Disney to debut Meghan Markle-narrated documentary days after royal step back

Almost immediately after stepping back from the royal family, Meghan Markle is headed to the wonderful world of Disney.

Disney announced Thursday a new nature documentary, Elephant, is headed to Disney+ next month that Markle will narrate. The documentary "follows African elephant Shani and her spirited son Jomo as their herd make an epic journey hundreds of miles across the vast Kalahari Desert," Disney said.

A trailer for Elephant released Thursday describes it as being narrated by "Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex," with Variety observing Disney doesn't use the HRH royal title. Elephant will be hitting Disney just a few days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's step back as senior members of the royal family is made official on March 31, though they've already finished their last royal duties.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It was previously reported in January that Markle had lined up a Disney voiceover project that would benefit Elephants Without Borders. At the time, a clip resurfaced of Harry chatting with Disney's then-CEO Bob Iger and telling, "You know she does voice-overs?" Iger responds, "Oh, really?" The conversation, it seems, piqued his interest.

It's possible this won't be Markle's final Disney collaboration, if one report suggesting she's interested in acting in a superhero film is to be believed. Could her next step be a transition from being a senior royal to being a Disney princess? We'll see, but for now, Elephant will stream on Disney+ on April 3. Brendan Morrow