Long before she was a Duchess, Meghan Markle spent seven seasons playing paralegal Rachel Zane on the legal drama Suits, complete with glamorous storylines and a high-profile on-screen romance. Years later, those acting days are back in the headlines, thanks to fresh claims from a Hollywood insider about how the Royal Family reportedly viewed her television career.
The Claim: Royal Discomfort With Her On-Screen Intimacy
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Eliza Roberts, wife of veteran actor Eric Roberts, who also appeared in the series, alleged that certain senior royals were uneasy about the more intimate elements of Meghan's role. Discussing the actress's career, she said: "Her making love with another man, that was just - they've never seen anything like that."
She added that the role represented the peak of years of effort: "She worked so hard to get there. That was just too much."
It should be stressed that these are the observations of someone speaking from outside the palace, based on her own perspective and industry conversations. Buckingham Palace has never commented on any discomfort regarding Meghan's acting work, and claims of this nature are impossible to verify from the outside.
A Career Built Long Before the Palace
Whatever the palace thought, Meghan's resume was substantial by Hollywood standards. Beyond seven years as Rachel Zane, the love interest of Patrick J. Adams's Mike Ross, she appeared in films including Get Him to the Greek, Horrible Bosses, and had a recurring presence on 90210. Her character on Suits was written as ambitious, competent, and central to the show's emotional core, which is precisely why the role became so well known once her romance with Prince Harry made global news.
Eliza Roberts, while praising Meghan's talent and work ethic, expressed a view about the career she gave up: "Women don't give up their jobs for a marriage anymore."
The Departure That Was Baked Into the Engagement
Meghan's retirement from acting was effectively mandatory rather than optional. When her engagement to Harry was announced in November 2017, palace convention made clear that a working royal could not continue a commercial acting career. She filmed her final Suits episodes before the wedding, closing a chapter at what was arguably the height of her professional visibility.
Eliza said she could understand the choice given the institution Meghan was joining, even while questioning it. That tension, between personal ambition and royal expectation, would come to define much of the couple's subsequent story.
From Set Life to Royal Duties to California
The trajectory after 2018 is well documented. Meghan embraced royal duties, then found the reality of the institution more restrictive than expected. By January 2020, she and Harry announced they were stepping back as senior working royals, citing challenges within the Royal Family, including claims of mistreatment and concerns raised about their son Archie's security and standing. The couple relocated first to Canada, then to California, where they built an independent life centered on their Archewell foundation and media ventures.
Why the Suits Era Keeps Coming Back
There is a reason the acting years remain a fixture of Sussex coverage. For supporters, the career is proof of an accomplished, self-made woman who sacrificed independence for a family that never fully embraced her. For critics, the on-screen past is a lens through which they question her transformation into a royal, and later a lifestyle brand founder. Each new interview from a Hollywood acquaintance reliably revives the debate.
Eliza Roberts's comments, flattering in some respects and pointed in others, fit that pattern perfectly. They frame Meghan as both a hardworking professional whose success unsettled tradition-bound royals, and a woman whose career ended the moment the crown came calling. Which interpretation you find more convincing probably depends less on the evidence than on what you already believe about the monarchy, celebrity, and the price of marrying into history.
The Streaming Resurgence That Rewrote the Show's Legacy
Part of what keeps Meghan's acting era in the headlines is the show's improbable second act. Suits became a streaming phenomenon years after it left the air, topping viewing charts and introducing Rachel Zane to audiences who had never seen a single original episode. That resurgence turned the entire cast into recurring subjects of nostalgia coverage, and it handed royal commentators a fresh archive of clips and interviews to re-examine through the lens of everything that followed. Patrick J. Adams has spoken warmly about his former co-star in recent years, even reprising elements of his famous role in other projects, which keeps the on-screen partnership alive in the public imagination. For Meghan, the renewed attention is a double-edged sword: it celebrates the professional credibility she brought to the royal table while reminding audiences of the career she surrendered. Few actresses have ever had their old show become more famous after they left it.
