Prince Harry and his wife, former actress Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals years ago and emigrated to the USA. Since then, the two have been in the headlines again and again - with the now long-simmering dispute between Harry and his brother William taking centre stage. Many people will also be familiar with the legendary interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which Meghan Markle made accusations of racism against the British Royal Family.
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The Duke of Sussex is currently heavily promoting the Invictus Games, which he founded, and which will take place in Canada from February 6 to 18 next year. As a part of the promotion, Prince Harry made a rather surprising video which shows him getting inked!
A tattoo for Prince Harry
The Prince gets this tattoo from none other than the US country and rap artist Jelly Roll. In the clip, Prince Harry can be seen entering a tattoo studio in New York City. The singer arrives immediately and is overjoyed that he is allowed to give the Brit a tattoo - but Prince Harry doesn't seem to have known anything about it until then and wonders why Jelly Roll is wearing gloves.
After some initial horror, the two finally negotiate that the singer can give the prince a tattoo in return for him performing at the closing event of the Invictus Games in February. That settled the matter and the musician got started.
Internet users are delighted
A short time later, the finished tattoo is emblazoned on the Duke of Sussex's neck - and Harry is left looking horrified:
Does it say your name?
The singer seemed to have immortalized his own name under the 'I AM' lettering, which is based on the Invictus Games logo. Prince Harry responds with a simple 'Oh sh*t' after the singer has quickly left. That's the end of the video.
Of course, the whole thing was just a little joke, and the tattoo fake, but the clip is definitely a successful advertisement for the Invictus Games. The Instagram users below the post agree. Many of them praise Prince Harry for the successful promo and for his acting talent, which he also showed while visiting a haunted house with Jimmy Fallon. One user wrote:
Didn't know Prince could act..he did a good job.
Another said:
Actually this was funny as hell. Tatoo was a joke. lol
People noticed Prince Harry's new accent
The tattoo was not the only thing about the advertising clip that got people talking online. Indeed, many Internet users commented on Prince Harry's accent, which sounds a lot different from when he was still a member of the Royal Family. Since Prince Harry left the Firm four years ago, to move to the United States with his wife and children, some people have claimed his accent is now 'Americanised'.
Fans have noticed the Prince sounds more American, as they can hear in his accent, but also in his mannerisms. One Internet user in particular wrote on X:
He totally has an American accent now.
Another one commented:
Prince Harry’s British accent sounds more diluted to make way for the American accent.
In the clip, the Prince is heard using common American phrases such as 'dude', 'you guys' and 'screw it', as well as raising his voice at the end of sentences and dropping his t's, which is common in most American accents.
In fact, the conversation around his accent got so big that TheTelegraph dedicated a piece to the subject, interviewing a communication coach and accent specialist, Anthony Shuster. He explained:
You notice that there’s a huge difference between the way the King speaks and the way Harry now speaks. There’s very little articulation at all in his speech—it’s far more relaxed.
The shift in Prince Harry's accent from Etonian to Californian began years ago, according to the expert. He claims it had already begun when the Prince was much younger, but it has become more apparent since he started dating his wife, Meghan Markle. When his son, Archie, was born in 2019, Prince Harry exclaimed:
Wow, he’s already got a little bit of facial hair as well.
The expert noticed the Prince was dropping his t's, which makes 'little' sounds like 'liddle'. Anthony Shuster went on:
That’s something that’s quite distinctly American, is to let your final ‘t’ sort of soften to a ‘d’.
When asked about the possible reason for the Prince's change in accents, Jennifer Dorman, a linguistics expert, told Cosmopolitan:
It could be that Prince Harry has started to borrow American phrases and words in order to fit in and be understood better by the American press. This could become so habitual that he uses these words when speaking to Brits and Americans alike.
Or he may just be mimicking his wife: interacting at a close level with someone all the time can cause us to pick up their speaking habits.
This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag DE.
Read more:
Prince Harry's visa row in the spotlight again as Donald Trump wins the elections
Prince William stuns by saying brother Harry's name in public after years
Prince Harry and Meghan may have bought a home in Portugal: source
Sources used:
Bunte: "Prince Harry: Funny video: Here he gets his first tattoo"
RTL: "What's going on: Prince Harry gets a neck tattoo here"
Instagram: @invictusgames25
Telegraph: Watch: The Americanisation of Prince Harry’s accent, from public schoolboy to Cali slang
Cosmopolitan: Is Prince Harry developing an American accent?
