“Commitment prince,” Jelly Roll told the Duke of Sussex as the tattoo gun buzzed
Surprise! Prince Harry sat down for a tattoo from Jelly Roll in a new video revealing the country music superstar will headline the closing ceremony of the upcoming Invictus Games.
On Nov. 19, the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 shared a clip to Instagram showing the Duke of Sussex, 40, and the “Save Me” singer, 39, meeting at East Side Ink, a tattoo parlor in New York City. The video may have been filmed during Prince Harry’s solo trip to N.Y.C. in September, when he was spotted at the tattoo parlor whose celebrity clients include Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Susan Sarandon, Ruby Rose and Bruce Willis.
“Take a look around, can we get you anything?” someone asked Prince Harry as the video began. “No, I’m alright. Is he going to be here any time soon?” Harry asked as he sat in a tattoo chair, and was assured the person he was waiting for would be there promptly.
Jelly Roll then walked in and warmly greeted Harry, saying, “Hey, hey! Tattoos! Speaking of! What’s up! I’m such a fan, dude. Do you know I could not believe it when they called me and told me Prince Harry wanted to get a tattoo today? They wanted me to give him his first tattoo? This is the coolest thing ever!”
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Taken aback, Prince Harry asked the star (who has an impressive collection of ink!) why he was wearing a glove, and Jelly Roll explained, “We’re giving you a tattoo about the Invictus Games.”
“No, I came here to ask you to do the Invictus Games. There’s no tattoo in this. I can’t get a tattoo!” Harry said.
Negotiating, the “Need a Favor” singer said, “I’ll play the Invictus Games, you just let me give you your first tattoo.” Repeating the deal, Prince Harry said, “Alright, screw it, let’s go,” as Jelly Roll fired up the tattoo gun.
“We gotta go for the neck!” the Grammy Award-nominated singer said, and Harry interjected, “I was thinking the lower back or on my ass.”
“Nobody wants to see your ass, Harry!” Jelly Roll laughed. “No, that’s the place where no one is going to see it,” Harry countered. “This is for the world!” Jelly Roll exclaimed, pointing to his own neck, and got to work.
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“Wait, have you done this before?” the Duke of Sussex asked, and Jelly Roll said, “Practically, pretty much,” and told him to trust him.
“A small one?” Harry asked, as the tattoo gun buzzed. “Like a baby getting its first haircut,” Jelly Roll said, and the Duke of Sussex said he should have gotten it “on my ass.”
“It feels big, man,” Harry said.
“Commitment prince,” Jelly Roll said, focusing on his work. “This is going to be huge, man.”
“What’s that!” Harry exclaimed, as he looked in the mirror. “Dude, it’s enormous,” he said, surprised.
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The country star countered, “The Invictus Games are enormous,” and Harry seemed shocked when he spied Jelly Roll’s name in ink. Seemingly inspired by the Invictus Games “I Am” logo, he wrote “I Am Jelly Roll” in the same motif.
“Is that your name? Does that say Jelly Roll? You put your name on my neck?!” Harry said. “Wait, wait, wait, wait!”
“I’ll see you in Vancouver!” the star called as he left the room. “I’ll be there, I appreciate you!”
“Oh, s–,” Harry said, as the video rolled to a close.
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The “Invictus I Am” logo embodies the message at the heart of the Invictus Games, inspired by William Ernest Henley’s iconic poem Invictus, which includes the phrase, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
It was announced on Nov. 19 that the Jelly Roll will headline the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 on Feb. 16, 2025. The Invictus Games said that the full lineup of performances will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 20, as the countdown continues to the next iteration of the Invictus Games.
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The Duke of Sussex, a former captain in the British Army, launched the Invictus Games as an international adaptive sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans in 2014 as a means for healing. The seventh cycle will be held in Vancouver and Whistler from Feb. 8 to Feb. 16, 2025.
The new video was issued after Prince Harry appeared at the Grey Cup in Vancouver on Nov. 17 and at the Seaforth Armoury on Nov. 18 to launch the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 School Program — with no neck tattoo in sight.
Source people.com
