Netflix cancels Meghan Markle's animated series 'Pearl'

"Pearl," the animated series Meghan Markle wrote and was set to executive produce will not air after all amid cuts at Netflix.

It was supposed to be the duchess' first project under Archewell Productions with David Furnish, Elton John's husband, set to direct. She wrote the story about the titular character on "a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life's daily challenges." Along the way, Pearl meets inspirational women figures all throughout history.

According to Deadline, Netflix quietly cancelled "Pearl" as it re-calibrates following a staggering drop in its number of subscribers. Meghan Markle announced the project in August 2021 as a family series.

The show was still in its development stage and had not even gone into production yet. Despite the cancellation, Netflix is still working with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on several of their other projects from Archewell Productions.

They have the upcoming "Heart of Invictus" documentary, which focuses on veterans competing in the Invictus Games, which Prince Harry founded in 2016 in honour of the wounded veterans and men and women who served in the military.

As part of the docuseries, the duke and Meghan Markle travelled to the Netherlands to witness the competition in The Hague. A Netflix crew tagged along to the games to capture it on video for the documentary.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have yet to release a statement about the cancellation of "Pearl." There is also no mention of what other projects they have in store for Netflix. It is understood that they signed a multi-year deal with the streaming giant in September 2020 with an offer of nearly $100 million.

The deal was part of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's plan to be financially independent after they left their royal duties in January 2020 and were no longer under Prince Charles' payroll. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, the duke said that his father cut him off financially and he only has his mother, Princess Diana's inheritance, to keep them afloat. Aside from their Netflix deal, they also signed an agreement to produce original content with Spotify.