Prince William reveals Princess Charlotte had very unexpected reaction to his designer beard
The Prince of Wales said he grew it back after convincing his daughter the facial hair would be ‘okay’.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Prince of Wales has revealed his daughter was not a fan of his beard when he first grew it - and had to shave it off after it left her “in floods of tears”.
Prince William revealed Princess Charlotte hated his newly grown facial hair at first, but has since come round to the idea of seeing her father with a beard.
The heir to the throne debuted his new look in an online video with his wife, Kate, in August, when they praised the achievements of the nation’s athletes after the Paris Olympics.
Speaking at the end of a four-day visit to Cape Town, he said: “Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. I got floods of tears the first time I grew a beard, so I had to shave it off.
“And then I grew it back. I thought, hang on a second and I convinced her it was going to be okay.”
The King grew a beard for a time when he served in the Royal Navy, which for more than a century has allowed its servicemen to have facial hair.
The Duke of Sussex claimed his brother was jealous of his beard and ordered him to shave it off before he married Meghan in 2018.
Harry wrote in his autobiography, Spare, how William became “livid” and “raised his voice” when the duke said he had already asked permission from their grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, to keep his beard for his wedding.
The duke said the argument went on for more than a week on the phone and in person, adding: “He wouldn’t let it go. At one point he actually ordered me, as the heir speaking to the spare, to shave.”
However William seems to now be able to sport a beard himself, as the future King, who turned 42 in June, has appeared in public this year with neatly trimmed facial hair.
When he sported the look for the first time in August, royal fans immediately took to the facial hair, which marked a departure from his usual clean-shaven look.
“Love the beard on Prince William,” one social media commented as another pleaded: “William please keep growing that beard!’.
Another illustrated their approval with flame and heart eyes emojis as they wrote: “William with a tan and a beard!!!!”
Others took a more sarcastic approach to the new look saying: “Ohhh... William is really in vacation mode.”
“Someone got permission from the king to grow a beard,” another one wrote.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.