Suits writers find clever way to pay tribute to Meghan Markle in final season

Meghan Markle might have retired from her acting career when she became engaged to Prince Harry, but her Suits character Rachel Zane has popped up in the final season. Sort of.

Her final episode aired last year when paralegal Rachel finally married love interest Mike Ross (played by Patrick J. Adams) and the pair moved to Seattle to set up their own law clinic.

The US legal drama is now in its ninth and final season, with Mike Ross returning for one last hurrah with his mentor Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), managing partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) and assistant Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty).

While Meghan hasn’t been able to make the reunion, the Suits writers have made sure there’s a little tribute to her and her new royal life.

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In one scene, Mike is asked how Rachel is doing, to which he replies: “If I told you how good, you probably wouldn’t believe me.”

The former actress married Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel on 19 May 2018 and the cast of Suits were among the A-list guests at the wedding. She welcomed baby Archie on 6 May 2019.

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When the news of Meghan’s engagement to Harry first broke in November 2017, her co-star Patrick joked on Twitter: “She said she was just going out to get some milk.”

And then the day before the wedding, he posted on Instagram a photo of Meghan and her mother Doria Ragland on the front page of The Times, with the caption: “I’m beginning to think she might not actually be out getting milk.”

Meghan has not publicly said whether she still watches the show but one of her first patronages is rather apt for her, given her acting career.

The Queen passed on her patronage with the National Theatre to the duchess in January this year.