The royals got involved with Meghan Markle’s career in an interesting way before she ultimately left ‘Suits.’

HIGHLIGHTS

 Meghan Markle’s relationship with Prince Harry began while she was still working on the TV show Suits, and the royal family played a role in her pre-duchess life.
 Prince Harry visited Markle on the set of Suits in Toronto, keeping a low profile and expressing pride in his then-girlfriend’s success.
 The royal family intervened in the show, offering feedback and even requesting changes to Markle’s lines, leading to tensions on set. Markle ultimately left acting after her engagement to Prince Harry, focusing on her new life as a duchess.

It might already feel like a whole other lifetime by now but long before she became a duchess, Meghan Markle was among the most recognizable stars on the hit legal drama Suits. On the show, the former actress played Rachel Zane, a paralegal who becomes the love interest of Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), one of the show’s lead stars.

Markle remained on Suits until the seventh season, filming her final episodes before marrying Prince Harry at the St. George’s Chapel in Windsor in 2018. While the actress didn’t officially become a royal until tying the knot, it turns out the royal family was more involved in Markle’s pre-duchess life than anyone may have thought.

Meghan Markle Started Dating Prince Harry While Working On ‘Suits’

Things between Markle and Prince Harry got serious almost soon after they started seeing each other in early 2016 after meeting on a blind date in London. After having a couple more dates, the couple traveled to Botswana together where the prince was expected to do some conversation work.

In the weeks that followed, Markle and Prince Harry committed to seeing each other as often as they could. On their Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, the couple even talked about sticking to a “two-week rule” where they would see each other again “in or around two weeks.”

While it was Markle who flew out to see Prince Harry in London during the early days of their relationship, Prince Harry also later visited Markle on the set of Suits in Toronto, Canada.

Now, Prince Harry’s visits to Markle’s workplace may have been discreet but some details surrounding his trip have since been revealed in Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s book, Finding Freedom (via Town & Country).

For instance, one production staffer told the authors that Prince Harry kept a very low profile throughout his visit and some people in the crew didn’t even realize that the royal was there until after he left. Those who met with Prince Harry, however, recalled how the royal kept talking about how “proud” he was of Markle.

The prince was also eager to know how TV production worked and Markle gave a tour of the set at one point.

While the show’s cast and crew had been “so gracious” about Prince Harry’s set visit, it was also revealed that there was “certainly a little jealously” directed at Markle after “she suddenly became the jewel in the crown of the show” with the former actress having her own “discreet bodyguards” and her name being deliberately removed from shooting schedules.

Despite these hints of tension on the set of Suits, however, most of Markle’s cast mates (Wendell Pierce, who played her onscreen father, was notably absent) were in attendance in London for her royal wedding.

The Royal Family Reportedly Started To Intervene On The Show

Markle’s final months on the show certainly posed some unique challenges after she started dating Prince Harry. But as it turns out, the former actress’ involvement with the royal family also meant that the Firm would offer some input into the series, whether Suits creator Aaron Korsh liked it or not.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Korsh confirmed that the royal “weighed in on some stuff” on the show, especially on matters concerning Markle’s depiction of Rachel onscreen.

For instance, during one episode, Korsh planned a moment when Rachel and Mike are supposed to “have a thing” and in the said scene, Rachel was supposed to refer to it as a “poppycock” instead of bulls***. The expression is also meant to be a nod to Korsh’s in-laws.

While Korsh is unsure about how the Firm got hold of the show’s scripts, he learned that the royal family had been going over them after he got feedback regarding Rachel’s line.

The creator also couldn’t recall who specifically talked to him about removing the term from Markle’s line but the moment he understood how it could be spliced into something else to exploit the actress, Korsh removed it. The creator also said, “I wouldn’t want somebody doing that to her either.”

Meghan Quit Acting After Exiting ‘Suits’

Soon after Buckingham Palace announced Prince Harry’s engagement to Markle, the star appeared in her first joint interview with Prince Harry where she confirmed that she intends to leave acting for good. In that interview, she reflected on how they were “very, very fortunate” to have Suits go on for years.

After working on the show for seven seasons, however, Markle was ready to start a “new chapter” in her life with Prince Harry.

And while she didn’t have much screen time left soon after her engagement was made public, Markle made sure to give her longtime Suits fans the happy ending they wanted for her character. She made her final appearance on the show in the season 7 finale entitled Good-Bye where she and Mike tie the knot before moving to Seattle to run their own law firm.

Now, despite the renewed interest in Suits, Korsh remains reluctant to reboot the show for the most part. If something like this were to happen in the future, however, it seems that Markle has no intention of making an appearance, even for just a brief cameo.

Instead, it has been widely reported that the duchess is keen on focusing on her family and philanthropic work instead.