Suits cast call Meghan Markle 'family' as they say goodbye to the show after wrapping final season

It’s the end of an era for Meghan Markle and the cast of Suits, as the USA Network show that the Duchess of Sussex starred in has wrapped production. Although she may have donned paralegal Rachel Zane’s sharp looks for the last time in 2018, the cast have begun writing their goodbye messages to the series and she was named “family” by one of its leading stars.

Markle was one of the original cast members of the long-running show, which started airing in 2011 and has just finished filming its ninth and final season. Many of her former co-stars took to social media to close out a pivotal chapter in their lives including Gina Torres, who shared a throwback picture of the original six cast members.

The picture, which Torres revealed came from a NET-A-PORTER runway show inspired by Suits, showed the cast posing for the camera. They included Rick Hoffman, Patrick J Adams, Markle, Sarah G. Rafferty, Torres and Gabriel Macht.

She wrote in her goodbye message, “This is gonna be a long one. @iamsarahgrafferty @iamgabrielmacht @halfadams @rickehoffman #aaronkorsh #meghanmarkle. In short, #family. If I were to pick a moment when I “knew”, it would be this one. The beginning and the end of life as we knew it.”

In fact, all the stars in Torres’ picture remained so close to Markle following her exit from the show that they all attended her royal wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. (Another star named Abigail Spencer was also invited to her baby shower in New York earlier this year.)

Torres, who actually left Suits in 2016, reflected, “In the years since then the amount of LIFE that we have walked through together by holding hands, holding space or bearing witness from a distance is staggering...When I left This beautiful family the first time, I was not on social media. My thoughts were my own."

"My salute to the MOST delicious cast and crew, was wonderfully private, including hugs I can still feel. Today I say goodbye for the second and last time to all that made this show so very extraordinary. You know who you are. You will forever have my deepest love and respect," Torres finished.

Torres wasn’t the only one to pen an emotional goodbye to the show, as leading star Gabriel Macht posted an image of himself and his wife/co-star Jacinda Barrett leaving the building for the final time.

He wrote, “9 years ago I started the @suits_usa journey. It all began with the most important person in my life by my side. This life that has offered us so much...some easy, many challenging, countless miles apart and hours, days, and months separating us and our loved ones not to mention years of sacrifice on so many levels.”

“I count my blessings you sticking with me through to the bittersweet end of this era,” he wrote.

Rafferty also bid adieu to the legal drama, posting not just one but several goodbyes to various cast members, members of crew behind the scenes and more. She shared one image with Hoffman, saying goodbye to him after his final scene as she wrote, “And that’s a series wrap on my brother @rickehoffman. No words for this one.”

Her final goodbye came in the form of an E.E. Cummings poem which she share don Instagram, which is titled Love Is A Place.

She said goodbye not just to her life on Suits, but also to her life in Toronto where the series was filmed and the cast members lived for many years, writing, “Thank you #Toronto for holding us close this decade. Your smiling humans, your chilly day breaks, your cumulus clouds, native land acknowledgements, compost bins, bike lanes, farm to table....your We the North, “True Patriot Love”, your “soooooorrrry”, has made my family’s life all the richer.”

“We have no plans to quit you, but meantime be good to my forever friends found here, hold them close, until soon. BRING IT, Next Chapter. We’re coming for you. Yes is a world,” Rafferty finished.

Although many fans hoped that Markle would make a return to the show for a final bow, Suits creator Aaron Korsh said earlier thi syear that the chances of her coming back were "pretty close to zero". Talking to Deadline ahead of the ninth season's premiere, he said, "I would love it, but I think it’s pretty close to zero."

"Not currently pursuing asking Meghan to leave her position with the royal family and join us. We love her, we wish her well but I don’t think that’s happening," he continued.

Markle may not have returned, but her onscreen husband Patrick J. Adams did return for a quick cameo where he provided some much needed closure to her character Rachel Zane. In the episode, his character cracked a cheeky meta joke that reflected her real life position as a member of the royal family. In a recent episode, Adams is asked how her character is doing.

He said in response, “If I told you how good, you probably wouldn’t believe me.”

Suits can be watched on Netflix in the UK and episodes of season nine drop weekly.