Meghan Markle's return to acting seems unlikely, despite Netflix's desire to get their "pound of flesh" from the deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, according to Channel 5's royal correspondent Simon Vigar. Speaking to The Sun's royal correspondent Matt Wilkinson, Vigar suggested that Meghan's unprecedented publicity since her marriage to Prince Harry and her role as a member of the Royal family has made it difficult for audiences to see her as anyone other than herself.
"I think the media career, or relighting the screen career as an actress, I think that's a long shot, because you can never see her as a character now, you are going to see Meghan, the Duchess, so that's difficult," Vigar said. "How can you believe that she is anybody else other than the person that we know so well?"
Despite the challenges in returning to acting, Meghan and Harry's production company, Archewell Productions, has announced two new Netflix series. One will focus on polo, a sport Harry is known to adore, while the other will seemingly tie in with Meghan's new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, covering topics such as gardening and cooking.
Vigar noted that while Netflix will "want their pound of flesh" from the deal with the Sussexes, Meghan's current priority lies in being a mother to her two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. "She is obviously a mum of two young kids, that's clearly the priority," he said, adding that "once they are in school and off doing more stuff and need less constant care then I am sure the media career will grow."
However, Vigar believes that Meghan's future in the media industry will likely be in factual content rather than fiction. "It's hard to see it in fiction though, being an actress," he concluded.
The Duchess of Sussex's new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, has already garnered attention, with several close friends and influencers sharing photos of pre-launch promotional gift baskets containing beautifully-packed jams. According to a report from Page Six, the brand will focus on home, garden, food, and general lifestyle content, potentially selling items such as cookbooks, food, kitchenware, cutlery, decanters, legume-based spreads, and napkin rings.
This new venture follows the closure of Meghan's former lifestyle page, The Tig, in April 2017, shortly after she started dating Prince Harry.
While Meghan and Harry have seen plenty of screen time since making their deal with Netflix, it has been solely as themselves, most notably in their biographical docu-series "Harry & Meghan," where they shared their love story and the reasons behind their departure from the Royal family.
As the couple continues to navigate their post-royal life in California, it remains to be seen how their media careers will evolve. With Meghan's focus on motherhood and her new lifestyle brand, along with the upcoming Netflix series, it appears that her future in the entertainment industry will be more behind-the-scenes and factual-based, rather than a return to her former acting career.
