Prince Harry lands first role as he teams up with 'Thomas the Tank Engine'

Prince Harry has followed in his wife Meghan Markle's footsteps in landing his first non-royal role as he teamed up with 'Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine'.

Fictional train 'Thomas the Tank Engine' came to life in 1945 as a character in “The Railway Series” books by Reverend Wilbert Awdry, an Anglican clergyman, and later his son Christopher.

It led to a children’s TV spin-off show now called “Thomas and Friends”, which began in 1984 and is still running.

The Queen's grandson can be seen sitting in an armchair with a copy of one of the classic books as he introduced the episode 'Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine', saying: "It all began when a young boy lay ill in bed. His loving father entertained him with stories of a special railway on the magical island of Sodor."

“Those stories would go on to become the tales of the most iconic tank engine the world has ever known, Thomas the Tank Engine... ‘Thomas & Friends’ is celebrating 75 years of friendship and teamwork.”

The 22-minute special episode sees Thomas travel to London for the first time to take Sir Topham Hatt to meet the Queen, meeting new character, Duchess of Loughborough - voiced by actress Rosamund Pike - along the way.

The short clip was recorded in January, before Harry and wife Meghan Markle quit the royal family, in exchange for a charity to donation.

The episode features a new train character, The Duchess of Loughborough, whose role is to transport the royal family.

"I think this is a very beautiful and apt episode for the 75th anniversary episode," said actress Rosamund Pike, who voices the duchess.

'Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine' is due to be screened on various channels around the world starting on May 1 in the United States on Netflix.