Meghan in talks for role in Netflix series The Gentlemen, BBC understands

The Duchess of Sussex is in talks to return to acting with a role in Netflix series The Gentlemen, the BBC has learned.

Discussions are in their early stages but this would be Meghan's first significant acting role since her marriage to Prince Harry.

Much of the two previous series of The Gentlemen, which was created by Guy Ritchie, have been filmed in the Cotswolds - the area it is rumoured Harry and Meghan will set up home when they return to the UK later this month.

The Gentlemen, starring the actor Theo James, is a comedy series about a duke who becomes a drug baron.

The details of the discussions and any role Meghan might be offered have not yet been revealed.

Actors Hugh Bonneville and Vinnie Jones have appeared in previous series of the show.

Meghan was best known in acting for her part in the US legal drama, Suits, in which she played lawyer, Rachel Zane, for seven seasons. Her last episode aired in 2018.

The duchess put her career on hold after her marriage to Prince Harry. At the time, she told the BBC she did not view quitting acting as giving anything up, but rather as "a new chapter".

She recently returned to acting for the first time in nearly a decade, with a cameo as herself in forthcoming comedy Close Personal Friends, which stars Lily Collins and Brie Larson.

A return to acting could be lucrative for Meghan. The BBC understands that while based in the UK she also hopes to expand the global reach of her US-based lifestyle and cooking brand, As Ever.