Plot

An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.

Immersed in luxury and riches, courteous Prince Akeem, the refined heir apparent to Africa's prosperous kingdom of Zamunda, summons up the courage to reject an arranged marriage proposal on his 21st birthday. As a result, bent on finding true love, the young blueblood heads to the strange urban jungle of New York City's Queens. To mask his regal descent, Akeem and his trusted valet Semmi must post as humble exchange students, doing their best to mingle with their neighbors. But more than anything in the world, the noble bachelor yearns to be loved for who he is and not for his title. Is Prince Akeem destined to find his soulmate in America's bustling Big Apple?—Nick Riganas

A noble, adventurous prince and his valet agree to find love in the Big Apple against his father's wishes. While exploring the great city, a beautiful native lady commands his attention. Both of them bring their cards to the table. Will it be a match or a disaster of destruction?

In the blurbs attempt to summarize the plot, someone wrote that Price Akeem and Semmi posted as common folk. They undoubtedly meant POSED, not posted! The trouble with Spell check is that a properly spelled word, no matter how ungainly or inappropriate it may be, doesn't get caught, corrected, and removed as it should be. Both posed and posted are, in fact, properly spelled. The addition of the superfluous letter "t" changed the entire context. Hint: Proofreading BEFORE publishing is ALWAYS a very good idea. Just sayin'.—hdrbernardb

Prince Akeem, the heir to the throne of a wealthy African country, is arranged to be married. With his bachelor days now limited he sets off to America to sow his wild oats and also experience another culture. He ends up in New York's Queens but is unfazed by his new surrounds and sets out to live like an average Joe.—grantss

Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy), the prince and heir to the throne of the fictitious African country Zamunda, is discontented with being pampered all his life. The final straw comes when his parents, the stuffy King Jaffe (James Earl Jones) and Queen Aeoleon (Madge Sinclair), present him with a bride-to-be (Vanessa Bell) he has never met before, trained to mindlessly obey his every command.

Akeem concocts a plan to travel to America to find a wife he can both love and respect and who accepts him for his personality, not his status, and who can be a free thinker. He and his loyal servant, Semmi (Arsenio Hall) arrive in Queens, New York City, because according to Akeem "What better place to find a queen than the city of Queens?" They rent an apartment in the slum neighborhood of Jamaica. During their quest at crusing nightclubs and places, Akeem meets and falls in love with Lisa (Shari Headley), the daughter of a local fast food restaurateur Cleo McDowell. In wanting to woo, Lisa, both Akeem and Semmi take jobs at McDowell's, passing themselves off as exchange college students.

Lisa possesses the qualities the prince is looking for. The rest of the film centers on Akeem's attempts to win Lisa's hand in marriage, while adjusting to life in America and dodging his royal duties and prerogatives. Unfortunately, Semmi is not comfortable with the life of a poor man and thus unintentionally causes a near-disaster when, alerted by a plea for more financial help, the Zamundian royal couple travels to the United States and reveal themselves to the McDowells.

Although her father is ecstatic that his daughter has attracted the interest of a prince, Lisa, who has fallen for Akeem, becomes angry and confused as to why he lied to her about his identity. She refuses to marry Akeem and he returns to Zamunda with a broken heart, resigned to marry the woman chosen for him by his parents.

At the final scene's wedding procession, Akeem waits dejectedly at the altar as his bride-to-be makes her way down the aisle. But when he lifts the veil to kiss her, he finds Lisa instead of his arranged partner. They ride off happily in a carriage after the ceremony.