Prince Harry raised eyebrows when he was seen visiting a tattoo parlour in New York earlier this year – and a new video has revealed exactly what went down during his hour-long visit to the shop

Prince Harry set tongues wagging when he was seen visiting a New York tattoo parlour just days after marking his 40th birthday.

Back in September, he was spotted entering East Side Ink, a tattoo shop on the Lower East Side which is a favourite among A-listers, with several of his minders and a police officer. It came during his trip to the Big Apple, where he spoke at several events connected to the United Nations General Assembly. It sparked rumours that he was celebrating his landmark birthday with a tattoo – and the reason for his visit has now been revealed in a jaw-dropping promotional video for Harry’s Invictus Games.

Harry appears to scream in pain as he gets the tattoo

The clip shows the Duke of Sussex grimacing in pain as he appears to be given a shock neck tattoo by US music star Jelly Roll. In the sketch, the country singer and rapper jokes that Harry has agreed to be given his first tattoo.

Jelly Roll – who has been announced as the first headliner at the closing ceremony of the event next year – tells Harry: “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?” However, the duke appears to have heard nothing about the deal.

“No, no, no, why are you wearing a glove?” Harry asks. Jelly Roll replies: “We are giving you a tattoo about the Invictus Games.” The duke says he wanted to ask Jelly Roll “to do” the games, not to tattoo him. Jelly Roll says he will only play the games if Harry lets him give him his first tattoo.

Prince Harry in a new video for his Invictus Games
The duke agrees and asks the music star – known for his own collection of body art – to tattoo his “lower back” or his “a**”. Jelly Roll suggests he tattoos Harry’s neck instead. “Trust me, man, you wouldn’t want nobody else doing this,” he tells the duke. He then tattoos ‘I am Jelly Roll’ on Harry’s neck, and tells him: “I’ll see you in Vancouver!”

Harry travelled solo to launch the programme for the event, due to be held in Vancouver and Whistler in February. Harry, a former British Army captain, launched the Invictus Games in 2014 as an international sports tournament for injured and wounded service personnel and veterans. In February, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex officially kicked off the countdown to the 2025 winter games at an event in Whistler. The games will feature the debut of winter sports including Nordic skiing, wheelchair curling, snowboarding and alpine skiing.

During his trip to Vancouver this week, Harry went to Canadian football’s Grey Cup final and also met children at the Seaforth Armoury, where he launched the Invictus Games schools programme.

And just yesterday, he visited Seaforth Armoury in the Canadian city, where he gave a heartfelt speech about courage as he launched the Invictus Games school programme. There he was seen hugging children who had come out for the event as well as taking part in a game of sitting volleyball.