How the Palace Interfered With Meghan's 'Suits' Role, According to Harry

Palace aides interfered with Meghan Markle's acting career, leaving writers of her hit legal drama Suits "frustrated," Prince Harry claimed in his memoir Spare.

The prince's assessment of his wife's final months working on the show has been pulled into focus by its creator, Aaron Korsh, who revealed in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the palace wouldn't allow Meghan to say the word "poppycock" on camera.

"[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," Korsh said reflecting on the revival in interest the Suits series has seen on streaming platforms in recent weeks.

On why the royals didn't want Meghan using the word "poppycock" the creator explained: "I presume because they didn't want people cutting things together of her saying 'c***.' So, we had to change it to 'bulls***' instead of 'poppycock,' and I did not like it...There was maybe one or two more things, but I can't remember."

Meghan starred in Suits from 2011 to 2017, with her final episodes airing a year later in the weeks before her royal wedding to Harry.

As paralegal Rachel Zane, Meghan became a popular series regular, using the show as a platform to launch her lifestyle blog, The Tig, and to continue her charity work around the world.

When Meghan's relationship with Harry became public in 2016, press interest on the star increased and was later revealed to have affected her experience shooting Suits on location in Toronto Canada.

In 2017, as their relationship moved towards marriage, Meghan moved in with the prince at his home in London. In his memoir, Spare, published in January 2023, Harry remembered the time with a sense of frustration.

"Meg packed up her house, gave up her role in Suits. After seven seasons," he wrote.

"A difficult moment for her, because she loved that show, loved the character she was playing, loved her cast and crew—loved Canada."

Alternatively, he suggested that the move away from Suits was perhaps a relief given the interference by the palace.

"On the other hand life there had become untenable," he told readers. "Especially on set."

"The show writers were frustrated, because they were often advised by the palace comms team to change lines of dialogue, what her character would do, how she would act."

The royal did not elaborate on whether the aides were from his own communications team based at Kensington Palace, and which he shared at the time with Prince William, or if they were from Buckingham Palace which acted for Queen Elizabeth II at the time.

Buckingham Palace did not comment on Harry's memoir or the comments made within it at the time of publication.

At the time of Harry and Meghan's engagement, the future duchess revealed her feelings towards moving away from her role on Suits in favor of a life working within the monarchy.

"It's an immense change: you're getting a new country out of it. A husband obviously, but also giving up your career," broadcaster Mishal Husain asked in the couple's first joint interview announcing their engagement.

"I don't see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change," Meghan said.

"It's a new chapter, right? And also, keep in mind, I've been working on my show [Suits] for seven years. So we're very very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series and for me, once we hit the 100-episode marker I thought you know what I have, I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work I've done there and now it's time to, as you [Harry] said, work as a team with you."

Since stepping down from their working roles within the monarchy in 2020 and moving to the U.S., there has been repeated speculation about whether Meghan would make a return to her acting roots.

Despite signing a content development deal with Netflix, the duchess has made clear that she would wish to make her future career behind the camera instead of in front.

Speaking to Hollywood industry bible Variety in 2022, Meghan said she was "done" with acting.

"I guess never say never," she reflected. "But my intention is to absolutely not [return]."

She continued to add that she was looking forward to developing both scripted and non-scripted content for the screen through her Archewell Productions company with Prince Harry, hinting that romantic comedies could be the path forward for the couple.

Newsweek approached Buckingham Palace via email for comment.

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

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