Prince Harry just got his first tattoo, courtesy of singer-rapper Jelly Roll. On Tuesday, the official Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Instagram account released a promotional video featuring Prince Harry visiting the NYC-based tattoo parlor East Side Ink to meet up with the recording artist and invite him to perform at the closing ceremony.
“Hey, hey! Tattoos! Speaking of, what’s up man?” Jelly Roll — real name Jason Bradley DeFord — greeted the duke enthusiastically in the clip. “So good to meet you,” Prince Harry responded, extending his right arm for a handshake and saying he is “such a big fan.”
“Do you know I could not believe it when they called me and told me Prince Harry wanted to get a tattoo today, and he wanted me to give him his first tattoo? This is the coolest thing ever!” DeFord said after their pleasantries.
Although taken aback, Meghan Markle’s husband agreed to have DeFord ink him his first tattoo when he learned that this was the only way for him to get the Grammy nominee to perform at the closing ceremony. “I’ll play the Invictus Games, you just let me give you your first tattoo,” Jelly Roll told Harry, who then repeated the deal and said, “Alright, screw it, let’s go!”
The comical banter between the two continued after Jelly Roll fired up the tattoo gun. “I was thinking the lower back or on my ass,” Prince Harry interjected when DeFord aimed for his neck, saying, “We gotta go for the neck!” After letting out a few laughs, Jelly Roll told the royal, “Nobody wants to see your ass, Harry!”
Despite being covered in skin art from head to toe, Jelly Roll is not a tattoo artist. Prince Harry learned this the hard way halfway through their session when he got a feeling that his tattoo would be bigger than what he asked for. “It feels big, man.” But DeFord, who seemed proud of his work, responded, “This is going to be huge, man.”
Indeed, it’s bigger than what he expected. When he saw his neck tattoo in the mirror, Harry exclaimed, “What’s that?” The camera then panned to the tattoo, which says, “I AM Jelly Roll,” as the singer assured the royal that “it’s awesome.” But Harry could not get over its size. “Dude, it’s enormous!”
As he continued to examine his new accessory, Prince Harry realized what Jelly Roll had done. “Is that your name? You put your name on my neck?” He started to yell as though he was ready to throw some hands. But then DeFord quickly exited the scene, leaving Prince Harry apparently agitated and disappointed.
On the same day the video was released, the organization announced that Jelly Roll would be headlining the closing ceremony in Vancouver on Feb. 16, 2025. So it seems Prince Harry’s decision to get inked by the singer didn’t go in vain. But then again, the tattoo appears to be purely for the promo since, according to People, the video was filmed during Prince Harry’s solo trip to the Big Apple in September. He hasn’t been spotted with his supposed neck ink after that. Maybe he’s covering it up with Dermablend or maybe… just maybe, this whole thing was a publicity stunt.
