The Duchess of Sussex is in early talks to return to acting with a role in the hit Netflix series The Gentlemen, as the BBC has learned.

If the deal is confirmed, this would be Meghan's first significant acting role since she stepped away from the screen ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018. Created by Guy Ritchie, The Gentlemen is a comedy series starring Theo James that follows the story of a duke who becomes a drug baron, with previous series featuring actors such as Hugh Bonneville and Vinnie Jones.

The precise details of the discussions and the nature of any role Meghan might be offered have not yet been revealed. Meghan was previously best known for her role in the US legal drama Suits, playing lawyer Rachel Zane for seven seasons until her final episode aired in 2018. More recently, she returned to acting for the first time in nearly a decade with a cameo appearance as herself in the forthcoming comedy Close Personal Friends, starring Lily Collins and Brie Larson.

When she put her screen career on hold back in 2018, the Duchess told the BBC that she did not view quitting acting as giving anything up, but rather as "a new chapter". A return to the screen could prove lucrative, and the BBC understands that while living in the UK, Meghan also hopes to expand the global reach of her US-based cooking and lifestyle brand, As Ever.

This potential screen return coincides with wider plans for the Sussexes to relocate from the United States back to the UK later this month. As first reported by the Daily Telegraph and The Sun, Prince Harry and Meghan intend to move into a private, non-royal residence outside London. Rumours suggest they may settle in the Cotswolds—the exact area where much of the two previous series of The Gentlemen was filmed.

Education plans are already firmly in place for their young family. The couple's children, Prince Archie, aged seven, and Princess Lilibet, aged five, are enrolled to start at a British school this September. Despite the move, there are no current plans for either Harry or Meghan to resume their former roles as working royals.

The decision to move back to Britain follows a visit in July by Harry, Meghan, and their children to King Charles III at his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire. It was the first time the King had met his grandchildren in person in more than four years, and it marked the couple's first visit together to the UK since 2022.

Moving back on a longer-term basis has brought the question of publicly funded protection back into sharp focus. The couple's UK security was downgraded after they stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to America, where they have funded their own private protection.

Because previous security provisions were based on the assumption that the Sussexes would not be living in Britain permanently, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec)—an independent body overseen by the Home Office—must now carry out a review and make a fresh determination on their security. I'll be following this one.