The Duke of Sussex called opening the bonnet of a car ‘popping the hood’ during an appearance yesterday as he swapped English for Americanisms after seven months living in the US.
Prince Harry, 36, joined wife Meghan Markle, 39, from their $14 million Santa Barbara mansion as they hosted a special edition of TIME100 Talks about the ‘state of our digital experience’.
The Duke slipped in an ‘Americanism’ as he used a metaphor while speaking with social media experts including Meghan’s best friend Serena William’s husband Alexis Ohanian, saying: ‘When driving a car and all the warning lights are going off, there is smoke pouring out of the hood. You are not going to keep on driving.
‘You pull over. In the olden days, you’d probably pop the hood up, have a look under it and maybe fix it.’
The Duke of Sussex, 36, called opening the bonnet of a car ‘popping the hood’ during an appearance yesterday as he swapped English for Americanisms after seven months living in the US with Meghan Markle
‘But now, every single one of these new cars has a shield over top so you can’t fix it – you’ve got to call experts in.’
He continued: ‘The online world is affecting the world. It is not restricted to certain platforms of social media groups. This is a global crisis.
‘A global crisis of hate. A global crisis of disinformation and a global health crisis.
‘These people we speak to there is no one else better to explain it.’
Prince Harry slipped in the ‘Americanism’ as he used a metaphor while speaking with social media experts including Meghan’s best friend Serena William’s husband Alexis Ohanian
The comments come as Prince Harry marks almost a year living away from the UK, having spent several months in Canada before moving to Meghan’s native California.
The TIME100 Talks episode featured conversations with a range of guests, including Reddit co-founder and founder of 776 Alexis , and Rappler CEO and executive editor Maria Ressa.
During the conversation, Meghan said the ‘bad voices’ on social media are ‘so loud and damaging’ – after claiming she quit her accounts for her own self preservation.
Dressed in an Alexander McQueen black suit, Meghan admitted that while she and Harry ‘don’t speak tech’, they ‘know the experience of being a human being and the pain and suffering and joy that has come from this worldwide web’.
Meanwhile Harry said online platforms are ‘distracting us from the things we should be focused on’.
Harry concluded the talk by borrowing the Brexit Leave campaign’s tagline, urging people to ‘take back control’ of their use of social media and mobile devices.
Presented in partnership with P&G and themed around the topic of ‘Engineering a Better World,’ the special episode tied into Harry and Meghan’s desire to build online communities that are more compassionate, safe, and trustworthy.
It comes after Vanity Fair’s Katie Nicholl reported the Duke and Duchess of Sussex won’t join the royal family in Sandringham for the holidays and are ‘looking forward’ to spending Christmas in California
The couple also said they’re ’embracing every moment’ of spending more time with their son Archie during the pandemic. Speaking to Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal, Meghan said: ‘We are trying to embrace all the quality time we get with our son and embrace every moment of his growth and development.’
His latest slip into Americanisms comes after it emerged the Sussexes would not spend Christmas in Sandringham with the royal family and are ‘looking forward’ to their first holiday in California.
Vanity Fair’s Katie Nicholl said the Sussexes are excited for their first American Christmas living in California and will travel to the UK days later, allowing them to isolate for two weeks ahead of the start of Meghan’s High Court case against the Mail on Sunday, which begins on January 11.
It will mark the second year the couple will have spent the holiday away from the Queen, 94, and other royals – having reportedly spent the last festive season with the duchess’ mother Doria Ragland and their son Archie in Canada.
The royal couple previously spent every Christmas since their 2017 engagement at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate (pictured, on Christmas Day in 2018 with Prince Charles, Kate Middleton and Prince William
The royal expert went on to report that the news would likely be ‘disappointing’ for the monarch who is ‘missing’ Harry and her great-grandson Archie, whom she has not seen for a year.
Sources said Prince Harry had no plans to cross the Atlantic any time soon because of the Covid-19 crisis.
Meanwhile earlier this year, the Duke said he was ‘loving’ his ‘fantastic’ new life in the US.
In a clip released for Rugby Football League from a video call with the organisation to celebrate their 125th birthday in August, the royal was asked by Ellery Hanley MBE if he is enjoying life in the US, to which he said: ‘Oh easy question. I am loving it. It’s fantastic.’