Meghan Markle Wasted No Time Leaving Suits & Rebranding After Prince Harry Engagement

Before she became one of the most recognizable members of the British royal family, Meghan Markle was best known for portraying the role of Rachel Zane on the hit legal drama "Suits." She starred in the series for seven years before packing up and leaving for the U.K. to marry Prince Harry and start her new life. Meghan's stunning transformation from a famous TV actor into duchess-to-be seemingly went off without a hitch, at least partly because she was willing to give up her career to fulfill royal duties and also because the show's creator and producer, Aaron Korsh, anticipated her departure.

During an engagement interview with the BBC, alongside then-fiancé Prince Harry, it appeared that Meghan wasted no time leaving "Suits" behind in exchange for becoming a royal. When she was asked directly about ditching America and her acting career to be the prince's wife, Meghan quickly amended, "I don't see it as giving anything up. I just see it as a change. It's a new chapter," (via YouTube). She added that the time she spent filming "Suits" was amazing but hinted that she was ready to put it behind her. "Once we hit the hundred episode marker, I thought, you know what, I have ticked this box and I feel really proud of the work I've done there," the future Duchess of Sussex explained.

While Meghan's exit from "Suits" likely came as a surprise to fans, Korsh informed BBC Radio 4 that he'd already written her out long before the big engagement became public news. "I knew from a year ago that this relationship was burgeoning," Korsh revealed, per the BBC. "Collectively with the writers, we decided to take a gamble that these two people were in love and it was going to work out."

As royal watchers are well aware, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's abrupt exit from the U.K. barely two years after tying the knot meant that the couple's priorities shifted from fulfilling their royal duties to figuring out how to make a living outside of The Firm. Harry released his tell-all memoir "Spare," which became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in Britain. The celebrity couple also released their Netflix docuseries, "Harry & Meghan," which received jaw-dropping streaming numbers and quickly became the most-viewed documentary since the platform's inception. The royal defectors also negotiated an eye-watering $20 million podcast deal with Spotify in 2020. This spawned "Archetypes," which sadly didn't do nearly as well as expected. 

Meghan split with Spotify after just one podcast season in 2023, but she later launched another in collaboration with Lemonada Media in April 2025, entitled "Confessions of a Female Founder." In June of that year, the former "Suits" star announced that the podcast would not be returning for a second season for the time being because she wanted to spend more time building her burgeoning lifestyle brand, As Ever. Meghan also released another Netflix series, "With Love, Meghan," a homemaking-themed show featuring celebrity guests that showcased the Duchess of Sussex's skills. 

It ran for two seasons, both of which aired in 2025. In January 2026, sources told People that there was no third season on the horizon, with Meghan putting all her efforts into As Ever instead. Needless to say, the former actor has kept busy, and while some of her ventures weren't as successful as she likely hoped, Meghan deserves credit for her perseverance.