Rules around facial hair for royals
While the King and the Prince of Wales have both grown out their facial hair in the past, they have stuck to a clean-shaven appearance.
Queen Elizabeth II reportedly asked William to shave off his beard while he was on a military secondment.
William with a beard on Christmas Day 2008
Up until recent months, soldiers were not permitted to grow their facial hair while in the British Army.
The guidelines were relaxed in March and beards and moustaches must be neat, properly groomed and will be routinely checked.
Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force has permitted its personnel to sport facial hair since 2019, while the Royal Navy has allowed beards and moustaches for years.
Prince Harry wrote about asking his grandmother, the late Queen, for permission to keep his beard on his wedding day to Meghan Markle in 2018.
But Harry claimed in his memoir Spare, released in January 2023, that William “bristled” when he explained that keeping his beard made him feel calmer.
“Maybe it was Freudian – beard as security blanket. Maybe it was Jungian – beard as mask. Whatever, it made me calmer, and I wanted to feel as calm as possible on the day of my wedding,” he wrote.
He claims that William told him: “Not the done thing, he said. Military, rules, so forth.”
Harry wrote that his brother “wouldn’t let it go” and that the disagreement continued “in person, on the phone, for more than a week” before William admitted that his grievance with Harry’s facial hair was because he wasn’t allowed to keep his.
Related Posts
My 8-Year-Old Daughter Was Almost in Tears When the Restaurant Manager Pointed at My Muddy Boots and Said, “We Don’t Serve People Like You in This Section.” She Called Security, Gave Us Two Minutes to Leave, and Smirked as the Other Diners Watched. I Quietly Sent One Text Instead of Arguing. What She Didn’t Know Was That the Person Receiving My Message Could Change Everything About Her Future at That Restaurant
My 5-Year-Old Daughter Called Me at Work Crying, “Mommy, Dad’s Girlfriend Hurt Me With a Hockey Stick.” I Didn’t Confront Anyone—I Called for Help and Saved Every Message. At the Hospital, They Found Marks on Her Arm and Leg. But What Surfaced Just Before the Custody Hearing Revealed That Her Father Had Known Far More Than He Had Ever Admitted
At Christmas, My Mother Humiliated My 8-Month-Old Daughter in Front of the Entire Family and Blamed Me for Her Premature Birth. After 34 Years of Enduring Her Cruel Remarks, I Quietly Gathered All Seven of My Baby’s Presents and Said, “This Is Her Last Christmas Here.” She Called Me 11 Times Demanding an Apology, Certain I Would Come Crawling Back. But on New Year’s Eve, One Phone Call Revealed Something She Never Expected—and Suddenly, She Was the One Begging…
I Thought the Young Housekeeper Was Only There to Clean—Until I Came Home Early and Found Her Crying Beside My Seriously Ill Mother, Gently Shaving the Last of Her Hair. I Was About to Ask Her to Leave When Mom Took Her Hand and Said, “Adrian, She Didn’t Come Here for This Job.” Then She Told Me Why Sadie Had Really Entered Our Home… and Handed Me a Letter My Father Had Written 12 Years Ago
