Prince William Broke Royal Tradition With His New Look

Being next in line for the throne comes with many expectations — including looking prim and proper at all times. However, that hasn’t deterred Prince William from experimenting with his facial hair.

After years of being clean-shaven, the Prince of Wales surprised royalists in August when he debuted a new beard in a video celebrating Great Britain’s athletes following the 2024 Paris Olympics.

William showed off his stubble again on Sept. 12 when he attended the Sovereign’s Parade at the Royal Air Force College with his father, King Charles III.

“Prince William with a beard was not on my bingo card this year, but here we are,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter) of the senior royal’s new look. Another commented, “The Prince of Wales with a beard is a vibe I can get on board with.”

While William’s newly-grown beard came as a shock to many, it isn’t the first time he’s rocked facial hair. In 2008, the future monarch was photographed with a beard while attending the royal family’s traditional Christmas Day church service. However, William soon went back to his clean-shaven look, likely due to his work in the Royal Air Force, where facial hair was forbidden at the time.

History Of The Royal Beard

William isn’t the first royal family member to grow out their facial hair. Prince Harry, for example, debuted his beard back in 2013 and has kept it ever since.

In his 2023 memoir, Spare, the Duke of Sussex described his stubble as a “security blanket,” and revealed that it caused a royal family rift in the weeks leading up to his 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle.

Harry wrote in the book that he asked his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II for permission to keep his beard for the royal nuptials. Although the late queen granted his request, William asked his younger brother to “shave it off” as facial hair wasn’t allowed in the British Army and Harry planned to wear an armed forces uniform at the ceremony.

William and Harry’s paternal grandfather, the late Prince Philip, also grew out his beard back in 1965 when he and Queen Elizabeth toured the Commonwealth on their royal yacht. In his book Queen of the World, author Robert Hardman claimed that Philip’s facial hair inspired the queen to play a prank on her husband.

“Knowing that he had grown a beard on his travels, the Queen had arranged for everyone in the royal entourage — herself included — to put on fake whiskers just before the Duke walked in,” Hardman wrote.