Prince Harry's changing accent 'part of an identity shift' for Duke of Sussex in the US

In a recent promotional video for the Invictus Games, the Eton-educated royal raised eyebrows with his use of American slang whilst getting a fake tattoo from musician Jelly Roll.

The two-minute skit, filmed in a New York City tattoo parlour, featured Harry casually dropping phrases like "screw it" and "dude" - expressions markedly different from his traditional upper-class British vocabulary.

Royal fans have taken to social media to comment on his evolving accent, with one observer noting: "He totally has an American accent now."

Another social media user remarked: "Prince Harry's British accent sounds more diluted to make way for the American accent."

Speech and accent expert Laura Bailey, a senior lecturer at the University of Kent, suggests these changes reflect Harry's desire to appear more like a "normal person" since stepping away from royal duties.

She told The Mail: "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."

Bailey explains this shift stems from no longer being surrounded by "posh people" and a possible "conscious identity shift" since leaving his official royal role.

The linguistics expert noted that such accent changes typically occur through either 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," she added.

In the Invictus Games promotional video, Harry's American influence was particularly evident in his choice of vocabulary and pronunciation.

The Duke of Sussex used distinctly American phrases, telling the tattoo artist: "That feels big, man," and referring to him as "dude" rather than the British equivalent "mate".

Bailey explains this vocabulary shift is natural when adapting to a new dialect area.

She said: "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."

Harry also displayed American speech patterns, raising his voice at the end of sentences, a typical US characteristic, when saying: "You put your name on my neck."

He even opted for the American pronunciation of certain words, using "a**" instead of the English "a***".

Communication coach and accent specialist Anthony Schuster notes that whilst Harry always had a more relaxed speaking style compared to other royals, it has developed a "distinctly American" quality since moving to California.

Analysing clips of Harry over the years, Schuster points to specific pronunciation changes, such as softening final "t" sounds to "d" sounds, making "little" sound like "liddle".