Prince Harry, 35, saw an opportunity and took it. At the London premiere of The Lion King in July of 2019, Harry and Meghan Markle, 38, ran into the director of the movie himself, Jon Favreau, and Harry didn’t waste the opportunity on idle talk. “Next time, anyone needs any extra voice-over work we can make ourselves available,” Harry excitedly told Jon, who also directed The Jungle Book and boasted executive producer titles for a number of Marvel films. Meghan took the pressure off Jon’s shoulders with a lighthearted joke, saying, “That’s why we’re really here, to pitch.” Of course, this earned a round of a laughter, as seen in the video that surfaced months later, via The Mail on Sunday, on Jan. 18.
Harry wasn’t done with his spiel. “Anything like that,” Harry continued, but he did have one condition. “Just not Scar — That’s a no to Scar,” Harry teased, referring to the villainous lion in The Lion King. That quip even appeared to earn a smile from JAY-Z, who was standing nearby with his wife Beyoncé, who sang an original song, “SPIRIT,” for the remake’s soundtrack.
Harry was really gunning for his wife to get this voice-over job. There’s another video of the prince putting his networking skills to action with Walt Disney Company’s CEO himself, Bob Iger, which The Mail on Sunday released days before on Jan. 11! “You know she does voice-overs?” the Duke of Sussex asked the CEO, to which the head honcho said, “Oh really?” Harry pressed on, “Did you know that? You seem surprised.” Although Bob laughed, Harry earnestly added, “She’s really interested.” To that, Disney’s CEO said, “Sure. We’d love to try.” Deal sealed?
These videos have scored Harry brownie points across Twitter, since they coincidentally surfaced with a Jan. 11 report that claimed Meghan “signed a deal with Disney to benefit a wildlife charity” and that “it will involve the duchess doing a voiceover in return for a donation to Elephants Without Borders,” according to The Sunday Times. Of course, that has led fans to wonder if Harry’s schmoozing at The Lion King premiere landed Meghan this reported gig (in addition to her amazing acting skills — her time on Suits is evidence). Alas, this remains speculation. HollywoodLife reached out to Buckingham Palace, which had no comment for the report.
Whatever’s the case, Harry and Meghan are certainly open to new opportunities now that they’re stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family! The duke and duchess made the surprise announcement on Jan. 8, and Queen Elizabeth II did not waste time in forming an agreement with her grandson and granddaughter-in-law. After holding a royal family summit on Jan. 13, Buckingham Palace announced five days later that Harry and Meghan would give up their His/Her Royal Highness titles, repay the renovations made on Frogmore Cottage and will “lose public funds for royal duties.” So, money made from a voice-work gig would certainly help with that loss!