and died tragically early in a car crash in 1997. The "People's Princess" had a will, though, and both William and Harry received an inheritance of roughly $10 million each.
There were reports that Harry had also received some inheritance money from the Queen Mother, too. But this was not the case after Harry and Meghan decided to leave the royal family.
No royal inheritance
"I've got what my mom left me and, without that, we wouldn't have been able to do this," Harry told Oprah in his tell-all interview in 2021. "It's like she saw it coming and she's been with us through this whole process." But that is not the only money they had.
As we know, when Meghan met Harry, she was a working actor making good money of her own. She was reportedly earning a pretty penny by the end of her 108-episode run.
Raking it in
According to some reports, her salary got as high as $50,000 an episode. It wasn't the only job she had as an actor, either. Meghan's other acting credits include small parts in Horrible Bosses, Get Him to the Greek, and Remember Me.
It's been widely reported that the then-actor received about $187,000 for her role in the Robert Pattison-starring Remember Me as well as about $171,000 for The Candidate and $153,000 for The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down.
Big deals
As you can imagine, these kinds of figures all add up to a nice little nest egg. Meghan didn't just rely on her acting chops to bring in her cash, either. Before she joined the royal family, she used to run a lifestyle blog called The Tig.
According to some reports, The Tig was partly responsible for the $80,000 Meghan would bank each year through endorsements and sponsorships. That's somewhat better than the $800 an episode she once got for appearing on Deal or No Deal.
Meghan made millions
The sum that most people said Meghan had been able to amass over the course of her acting career was $5 million. But Forbes reported that her after-tax earnings would have been much closer to $2 million.
Still, that is nothing to be sniffed at — and we're not sure whether that includes her earnings from other ventures. Meghan published a children's book in 2021, for instance.
A best-selling author
The book was called The Bench and was illustrated by Christian Robinson. It was an immediate hit with the public and almost instantly entered The New York Times' bestsellers list. And the rumors — unconfirmed — were that Meghan had also pocketed a $700,000 advance for her efforts.
Harry and Meghan can't rest on their laurels, though. They may not have money from the royal family to support them, but they still have the kind of lifestyle of which most of us can only dream.
Life after the royals
It's not like the pair live in a two-bedroom apartment in an up-and-coming area of an inexpensive city, after all! Their home is a mansion — and they have to pay for it. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex bought their Montecito-based estate in August 2020. The agreed price for their property was $14.7 million.
It is a place that is also home to hardly-cash-strapped luminaries such as Oprah and Ellen. "We did everything we could to get this house," Meghan told The Cut in August 2022. "Because you walk in and go… Joy. And exhale. And calm. It's healing. You feel free." But it doesn't come cheap.
A lifestyle to fund
It seems that the duke and duchess couldn't afford to buy the house outright and instead opted — like so many regular people — to take out a mortgage. According to Forbes, the couple paid $5 million as a deposit and now have the burden of a $10 million mortgage. That deposit — combined with the $3 million they paid for Frogmore Cottage — put a hole in their net worth.
“My life is always going to be about public service, and Meghan signed up to that,” Harry told James Corden. But that dedication — however admirable — must be paid for somewhere along the line.
Netflix money
The couple are not always going to be able to donate their earnings to charity — as Meghan did after narrating Disney's Elephant documentary in 2020. They needed to start making money. One of the most talked-about deals that Harry and Meghan made after departing royal life was a venture with Netflix.
The pair announced the deal in September 2020 — just seven months after they renounced their roles as working royals. The agreement marked a shift into Hollywood, covering five years of TV shows, movies, documentaries, and kids' shows.
Following in famous footsteps
The move wasn't completely unprecedented, though. Former President Barack Obama and his First Lady, Michelle Obama, also signed a deal with Netflix after they had left the White House.
That contract resulted in acclaimed work such as Animal Factory — a documentary that won an Oscar. And even back then, Netflix head Ted Sarandos had said he was keen to work with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
An inspirational remit
“Harry and Meghan have inspired millions of people all around the world with their authenticity, optimism, and leadership,” Sarandos said after announcing the deal with Harry and Meghan. “We’re incredibly proud they have chosen Netflix as their creative home — and are excited about telling stories with them that can help build resilience and increase understanding for audiences everywhere.” And Harry and Meghan seemed just as excited.
“Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope,” Harry and Meghan said in a statement. “As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us, as is powerful storytelling through a truthful and relatable lens.” It probably didn't hurt that it paid incredibly well.
Getting the job done
Forbes reported that the Netflix agreement is worth an incredible $100 million over five years. The exact terms of the contract are unclear, so we don't know whether Harry and Meghan received an advance payment or a lump sum or whatever. We do know, from comments made by Meghan, that the deal has helped to turn their financial situation around.
Before the Netflix deal, Meghan said, they never would have bought their Montecito property. “We didn’t have jobs, so we just were not going to come and see this house. It wasn’t possible,” Meghan explained to The Cut.
Make a house a home
“It’s like when I was younger and you’re window shopping — it’s like, ‘I don’t want to go and look at all the things that I can’t afford. That doesn’t feel good.’” But we know that all changed.
Harry and Meghan were far from done setting up their financial independence, though. In December 2020 — just three months after the Netflix announcement — the duke and duchess revealed that they'd signed a deal with Spotify as well.
Make that money
This agreement spanned multiple years and involved the former royals putting out content through their new production company, Archewell Audio. It wasn't quite as lucrative as the Netflix deal, but it was still a nice little earner.
“What we love about podcasting is that it reminds all of us to take a moment and to really listen, to connect to one another without distraction,” the duke and duchess said at the time.
A passion for podcasting
“With the challenges of 2020 there has never been a more important time to do so, because when we hear each other, and hear each other’s stories, we are reminded of how interconnected we all are.” Spotify was pretty thrilled about the deal, too.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may live in California but the power of their voices rests in their status as citizens of the world,” Spotify’s Dawn Ostroff said.
Powerful voices
“That they are embracing the extraordinary capacity of podcasts on Spotify while also seeking to elevate under-represented voices is a testament to their appreciation for the potential of audio storytelling.” The former royals were likely lured by Spotify's eye-watering offer, too.
The estimated value of Harry and Meghan's three-year contract with Spotify is somewhere in the region of $15-18 million. Forbes said this would mean the couple taking home about $3.5 million annually after taxes as part of the deal.
Archetypes with Meghan
What's more, that wouldn't include anything the duke and duchess were paid to put out a holiday special on Spotify in December 2020. Both the Netflix deal and the Spotify deal have started to bear fruit for all involved. Archetypes launched on Spotify in August 2022 and produced 12 episodes featuring guests such as Mariah Carey, Serena Williams, and Paris Hilton.
It was a ratings success upon release and eventually earned a People's Choice Award for the best pop podcast. And who could forget the controversial documentary Harry and Meghan dropped on Netflix?
Smash-hit series
Harry & Meghan was the name of the six-part blockbuster documentary the former royals put out in December of 2022. The reaction to the series was polarizing, to say the least, but the staggering viewing figures can't be disputed.
Netflix said it had “the highest view hours of any documentary title in a premiere week” after the first three episodes dropped. That equaled 81.55 million viewing hours, according to the streamer. But even these ventures are not Harry and Meghan's only means of income.
Another engagement
In June 2020 the duke and duchess signed with the Harry Walker Agency to deal with future public-speaking engagements. This agency does similar work for the Obamas and a host of other high-profile names.
One consultant who spoke to British tabloid The Sun estimated that the pair could be looking at something between $250,000 and $400,000 for each future engagement. How many gigs they've had is hard to guess, though.
Net worth
When all is said and done, then, people estimate that Meghan's net worth currently sits at about $60 million. That seems to suggest the couple have made good on their desire to “earn a professional income” away from the royal family.
And, of course, there is no telling what the future holds. If they continue to follow the Obamas' example, for instance, a deal with Audible could well be on the cards.