The Prince of Wales has caused quite a stir with his new look – and he’s not the first future King to have a beard. His father sported a very similar look when he served with the Royal Navy
Prince William made headlines back in August when he debuted a rugged new look, and it looks here to stay. To the delight of his fans, the future King has been rocking a beard – and he’s not the first heir-to-the-throne to do so. His father Charles sported a very similar appearance in the 70s.
The then-Prince of Wales ditched the clean-shaven look while serving in the Royal Navy, between 1971 and 1976. Unlike the Army, the Navy has allowed its servicemen to have facial hair for more than a century. And Charles chose to take advantage of the rule.
In September 1971, Charles embarked on his naval career and enrolled in a six-week course at the Royal Naval College Dartmouth. He served from 1971 to 1972 on the guided-missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and the frigates HMS Minerva, from 1972 to 1973, and HMS Jupiter in 1974. That same year, he also qualified as a helicopter pilot.
The King spent his last 10 months of active service in the Navy commanding the coastal minehunter HMS Bronington, beginning on 9 February 1976. His father Prince Philip, grandfather King George VI, and both great-grandfathers before him had also embarked on successful naval careers.
William, meanwhile, recently revealed his daughter Princess Charlotte’s reaction to his beard – and safe to say, she wasn’t a fan!
The Prince was asked about his stubble at the end of a four-day visit to Cape Town in November, and he admitted: “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.”
When one of the reporters told William that his new facial hair gives him a laid-back, ‘relaxed’ look, William expressed surprise.
“It’s interesting you say that, because I couldn’t be less relaxed this year, so it’s very interesting you’re all seeing that,” he said about the past 12 months, which saw both his wife, Princess Kate, and father the King, diagnosed with cancer. “But it’s more a case of just crack on and you’ve got to keep going,” he said.
Prince William’s new facial hair comes after the Army lifted its long-standing ban on beards. As of March 2024, soldiers and officers are now allowed to grow beards while serving in the British Army – although they must be neat and properly groomed.
The previous ban is said to have caused an issue between Prince William and Prince Harry, according to the Duke of Sussex, who claimed his brother was ‘jealous’ of the fact he was allowed to have a beard at his 2018 wedding.
Harry wore his military uniform for his nuptials with Meghan Markle, just as William had. And according to military dress codes, that required him to have a shaved face.
But Harry sought special permission from the Queen to keep his facial hair – something that reportedly infuriated his sibling.
Writing in his tell-all memoir Spare, Harry said: “And yet I now dared to make another ask – Granny, please, may I, for my wedding, keep my beard? Not a small ask either. A beard was thought by some to be a clear violation of protocol and long-standing norms, especially since I was getting married in my Army uniform. Beards were forbidden in the British Army.”
