Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry, is set to make her long-awaited return to the big screen with a cameo role in a new film being shot in Los Angeles, according to reports on Wednesday.
The Duchess of Sussex is said to be filming scenes for Close Personal Friends, a comedy featuring Emily in Paris star Lily Collins, along with Jack Quaid, Brie Larson, and Henry Golding.
Entertainment magazine Variety revealed that the film follows an ordinary couple who meet a celebrity pair during a trip to Santa Barbara.
Before her marriage to Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, Markle gained fame for her role in the popular legal drama Suits, which she starred in for seven seasons. She retired from acting after her wedding and has not appeared on screen in the past seven years.
Now living in California, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex no longer receive royal funding and instead depend on private ventures, including a multimillion-dollar Netflix deal and Markle’s growing lifestyle brand.
Their Netflix projects include With Love, Meghan, a series depicting the Duchess as a glamorous homemaker who entertains guests and crafts homemade products. Despite receiving mixed reviews and being labelled “pointless” by critics, the show has been renewed for a second season, with a festive special due in December.
The couple initially gained major attention with their Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which documented their relationship and departure from royal life. It drew over 23 million views in its first four days, setting a record for Netflix documentaries.
Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020 following growing tensions within the family, particularly between Prince Harry and his brother, Prince William.
The Duke’s memoir Spare, released in January 2023, further strained relations after it criticised several family members, including the Princess of Wales and Queen Camilla.
However, Harry has since expressed a desire for reconciliation and reportedly met King Charles in London in September, months after the monarch began treatment for an undisclosed cancer.
In a separate development, Prince Andrew — Harry’s uncle — was stripped of his royal titles last month amid ongoing fallout from his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a former associate of ex-US President Donald Trump.