NEW — Aug. 24, 2026: EastEnders has issued a casting call for a new series regular named Meghan, joining the weekend's royal-and-soap-opera jokes with the most British possible response: paperwork.
The character is fictional and is not Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Reports about the duchess potentially returning to acting after moving back to the United Kingdom prompted memes suggesting she might land in Albert Square. BBC Studios then put out a real casting breakdown for a different Meghan.
This Meghan is headed behind the bar
Variety reports that the soap describes the character as “confident, gorgeous and ready to cause chaos.” The production is seeking a woman around 30 to play a senior member of a bar team—presumably at the Queen Vic, where chaos has been on permanent tap since 1985.
The breakdown also calls Meghan funny, fearless, fiercely loyal and difficult to intimidate. It compares her Albert Square arrival to an Essex bombshell entering the Love Island villa.
Meghan will be part of the recently introduced Hawkins family. She is the daughter of Gemma, played by Patricia Potter, and will join Gemma's husband Ned, played by Jamie Bamber, and son Ryder, played by Felix Uff.
The joke stops before the casting claim
The timing is deliberate enough for the show to enjoy the name, but the available casting notice does not say the duchess is involved. Daily Junk Food previously covered reports linking Meghan Markle to a possible acting return; those reports remain separate from this confirmed EastEnders casting search.
The soap has brushed against real royalty before. King Charles and Queen Camilla appeared in a 2022 Platinum Jubilee episode, and Queen Elizabeth II visited the set in 2001 without appearing in an episode.
No actor has been announced for the new Meghan. Until someone is cast, Albert Square merely has a job opening, a sharp character description and a joke sturdy enough to survive the trip from social media into BBC Studios' human-resources department.
Source: Variety, published Aug. 24, 2026 at 7:20 a.m. CT.
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