Why Meghan Markle's Rachel Zane Left Suits After Seven Seasons

The age of streaming has seen multiple older TV shows surge in popularity since 2020, and we can no longer count the high-profile examples on two hands; it has become a whole phenomenon for both companies and viewers alike. Whether it's old stalwarts of broadcast TV like "Friends" and "The Office," or basic cable shows seeing their search traffic spike like "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "Sex and the City," so many different programs seemed to get a boost. One of the recent series that's drawn a lot of attention is "Suits," and a lot of new viewers are surprised to see Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, in a major role.

"Suits" focuses on Mike Ross, a college dropout who ends up working with one of New York City's premier lawyers, Harvey Specter, on escalating wild cases for a Manhattan law firm that deals in the kind of drama that cable television used to thrive on. Meghan Markle's character, Rachel Zane, appears in multiple seasons of the show as a woman in the legal field trying to find her voice amongst these brash men. In the best possible terms, "Suits" is a time capsule for the last gasps of the "blue sky" era of USA Network, and a show that, coincidentally, feels like it was made even more accessible by easy binge-watching on streaming services.

"Suits" was a big show, no question of that, especially in the ranks of basic cable fare in the mid-2000s, but when the British royal family comes calling, priorities have to make a dramatic shift. Markle began dating Prince Harry back in 2016, but when the public became aware of their courtship, the clock probably started ticking in the heads of those "Suits" producers. The show had already lived quite a life by the time 2017 arrived, and it was such a wild situation; the stars had really aligned for her in some very real ways, so an exit just made a lot of sense for everyone involved.

At the tail end of "Suits" season 7, Meghan Markle's character was written off the show. Rachel Zane bids the series farewell in season 7, episode 16's aptly-titled "Good-Bye," and the team managed to craft a nice, happy ending as she departed the show. Rachel Zane eventually marries Patrick J. Adams' Mike Ross. He was also leaving the show after season 7, and it's rare to have the opportunity to wrap things up in such a nice little bow. Sometimes the creative deities smile upon you, and they had the perfect outlet to write off two characters on a hit series, providing them with the perfect resolution. (Though Mike Ross would come back in season 9!)

While this change likely doesn't come as a shock to new viewers who are more familiar with Markle as the Duchess, the people who were around for the initial airing of "Suits" understood that Rachel's departure added to the show's larger lore, as not every series can boast an acting member of the British royal family among its ranks. It's just another quirk for a series that has traveled a long and winding broadcast road since beginning on the USA Network before finding its way into so many homes through streaming means over time.

NBC was so thrilled with the performance of "Suits" on streaming that the network decided to launch a spinoff series to capitalize on its resurgence in popularity. "Suits LA" hit screens in early 2025, and fans immediately wondered if Rachel would cameo as a part of the new series. That isn't the case, but it would have been cool. In fact, "Suits LA" creator Aaron Korsh is open to the idea should it ever present itself, and he told NBC that the doors are always open for Markle.

"We have thought about whether it be Meghan or any of the other cast members coming on and playing themselves as an actor," Korsh shared during that interview. "I think for me that's a little ... My brain blows up at the thought of that. So I think it blows up the world too much. Obviously, if Meghan wants to come back under any circumstances, Meghan can come back."

Unfortunately, the show has since been shuttered due to NBC's hope for better viewing numbers, but the fact that a series with this long of a layover got to even have a chance at a new spinoff in the first place is astounding. This kind of development is something that we just didn't see in the old days of television. If one of your faves ended up getting the axe because of bad timing or a regime change, that was it, and there wasn't really anything fans could do about it. In the modern era, enough streaming viewership has companies trying unthinkable things to capitalize on all that online buzz, but that hasn't materialized into luring the Duchess of Sussex out of retirement just yet.