Prince Harry's 'American' accent baffles fans as he ditches royal roots for Cali slang

Prince Harry appeared in an eye-raising video to promote his Invictus Games in 2025 by seemingly getting a neck tattoo - but viewers couldn't help but point out another major change with the Duke of Sussex

Prince Harry shocked fans when he appeared to get a huge neck tattoo in a promo for his Invictus Games.

In the clip to promote the Games taking place in Canada early next year, Harry screams in pain as he appears to be given an 'inking' by US music star Jelly Roll. In the sketch, the country singer and rapper jokes that Harry has agreed to be given his first tattoo.

But it's not just the fact that Harry seemingly agreed to be 'inked' for the sketch, something else left many with raised eyebrows - his now-American-style accent. In the video, Harry sounds very different from how his other royal relatives speak with five years of living in California seemingly leading him to now having an American twang.

There are several examples during the video when Harry uses words more commonly associated with American dialects such as 'dude' instead of 'mate' and 'a**' instead of the British term 'a**e'.

After seeing the clip, taking to X, one fan said: "He totally has an American accent now." Another pointed out: "His British accent sounds more diluted to make way for the American accent." While another wrote: "It sounds like Prince Harry is losing his British accent." It has been almost five years since Harry and wife Meghan Markle dropped the huge bombshell that they were quitting as senior working royals and moving to carve out a new life in the United States.

And there have been several times in the past when Harry has appeared in videos, where his cut-glass English accent has appeared to fade. In 2022, he appeared in another promo for tech start-up Better Up, where he is the chief impact officer. Then, viewers commented on his changing accent.

And at the time, speech and accent expert Emma Serlin, founder of the London Speech Workshop, told the Mirror the changes in Harry's accent showed how he was more "of the people" than royal. She explained: "Harry's accent now sounds much more rounded and middle rather than upper class. In a classic Harry way, he's doing what we know him to be - he's the friendly prince, he's charming, he connects with people. He is his mother's son.

"He is now 'of the people' in a much more overt way. He has always toned the classic royal accent down and softened it, but previously he was much more aligned with the Royal Family. Now that Harry hardly ever sees the Royal Family - not only is he no longer aligned with them in the same way, but he also doesn't spend time with them in the same way.

"So, he has adapted his accent to connect more with the people he is meeting and seeing every day, and the people around him. Ultimately, I'm sure he would heighten his accent if he was around the Royal Family again, but it's really about adapting to build connections."