Suits creator Aaron Korsh was “as excited” about Meghan Markle‘s relationship with Prince Harry as the rest of the world was — for the most part.
Korsh reflected on working with 42-year-old Markle — the unique challenges her royal romance provided for the legal drama — in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Tuesday, August 29. “I mean, your initial reaction is, like, ‘We’re [all] dating a prince!’” Korsh teased.
Suits aired on USA Network for nine seasons from 2011 to 2019. Markle starred as ambitious paralegal Rachel Zane, leaving the show in 2018 at the end of its seventh season. She married Harry, 38, that same year.
The couple went public with their relationship in 2016 while Markle was still acting. Korsh told THR that the Suits team once received a message from the royal family regarding a section of dialogue that they were less-than-pleased about.
“[The royal family] weighed in on some stuff,” he claimed. “Not many things, by the way, but a few things that we wanted to do and couldn’t do, and it was a little irritating.”
Korsh divulged that there was a scene in which Rachel and Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) “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,’” but the royals allegedly took issue with the phrase.
Korsh suspected that The Firm wanted to avoid “people cutting things together” online of Markle “saying ‘cock’” instead of the complete word. “So, we had to change it to ‘bulls–t’ instead of ‘poppycock,’” he said. “And I did not like it because I’d told my in-laws that [poppycock] was going to be in the show. There was maybe one or two more things, but I can’t remember.”
The royal family was somehow given scripts in advance, but Korsh doesn’t recall “the process by which they got them” or who it was that notified the Suits staff of the family’s change.
“Whoever it was, they didn’t like having to tell me any more than I liked having to hear it,” Korsh continued. “But listen … I had some sympathy because I wouldn’t want somebody [splicing] her either. And the thing is, I didn’t think anybody really would, but also I don’t know. People are crazy.”
Harry previously shared a similar story in his debut memoir, Spare, which hit shelves in January. He called his wife’s departure from the series — and the cast and crew that she “loved” — “a difficult moment” that was ultimately for the best.
“The show writers were frustrated, because they were often advised by the palace comms team to change lines of dialogue, what her character would do, how she would act,” he wrote.
Nearly five years after its series finale, Suits has seen a major uptick in its popularity thanks to streaming. As fans tune in on Netflix and Peacock, executive producer Gene Klein hinted at the possibility of rebooting the show.
“I’ve mentioned to Aaron that I keep, in this era of reboots and reunions and all this other stuff, that I’m expecting a call at some point,” Klein told TVLine last month. “But I’m not aware of any serious conversations. It’s just one of those things where, in this day and age, you wouldn’t be surprised if somebody called you someday.”
Getting all the OG cast members to sign on — especially Markle — would pose a big challenge. “I would assume that’s just not possible,” Klein acknowledged.
