Entertainment

Prince Harry Makes Netflix Debut In 'Thomas The Tank Engine' Special

by Christina Marfice
Prince Harry Makes Netflix debut In 'Thomas The Tank Engine' Special
Mattel

Prince Harry’s Netflix debut is honestly perfect for him

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex seem to be having no problem at all settling into their new, post-royal lives. Reports say they’re living in Los Angeles, and all signs point to Meghan Markle picking her Hollywood career back up right where she left off — she recently narrated Disney’s incredible Elephants documentary. As for Prince Harry? Well, he seems to be embracing Hollywood life too, in his own way. Last week, Netflix debuted its 75th anniversary special for Thomas the Tank Engine, and there was a familiar face involved.

That’s right — Harry provided the intro for the episode, which meant that he sat down and read a little bit of Thomas in his very soothing, very British voice. If there is a more perfect fit for a person to read Thomas the Tank Engine aloud, I do not know who it is.

Prince Harry was the perfect fit for this, because the special episode of the show was all about the real-life royal family. There were animated characters introduced to represent Queen Elizabeth II, as well as Prince Charles as a young boy. Rosamund Pike gave her voice to a new character created for the episode, named the Duchess of Loughborough.

“Thomas the Tank Engine has been a comforting, familiar face to so many families over the last 75 years — entertaining, educating and inspiring children on important issues through exciting stories and characters,” Harry said in a statement before the episode was released. “I certainly have fond memories of growing up with Thomas & Friends and being transported to new places through his adventures. I am very proud to have been asked to take part in this special episode. I wish Thomas & Friends a very happy anniversary.”

Harry’s involvement in the Thomas and Friends special is especially cute, since his own son, Archie, is turning 1 this week. That means Archie is of prime age to be getting into a show like Thomas, and we can only imagine how delighted the baby will be when he sees dad reading him a story on the TV screen. Since Thomas the Tank Engine was created when the Rev. Wilbert Awdry started telling stories to his son, Christopher, 75 years ago, there’s a beautiful tradition to be passed down here, too.

Happily, Harry isn’t the only famous dad getting in on the Thomas read-aloud train (pun intended). Kevin Jonas is reading Thomas stories on the Caribu app and he’s pretty talented at it too.

You can watch the 75th anniversary special for Thomas and Friends on Netflix now.