Meghan Markle reportedly left Hollywood "dumbfounded" after she allegedly turned down a "golden opportunity" that could have earned her millions.

The Duchess of Sussex starred as Rachel Zane in seven seasons of the hugely successful legal drama Suits, which ran from 2011 to 2019.

Meghan reportedly earned nearly £40,000 per episode ($50,000) before her acting career came to an end when she married Prince Harry in 2018.

Suits was watched for a total of 57.7 billion minutes on Netflix last year, according to media analysts Nielsen and now it's set to become a "major franchise" when its spin-off, Suits: LA, hits the screens.

But Hollywood experts were critical of Meghan's refusal to come back to acting and to star in the new series, which would potentially earn her millions of dollars.

Suits: LA will focus on a new character called Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor who built an LA law firm that specialises in criminal and entertainment law.

The show has been written by Meghan’s friend and original Suits creator Aaron Korsh and, according to one expert, its female lead would have been a perfect fit for the duchess.

LA-based media finance analyst Mike Raia claimed: "This could become the costliest decision of her life and one that she may bitterly regret in years to come.

"The female lead character, a campaigning, hotshot lawyer named Erica, was written with Meghan specifically in mind and there is little doubt she would have been paid many times her original salary.

"There had been industry talk that she could command as much as half-a-million dollars per episode. That’s the kind of golden shot that even established stars dream of. But she’s left everyone dumbfounded by brushing aside what would have been a huge opportunity."

He added that Meghan could have asked as much as half a million dollars dollars per episode if she had chosen to return to acting, saying: "That’s the kind of golden shot that even established stars dream of. But she’s left everyone dumbfounded by brushing aside what would have been a huge opportunity."

Earlier this year, a senior studio production source told the Daily Express US: "It beggars belief that she would dismiss such an opportunity to keep big bucks rolling in on a regular basis, especially given her and Harry’s less-than-stellar options for the future."