Meghan Markle returns to the screen to play herself. But which self? The ambiguity is the problem - Lee Cohen

Consider her brief royal tenure, a chapter best forgotten by those who cherish the Crown’s dignity. Thrust into the spotlight as Prince Harry’s bride, she promised a modern fairy tale — only to unravel it with petulant departures, sanctimonious tell-alls, and unforgivable attacks on Harry’s family. The Queen’s grace and King Charles’s steady handstand as a stark rebuke to her fleeting, self-inflicted exile.

Her tenure was marked by disruption, from awkward public appearances to the eventual break with tradition that left the royal family reeling. Now, returning to act as herself, she again mocks the past she once claimed to honour.

It’s a role that requires no script—just a mirror to reflect her own royal misadventure. For a public still loyal to the monarchy’s enduring legacy, this is a joke, a tacit admission that her royal experiment collapsed under the weight of her own ambition.

Nor have her other guises fared any better. From photo ops with artisanal jam jars to vague pronouncements on global good, her efforts have reeked of opportunism rather than altruism.

This new film, touted as a gentle re-entry into acting alongside stars like Brie Larson and Lily Collins, feels like another calculated ploy to capture the limelight when nothing else works. For global observers long sceptical of her motives, this return to the screen looks less like just another reinvention to rescue a tarnished brand.

Her humanitarian posturing has always been a thin veneer, and this latest venture only deepens the suspicion that her heart lies more in self-promotion than in service.

Then there’s the woke crusader, a persona as flimsy as her smokescreen posts. Her lectures on empowerment, delivered from a Montecito mansion far removed from the struggles she claims to champion, have rung hollow.

Will she play the defiant feminist who “quit” the patriarchy, or the influencer whose relevance hinges on her husband’s royal baggage? The ambiguity is telling—her “self” is a patchwork of failed experiments, none authentic enough to sustain.

While Suits was popularly appreciated, Markle’s acting resume hasn’t bagged any awards. Will this new film's appearance throw a lifeline to her sinking popularity, or will it perpetuate what the qualities the errant duchess is globally known for: victimhood, resentment, and a dash of entitlement?

Prince Harry’s simultaneous Remembrance essay to Britishness, penned from his California exile, speaks for itself.

He wrote: “Though currently I live in the United States, Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served.”

His nostalgic ramblings about pubs and banter are steeped in irony from a man who turned his back on his homeland. Together, they form a duo so tone deaf that it defies imagination.

Markle’s return to acting, while her husband muses on his lost identity, paints a picture of a couple adrift, clinging to relevance through separate, self-absorbed ventures.

The British public, already repelled by their behaviour, need not indulge this latest charade.

For those who value the monarchy’s resilience, this is a moment to turn away.

Meghan’s return to square one is a sign that her endless reinventions have failed to keep her relevant. The Crown, while facing its own recent challenges, endures, undimmed by such fleeting shadows.

Will her film role, whatever version of herself she attempts to portray, land as her previous strategies? Will we see the erstwhile royal, the faux philanthropist, or the fading influencer? The answer matters little — each iteration is a reminder of an inability to find a role that resonates. As she steps before the camera, it may be hard to find an audience that cheers the illusion.

By contrast, with dutiful and hard-working family members to support it, the monarchy carries on, while the Sussexes fade into the Californian sunset.

Which Meghan will flicker next? The question lingers, but with nothing authentic behind the efforts, the answer is inevitable.