Three Days In, Gentlemen, and the Reasons For Meghan’s “Move” Are Falling Apart

The news that Harry and Meghan are “moving back to Britain” broke on Wednesday evening, UK time. Today, Saturday, less than 72 hours later, one of the central planks of the story, Meghan’s acting gig, which was supposed to answer the most glaringly obvious question about the whole enterprise—why on earth would Meghan want to come back to this racist, classist, bird-and-fox slaughtering hellhole where everyone hates her—has given way.

Reports, which began in the Australian media and were then picked up by Deadline and the Hollywood Reporter, said she was in talks to join the third series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix aristo-caper The Gentlemen, which shoots in Britain (the first series was filmed largely at Badminton House, about ten miles from Highgrove).

ITV News went further on Friday, reporting that Meghan was packing up the family’s belongings and shipping them across the Atlantic after being offered the role, and that the offer was what “tipped the scales.” Sources close to Harry were hinting much the same to me. Here, at last, was a reason for the Duchess to swap Montecito for the muddy mire of the Cotswolds.

Now Tina Brown (who hired me many years ago to be the Daily Beast’s royal correspondent) has posted that “backlash” to the proposal has led to the offer being withdrawn. CC Fresh Hell Tina Brown

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I have approached the Sussex office for comment about the reported collapse of the Ritchie talks. No reply yet.

So where are we, exactly?

Here is what I think is happening, and it is what I alluded to yesterday, drawing on a conversation I had in March with a friend of Harry’s, an account I had been holding back for my book THE DUKES and decided this week to publish.

Harry and the kids are moving back to Britain. Meghan is going to come and go. Mainly, go.