A new look for the Prince of Wales!
He himself wasn’t even in the stands at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, but Prince William still became the talk of the day with his video message to the British athletes. Because guess what? The Prince of Wales is growing a beard!
A beard for William
Felipe has had one for years, Harry has been letting it grow for a while, and our Willem-Alexander wears his with pride. Filip, Carl Gustaf, Harald and Charles do without. We are of course talking about beards! Because facial hair has been a hot topic for male royals for years – read: centuries.
The hairy subject is now back in the spotlight as Prince William appeared in his video message to the British Olympians sporting a fair amount of beard.
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Of course, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Wills with a beard – about fourteen (!) years to be exact. At the traditional Christmas walk at Sandringham in 2008, Charles’ eldest son showed up with a stylishly casual beard.
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Clean shaven
Although you might think that as a royal you can decide for yourself whether to grow a beard, things turn out differently. For example, Wills is said to have shaved his face clean again at the beginning of 2009 at the request of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth. This had everything to do with protocols that applied at the time in the British army, where William started working in the air force as a rescue pilot. During all the years that he was officially in service with the Royal Air Force, it was therefore not permitted for the prince to grow a moustache or beard.
These rules were so deeply ingrained in British military protocols that the air force only relaxed them in 2019, and the army earlier this year.
Harry’s beard
In Spare, Prince Harry’s controversial memoirs, he also said that he had specifically asked his grandmother for permission to wear a beard during his wedding. According to the Duke of Sussex, this led to an endless discussion with his older brother, who kept emphasizing that it was ‘not the done thing’. Eventually, ‘Willy’ is said to have admitted that he was mainly bitter that he was also not allowed to grow a beard for the big day with Kate.
Who knows: Wills will finally be allowed to keep that long-cherished beard? Only time will tell!
Source: Hello! Magazine | Image: NL Beeld
