Speech expert says Prince Harry is adopting American slang to ‘fit in and seem more like a normal person’ – as fans note his Californian accent
Prince Harry’s British accent is slipping away, fans have noted, and now a speech expert has suggested the reason behind the Duke of Sussex’s American twang.
A video of the King’s son getting a fake tattoo from American musician Jelly Roll drew royal enthusiasts’ attention to the Duke of Sussex‘s accent and vocabulary – as the Eton-educated royal used Americanisms such as ‘screw it’ and ‘dude’.
Analysing the skit of Harry with Jelly Roll, which was part of a promotion for the Duke’s Invictus Games, speech and accent expert Laura Bailey told MailOnline these changes could be tied to the royal’s ‘desire to feel more like a ‘normal person”‘.
She added that his sound changes to a more American-style are mostly due to a ‘relaxing of the most obvious features of the posh’ Eton or Received Pronunciation accent – also known as the King’s English.
Dr Bailey, a senior lecturer at the University of Kent, said: ‘His sound changes are mostly a relaxing of the most obvious features of RP (the posh Eton accent) into something more like what many upper middle class southern English people would use.
‘This will be partly because he’s not hanging out with other posh people any more – so it’s not reinforced all the time by hearing it – and partly in order not to stand out so much, and partly perhaps a conscious identity shift now that he’s not doing official royal duties – maybe he wants to feel more like a “normal person”‘, she added.
The linguistics expert explained that a person’s accent change often happens due to a ‘gradual subconscious shift’ or a ‘somewhat conscious desire to fit in’.
‘You might want to fit in with new friends or be more like your wife, to seem likeable to people in a different class, group, or culture than you, or seem cool,’ she continued.
The video of Harry getting a fake tattoo on his neck sparked online discussions about how his British accent ‘sounds more diluted’, with several X users noticing the change
‘All the above probably apply [in Harry’s case],’ the expert concluded.
Prince Harry has been busy promoting the forthcoming edition of his Invictus Games that will get underway in Canada next February.
The 40-year-old royal kicked his promotional tour off with an appearance at the finals of the Grey Cup in Vancouver, before launching the Invictus Games School Programme during an event at the Seaforth Armoury that was attended by elementary school children.
As part of his efforts to spread the word about the Invictus Games – an adaptive, multi-sport event for wounded, injured, and sick veterans – Harry also appeared in a two-minute skit alongside American rapper Jelly Roll.
The video of Harry getting a fake tattoo on his neck sparked online discussions about how his British accent ‘sounds more diluted’, with several X users noticing the change.
One person wrote: ‘He totally has an American accent now.’ Another added: ‘Prince Harry’s British accent sounds more diluted to make way for the American accent.’
The clip – which was filmed at a tattoo parlour in New York City – sees Harry tell Jelly Roll ‘Screw it, let’s do it,’ while talking about getting a tattoo.
He then used several American mannerisms, calling the tattoo artist ‘dude’ and saying: ‘That [tattoo] feels big, man.’
Prince Harry during a TV interview during pre-game festivities prior to the start of the 2024 Grey Cup at BC Place on November 17, 2024 in Vancouver
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex appeared in a clip where they warned of the dangers of online harm to children where Harry demonstrated more relaxed pronunciation, according to
Analysing the skit of Harry with Jelly Roll, which was part of a promotion for the Duke’s Invictus Games, speech and accent expert Laura Bailey told MailOnline these changes could be tied to the royal’s ‘desire to feel more like a ‘normal person”‘
The royal then exclaimed: ‘You put your name on my neck,’ raising his voice at the end of the sentence, which is commonly what US speakers tend to do.
He also appeared to say that the ink could be put on his ‘a**’, rather than using the English saying, which is ‘a***’.
Prince Harry was born in London and educated at Eton College, the prestigious Berkshire boarding school that counts his older brother Prince William among the ranks of its alumni.
Two years after he married former Suits actress Meghan in 2018, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and moved to the sunny shores of Montecito, California, where they live with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
Referring to Harry’s use of words such as ‘a**’ and ‘dude’ instead of the more British ‘mate’, Dr Bailey explained: ‘Vocabulary items are quick to change when we move to a new dialect area because maybe people don’t understand our other terms.
‘With things like ‘dude’, it’s reciprocal – you want to establish closeness or friendship, and ‘dude’ is one way to do that, whereas ‘mate’ or something [similar] might not be interpreted so easily.’
Communication coach and accent specialist Anthony Schuster analysed several clips of Prince Harry speaking over the years, noting how his Etonian upper-lip has given way to a more casual American twang since relocating to California with his wife Meghan Markle.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend the sitting volleyball final during day six of the Invictus Games in 2023
Harry recently spent time with school children in Vancouver during an event to launch the Invictus Games School Programme
Speaking about how Prince Harry’s accent has changed over the years, Mr Schuster told The Telegraph that while the Duke always had a more relaxed manner of speaking – as compared to other, older members of the Royal Family – it has taken on a ‘distinctly American’ twang over the years.
‘That’s something that’s quite distinctly American, is to let your final ‘t’ sort of soften to a ‘d’,’ says Mr Shuster, referring to a clip of Harry introducing his firstborn, Prince Archie, to the world in 2018.
In the video, Harry said: ‘Wow, he’s already got a little bit of facial hair as well.’ Except his t’s became d’s, which made the world ‘little’ sound like ‘liddle’.
Jennifer Dorman, another linguistics expert, previously said that Harry’s vocabulary has become more Americanised since his big move in 2020.
In podcast recordings with his wife in 2021, Harry started peppering his speech with phrases including ‘awesome’ and ‘you guys’, she noted.
‘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,’ she told Cosmopolitan in 2021.
‘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.’
