'Suits' creator calls royals' intervention on Meghan Markle's lines 'irritating'

Meghan Markle was forbidden by the royal family to say certain lines in the legal series "Suits," when she started dating Prince Harry in 2016. The show's creator shared that it was challenging and frustrating having to change things up specially for the writers.

Showrunner Aaron Korsh shared that the royals "weighed in on some stuff, not many things" but just a few that they "wanted to do and couldn't do" and admitted that "it was a little irritating." He did not drop names but recalled one particular line of dialogue.

"I'll just say what the line was. My wife's family, when they have a topic to discuss that might be sensitive, they use the word, 'poppycock,'" he said during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter about the resurgence of the show's popularity after it streamed on Netflix in June.

Korsh explained, "Let's say you wanted to do something that you knew your husband didn't want to do, but you wanted to at least discuss it, and in just discussing it, you wouldn't hold him to anything he said, you'd be like, 'It's poppycock.'"

He revealed that the word was a nod to his in-laws and had told them ahead of time that it would be in one episode of the show, in which Mike (Patrick J. Adams) and Rachel were going to have a thing and she was supposed to say "My family would say poppycock."

However, the "royal family did not want her saying the word" and did not want it in her mouth. Korsh shared that he presumed then that they "didn't want people cutting things together of her saying" it. In the end, they had to change it to "bull****" which he said he did not like. He said there were "one or two more things" but he cannot remember.

The showrunner admitted that he does not know how the royals got hold of the script. But he was aware that they were reading them because he received the feedback. But he cannot recall the process by which they got them.

Korsh denied that it was Meghan Markle who made the call saying, "No, Meghan did not call me. I can't remember. It might have been the directing producer at the time, or her agent."

He added, "Whoever it was, they didn't like having to tell me any more than I liked having to hear it. 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. And the thing is, I didn't think anybody really would, but also I don't know. People are crazy."

Korsh opened up about the involvement of the royal family in Meghan Markle's dialogues on "Suits" upon learning that Prince Harry already spoke about it in his memoir "Spare." In it, the Duke of Sussex called it a "difficult moment" for the actress to pack up her bags and leave Canada, where she was filming "Suits," and give up her role because she loved the show, the character she was playing, and the cast and crew.

On the other hand, he said "life there had become untenable especially on set." He revealed that the "show writers were frustrated" because the Palace comms team would often advise them to "change lines of dialogue, what her character would do, and how she would act."

Korsh likewise admitted that while he was excited for Meghan Markle, her dating Prince Harry then during filming of "Suits" certainly had its downsides. Aside from the dialogue changes, he also mentioned the challenges in security as paparazzi were always on standby to snap her photos. The showrunner, along with the series' cast members, attended the couple's wedding in the U.K. on May 19, 2018.