Prince Harry is adjusting well to life in the United States — so much so that some people think he’s talking like an American.
The Duke of Sussex, who moved to the states with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020, appeared to have adopted an American accent in a recent video where he got a fake tattoo from Jelly Roll in New York City.
In the clip, Harry, 40, jokingly got inked on his neck as he recruited the rapper, 39, to headline the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025.
At one point, Harry tells Jelly Roll he wants the tattoo on his lower back or on his ass.
Harry says the word “ass” as Americans do — rather than “arse” as it’s said and spelt in his home country.
The father of two also utters American phrases like “screw it” to Jelly Roll in the video.
People called out Harry’s newfound accent and slang on X (formerly Twitter).
“Prince Harry’s British accent sounds more diluted to make way for the American accent,” someone tweeted.
“It is obvious he is trying too hard,” another person said.
“It sounds like Prince Harry is losing his British accent,” read another comment.
A fourth person wrote, “Its been 4 years, born and brought up in the most British speaking family in England and it took him 4 years to speak in an American accent.”
Somebody else said that Harry — who resides in Montecito, Calif. with Markle, 43, and their two kids — now speaks “like a Valley Girl.”
Anthony Shuster, a communication coach and accent specialist, told The Telegraph he noticed a real change in Harry’s speaking habits in 2019 — the year after he married Markle.
When the couple introduced their son Archie to the world after he was born in May 2019, Harry said, “Wow, he’s already got a little bit of facial hair as well.”
Shuster noted that the way Harry said “little” sounded like “liddle,” which is common with Americans.
“That’s something that’s quite distinctly American, is to let your final ‘t’ sort of soften to a ‘d’,’” Shuster explained. “Writer and rider – someone who rides a horse – sound the same.”
Harry’s Americanized vocabulary was previously noticed in 2021 when he said phrases like “awesome” and “you guys” on his podcast with his wife.
At the time, linguistics expert Jennifer Dorman spoke to Cosmopolitan about her insight into the situation.
“It could be that Prince Harry has started to borrow American phrases and words in order to fit in and be understood better by American press, and this could become so habitual that he uses these words when speaking to Brits and Americans alike,” she said.
“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,” Dorman added.
Last year, speech specialist Emma Serlin told the Mirror that the Invictus Games founder’s speech changes are about him being more “of the people.”
“He has always toned the classic royal accent down and softened it, but previously he was much more aligned with the royal family,” Serlin said, noting that Harry “doesn’t spend time” with his estranged family as much as he used to.
After four years of living in California, Harry renounced his British residency and claimed America as his home in paperwork in April.
Two months earlier, he said on “Good Morning America” that he’s considering obtaining US citizenship.
“It’s amazing. I love every single day,” he said about his life in America.
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