Prince William’s Hair Transformation Is Helping Boost His Image After a Year of Scandals

Royal fans have become accustomed to Prince William’s clean-shaven face — it’s a wholesome dad look. However, it seems that the Prince of Wales is playing around with his style a bit this summer after he was spotted with some vacation scruff in an Olympics video in August. Instead of shaving for his fall appearances in the U.K., William is signaling to everyone that he’s ready to change his image.

Prince William & Kate Middleton Might Be Having the Same Staffing Issues as Harry & Meghan

The 42-year-old royal showed up at the “Homelessness: Reframed” exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London on Thursday, Sept. 5 with a swagger that led The Cut to post the headline: “Alert: Prince William Is Hot Again.” In addition to his facial hair, his left one extra button undone underneath his navy-blue suit, and it gave him a hot dad vibe . Fans are swooning on social media, too!

“I don’t usually like facial hair on men but in this case, Prince William rocks it,” wrote one woman on X. Another social media user added , “There are a lot of very happy ladies to see that Prince William is growing facial hair again 😁💙.” One account even tagged Kensington Palace, so they knew how much they loved his summer-into-fall beard, noting , “Look who’s handsome with facial hair. His Royal Highness Prince William looking distinguished.”

The image makeover might be more than just feeling lazy about shaving, though — it could have everything to do with the royal family’s controversial year. Amid Kate Middleton’s health issues came the resurfaced rumors about William’s alleged affair with Rose Hanbury. The alleged fling had a life of its own for the last five years even though there isn’t any evidence that it ever occurred. Vulture ‘s Ellie Hall believes that the royal family is to blame for the longevity of the salacious gossip.

“I think that this story would have died on the vine back in 2019 if they hadn’t threatened legal action, because the fact that media organizations had been warned off it, as reported by The Daily Beast among others, then became the story. The fact that somebody really wants the story to go away is the only reason it’s still around,” she wrote in a July deep-dive article. Throw in Kate’s Photoshop controversy, her disappearing act ahead of her medical diagnosis, and the criticism about the couple’s work ethic, and it’s clear why a style makeover for Prince William is a good distraction from the relentless headlines.

Now, add in the fact that the couple is looking for a senior communications officer at Kensington Palace — the timing of William’s style transformation seems quite coincidental. It’s almost as if Kate and William know that their critics are growing louder and they need to secure a solid reign for themselves once King Charles III steps away from the throne — the time is now to up their PR game.

Before you go, click here to see everything you need to know about Rose Hanbury, the close friend of Prince William & Kate Middleton.