Prince William Brings Back Beard Amid Royal Family Turmoil In See-Through Attempt To Curry Favor

The royal family has been plagued with tragedies throughout 2024. In February and March, we learned that King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, respectively had been diagnosed with cancer. Before Kate Middleton went public with her diagnosis, she took a break from the public eye to recover from abdominal surgery, and the princess's prolonged absence led to the spreading of some truly wild conspiracy theories. And, of course, the rift between Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the rest of the royal family rages on. 

Amidst all this chaos, Prince William somehow managed to become the center of attention by simply rocking a bit of stubble while visiting the "Homelessness: Reframed" exhibit on September 5. The subtle change in appearance led many to form a newfound appreciation for the Prince of Wales or, as one user referred to him on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Will-yum." Another commenter gushed, "William's beard is back and he's never looked better! Let's hope he keeps the razor away this time because this glow-up is [fire]." 

Likewise, one user cheekily penned, "I demand Prince William apologize right now for being so hot." Of course, the beard led certain royal watchers to inevitably assume that he was copying his younger brother. However, at least one X user came to the prince's defense by pointing out that several royals had rocked beards throughout history, and William could have been inspired by any one of them. Ultimately, though, it seems like William is trying to garner a similarly positive reaction that his stubble has received in the past.

As the 2024 Paris Olympics drew to a close, William, Prince of Wales, and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, shared an Instagram video to commend the United Kingdom's team for a job well done. Though the clip featured several celebrities alongside the royal couple themselves, most people could only focus on William's stubble. The comments section was flooded with users complimenting his new look, with one enthusiastically writing, "Boy William rocks the scruffy beard! He needed that to morph his look younger and hipper! Love it!" 

However, for some, leaving a flattering comment simply wasn't enough. So they took to X to share a video of Prince William synced up to a remix of Taylor Swift's smash hit "Shake It Off." In fact, the royal's beard garnered so much attention that Hello! magazine consulted love and relationships expert, and "Celebs Go Dating" star, Dr. Tara to understand why people found him hotter with a beard. "Beards can signal masculine energy and higher testosterone, and therefore is seen as more attractive," she explained succinctly. 

Dr. Tara also professed that a beard could give the appearance of a more defined jawline and a more elongated chin. She also put forth Charles Darwin's theory that "beards have always been perceived as sexually attractive by females and therefore evolved in our human ancestors." Of course, in William's case, the subtle stubble also reminded some of how attractive he looked when he first sported a full beard during Christmas 2008.

As William, Prince of Wales (and his stubble) came back to work on September 5 following a lengthy summer break, his younger brother Prince Harry also took to X to share an emotional video in which he discussed the importance of the Invictus Games, which the Duke of Sussex founded. Royal watchers were displeased by the timing and accused the royal defector of trying to steal William's thunder. Weirdly enough, that wasn't even the first time a beard caused friction between the estranged siblings. In Harry's bestselling memoir, "Spare," he shared that the Prince of Wales was highly against the idea of him having a beard on his wedding day to Meghan Markle because Harry would be getting married in his army uniform and the British Army had a strict protocol against them. 

Though William urged his younger brother to get rid of his facial hair before the big day, Harry stood his ground not least because the Duchess of Sussex had grown accustomed to his look. Furthermore, Harry already got Queen Elizabeth II's approval for his facial hair, so he asked his brother why it irked him so much, and William candidly confessed, "Because I wasn't allowed to keep my beard." 

The Duke of Sussex then recalled another very telling past incident: "After he's come back from an assignment with Special Forces, Willy was sporting a full beard, and someone told him to be a good boy, run along and shave it." According to Harry, "He hated the idea of me enjoying a perk he'd been denied."