Prince Harry’s ‘Californian accent’: Royal fans note the Duke of Sussex using American slang in latest clip to promote the Invictus Games

It’s been more than four years since Prince Harry stepped down as a senior working royal and said goodbye to London in favor of sunnier days in Montecito with his wife Meghan Markle.

Although he was educated at Eton and learned to speak the king’s English, he now appears to be losing his original accent.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, has previously expressed his joy at living in the United States with his children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, describing his life in America as ‘amazing’.

He even admitted that he “loves every day,” adding that he has thought about becoming a U.S. citizen, in an interview with Good Morning America in February.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, is a Californian and has remained in the state, just an hour and a half drive from where she was born in Los Angeles.

Fans now believe Harry has adopted Meghan’s American accent and pronunciations after a video of him getting a fake tattoo emerged earlier this week.

In the two-minute sketch with musician Jelly Roll, filmed at New York tattoo parlor East Side Ink, people pointed out that he has now become Cali cool.

One person wrote on

Another said: ‘Sounds like Prince Harry is losing his British accent.’

In the clip – which was filmed to promote The Invictus Games – the Duke says the American phrase ‘Screw it, let’s do it’ to Jelly Roll.

He then used various American mannerisms, calling the tattoo artist “dude” and saying, “That [tattoo] feels like a big man.’

The royal then exclaimed, “You put your name on my neck,” raising his voice at the end of the sentence, which is usually what American speakers do.

He also seemed to say that the ink could be applied to his ‘a**’, rather than using the English saying ‘a***’.

Anthony Shuster, a communications coach and accent specialist, shared Telegraph: ‘You notice that there is a big difference between the way the King speaks and the way these boys talk.’

It looks like Prince Harry (pictured with Meghan in September 2022) is becoming more Californian with the phrases he uses and his accent

Response: One person wrote on

Speaking about Harry’s accent in the clip, he said: “It’s not exactly the stiff upper lip… There’s very little articulation.”

Mr Shuster also watched another video of Prince Harry from 2004, during his gap year when he spent eight weeks in Lesotho.

You hear Harry say, ‘Yes, it’s learning about the culture, isn’t it. Different country – not everyone knows about it.’

The language expert says that a lot of research has been done into children from an affluent background who drop their t to sound ‘less chic’.

But it was in 2019 that the real change took place after he met Meghan Markle, Mr Shuster says.

When he first introduced baby Archie, Harry said: ‘Wow, he’s got a bit of facial hair too.’ Only his t’s became d’s, making the world sound ‘small’ like ‘liddle’.

Mr. Shuster told the outlet, “That’s something that’s very distinctly American: softening your last ‘t’ a little bit into a ‘d.'”

Jennifer Dorman, a linguist, said his vocabulary has become more Americanized since his big move in 2020.

Language expert Anthony Shuster said the real change came in 2019 after he met Meghan Markle

During podcast recordings with his wife in 2021, Harry began peppering his speech with phrases like “amazing” and “you guys,” she noted.

“Prince Harry may have started borrowing American expressions and words to better fit and be better understood by the American press,” she said. Cosmopolitan in 2021.

‘This could become such a habit that he uses these words in his conversations with both British and Americans.

“Or maybe he’s just imitating his wife: if we’re in constant close contact with someone, we can pick up their speaking habits.”

Commenting on his recent tattoo video, one fan said: “He’s picking up American words. Fine.’ Another jumped in and said, “American slang, a bit of an accent, I love it!”

The Duke of Sussex, 40, has previously expressed his joy at living in the United States with his children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three, describing his life in America as ‘amazing’.

In the two-minute sketch with musician Jelly Roll (not pictured), filmed at New York tattoo parlor East Side Ink, people pointed out that he has now become Cali cool

This comes after a language expert said in 2022 that Harry may have picked up a few Americanisms since moving to the United States with his wife Meghan and son Archie in 2020.

Former King’s College language specialist Tony Thorne said there were shades of an American accent in the duke’s voice in his interview with US broadcaster NBC at the time.

He said Prince Harry dropped his ‘Ts’ in some cases – including when talking about his home in Santa Barbara, California.