Meghan Markle starred as Rachel Zane in seven seasons of the show between 2011 and 2018. As her first big and most notable role, her final episode aired just a few weeks before her wedding to Prince Harry took place.
Aaron Korsh, the creator and head writer of Suits, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the show and its recent streaming success — and he didn’t shy away from chatting about the royal family.
Meghan began dating Prince Harry during the sixth season of the show, and their relationship had an impact on her character.
“In the episode, Mike and Rachel were going to have a thing, and as a nod to my in-laws, we were going to have her say, ‘My family would say poppycock.’ And the royal family did not want her saying the word. They didn’t want to put the word ‘poppycock’ in her mouth,” said Korsh.
With no knowledge of how they obtained the scripts, Korsh knew that the royal family was monitoring Markle’s character and the lines she would say. Korsh explained, “I don’t know how they got ’em. I was aware that they were reading them because I got the feedback, but I don’t remember the process by which they got them.”
Despite them changing the tribute line to his family, Korsh understood their decision once he received feedback from the royals. They wanted to avoid all and any implications of fan edits or clips that could come from the word “poppycock” being said by Meghan.
“But listen, when they explained it that way, and I’m pretty sure it got explained to me that it was about that [splicing potential], I had some sympathy because I wouldn’t want somebody doing that to her either,” he said.
Since the show’s resurgence on Netflix, many fans have circulated the idea of a reboot or revamp of the legal drama. Despite its rise in numbers, Korsh has shut down the idea of bringing back his creation, but he still appreciates why fans strive for that reboot so much.
“Some fans are enjoying watching it again, and I think some of the people who are rewatching are having a different experience with it the second time because they know what’s going to happen,” he said. “It just relieves them of the burden of being angry when something doesn’t happen that they wanted to happen.” ~Ireland Fidale