Everything Meghan Markle Said About Archie and Lilibet's Hollywood Futures

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle split from the monarchy and moved to the U.S. in 2020, they have forged careers in the entertainment and philanthropic spaces, launching a charitable foundation and two production companies under their Archewell organization banner.

Though the duke and duchess have attracted both praise and criticism through their professional endeavors, they have maintained a strong focus on their most-important roles, those of being parents to their two young children: Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2.

Harry and Meghan have made efforts to raise their children out of the public eye by strictly protecting information about the prince and princess and releasing only a small number of photographs of them over the years.

Despite this, speculation has arisen about what public lives, if any, Archie and Lilibet may one day choose to live. As a prince and princess, sixth and seventh in line to become Britain's next king or queen, there is a vested interest in the children in Harry's birth country. However, as the children of non-working royals following Harry and Meghan's split from the monarchy, the likelihood of them ever performing royal duties is slim.

Others have speculated that the Sussex children may one day join their parents in the entertainment industry.

Meghan has lived around the entertainment industry and worked as a professional there for most of her life. As an actress, her most-famous role was that of paralegal Rachel Zane in the legal drama Suits from 2011 to 2018. Since 2020, the duchess (alongside Harry) has produced docuseries, TV projects and podcasts with some of Hollywood's biggest streaming agencies.

Archie and Lilibet earned their first onscreen credits in their parents' 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, where they appeared in self-shot home-movie footage included in the narrative storytelling of the royal couple's relationship.

But what does Meghan think of her children potentially joining one of the toughest professional industries out there?

When asked by Variety magazine in 2022, the duchess said she would be very supportive, but that she knows they would be followed by accusations of being wherever they are by virtue of who their parents are or what titles they may have.

"I would say, 'Great!' When you become a parent, you genuinely want your kids to find the things that bring them complete joy," Meghan said of her response if Archie or Lilibet approached her about careers in Hollywood.

"They're our kids, obviously, and they're part of a legacy and a tradition and a family that will have other expectations. But I want them to be able to carve out their own path. If it's the entertainment industry, great. And also, good luck."

On the potential criticism of her children and any perceived role that nepotism may play in helping them achieve in the industry, Meghan added that, regardless of background, hard work and talent are still required.

"There are so many people that will talk about what opened the door for my children," she said. "But it still takes talent and a lot of grit. We're creating multidimensional, interesting, kind, creative people. That's who our kids are."

In the same interview and others since, Meghan has discussed her own career in Hollywood and her hopes for the future.

While saying she would "never say never" on a return to acting, she noted that it isn't her intention to do so. "I'm done," she told Variety, instead saying that she was excited about what developing her involvement behind the camera in production can bring.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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