Princess Charlotte broke down in tears when she first saw Prince William's beard
Prince William has revealed what his family think about his new beard - and Princess Charlotte wasn't best pleased.
Princess Charlotte broke down in tears when she saw her father's beard for the first time, Prince William has revealed.
In an interview with UK print media in South Africa with the Prince, William revealed that his nine-year-old daughter cried when she first saw his beard, prompting him to go back to clean shaven.
Asked if the family like his new look, he said: “Well Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. I got floods of tears, 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.”
William debuted the beard in a video message congratulating Team GB’s athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics in August but appeared clean-shaven at church two weeks later.
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But as he commenced his autumn schedule of engagements the beard had returned.
Many had interpreted William’s new beard as a sign that he is feeling more relaxed now that his wife’s cancer treatment has ended, but this is something he refuted.
“It’s interesting you say that, cause I couldn't be less relaxed this year, so it's very interesting you're all seeing that," he said.
“But it's more a case of just crack on and you’ve got to keep going. I enjoy my work and I enjoy pacing myself and keeping sure that I have got time for my family too.”
Elsewhere in the interview, William revealed this “has been the hardest year of my life” as he opened up on his father and wife’s cancer diagnosis’ for the first time.
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Asked how the past 11 months have been for him, William said: “Honestly? It's been dreadful. It's probably been the hardest year in my life.
“So, trying to get through everything else and keep everything on track has been really difficult.”
Speaking on the last day of his four-day trip to Cape Town for his Earthshot prize, the prince said he was incredibly proud of Charles and Kate for how they’ve responded to their diagnosis.
“I'm so proud of my wife, I'm proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done,” he said. “But from a personal family point of view, it's been, yeah, it's been brutal.”
It marked the first time he has discussed how the double cancer diagnosis have affected him personally.
In January both the King and the Princess of Wales underwent operations and were subsequently diagnosed with cancer.
While Kate has completed her course of chemotherapy, Charles continues to receive weekly treatment - but continues to busy himself with offiical duties and public engagements.
