The Most Iconic (And Disastrous) Royal Hair Transformations

Everyone makes hair mistakes, and the royals are no exception. Throughout the years, countless members of Europe's various royal families have transitioned from flattering hairdos to disastrous ones, making global audiences wonder what inspired the unfortunate changes. There's a hefty dose of these moments from the British Royal Family, including Queen Elizabeth II, as well as Catherine, Princess of Wales. All of these English women have had at least one instance of changing things up for the worse. Yes, even Princess Diana, the iconic style icon, suffered some bad hair changes. But women from other royal families in Europe have made similar mistakes, proving the fact that no one is safe from them.

Not only have there been a plethora of royal hair mistakes caught on camera, but there have also been drastic hair changes that simply didn't work. Princess Charlene of Monaco has a whole archive of gorgeous royal hairstyles, to be sure, but she's also made some drastic hair changes that were arguably mistakes. Meanwhile, Princess Sofia of Sweden is not your average royal, and so it makes sense that she's open to hair experiments. Unfortunately, some of these were a step in the wrong direction. On the English side, Catherine, Princess of Wales, experimented with blond hair that was so transformative it got people convinced that a Princess Diana bob was next. For all of these royals, their hair changes were shocking and unflattering, proving that changing your hair does not necessarily mean changing your life for the better.

When Princess Diana was a teenager, she wore her hair long. She styled it well past her shoulders with simple, side-swept bangs, and it was a light, dirty blond tone. It was a far more natural look for Diana, and one she would depart from as soon as her relationship with Prince Charles launched her to international stardom. When the world started to know her as Charles' girlfriend, Diana's hair was already much shorter, and she'd never go back to that longer, more casual length. 

Around the time of Diana's engagement and wedding to Charles, and later on their honeymoon, Diana's hair was completely different from the way it was in these earlier years. While Diana carries a legacy as a style icon — indeed, even today there are Diana-approved trends that are making a comeback — this early period of her relationship with Charles was an unfortunate one for Diana in terms of hair. She transitioned from a teenager with gorgeous long hair to a young adult with a mushroom cut. This all occurred in the early '80s, primarily from 1980 to 1981. Diana's hair grew out a little longer after she had her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, and this slight length was a vast improvement on the bowl cut of her wedding era. Things would change again for Diana after she and Charles separated in 1992. Her hair absolutely transformed into that iconic short cut, and it was utterly fabulous. 

Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, was a style icon in her time. Known as the spicier counterpoint to her steady sister, Margaret could captivate audiences with her bold choices, her sexier taste, and her willingness to push fashion to the limits. In fact, some of Margaret's looks make their place amongst royal outfits from the '90s that need to make a comeback. So even by today's standards, Margaret had really good taste, and this included the ways in which she styled her hair. 

As a younger woman, Margaret wore her hair beautifully pulled back away from her face using a headband. At other times, she sported short bangs, very much in the style of Audrey Hepburn. She offset her chocolate brown hair with sparkling tiaras, and the whole world was beside itself over Margaret's charm. However, this series of hair wins came to a screeching halt in March 1970 when Margaret attended The Lyceum Ballroom. The cinnamon bun monstrosity consisted of two swirls of hair on either side of her head, with the middle portion of her hair swept up high in a voluminous bump. At the very back, near the nape of her neck, there was one, sole ringlet curl. The style was inspired by Japanese influence, but taken to the next level. Fortunately, Margaret had future hair transitions ahead of her, ones that featured much more flattering styles.  

Princess Anne had her own interesting hair transition. As a young lady, Anne opted for long hair, casually swept away from her face and left long and natural in ashen blond tones. At some periods of her younger life, Anne's hair was surprisingly long, stopping around her lower back. There was nothing particularly fussy about her hair as a young adult, and the carefree style suited the hardworking princess royal just fine. 

However, things changed for Anne as she got older, and she turned to a dowdy updo style that she's stuck with for decades. The style is completely pulled back from her face in a beehive shape and pinned low at the back in a sensible, stay-put bun. Anne hasn't really departed from this style since, and the staple hairdo is her signature look. In fact, it's such a feature of Anne's that the princess spoke about her reaction to hearing about the actors who played her in Netflix's "The Crown." When Anne heard that her hair look took up to two hours to recreate, she said on ITV: "Actually I read an article the other day about the, I don't watch Netflix and 'The Crown,' but the actress was talking about how long it took them to do their hair like I did." Anne added, "And I'm thinking, 'How could you possibly take that long?' I mean, it takes me 10 or 15 minutes" (via Yahoo!). Anne clearly has a knack for putting up that beehive. 

A royal photographer famously shared harsh words about Princess Diana's hair. The unfortunate hairstyle was from 1988, when photographer David Bailey dissed Diana's cut. He frequently photographed the princess, and so he was keenly aware of a new style on her. "Terrible hair," Bailey later told The Telegraph in March 2022. "You know, from the hairspray — solid as a plastic dummy." This was during an era when Diana was wearing her hair a little longer, and securing any flyaways with a hefty amount of hairspray. In fact, Diana was so intent on having her hair stay in place that she had a special hairspray formulated just for her. Diana enlisted the help of cosmetic chemist Sheree Ladove Funsch, who created a strong-hold hairspray that could withstand even helicopter trips. "We found this gum resin from a tree and that's how we were able to create this formula [for Diana]," Ladove Funsch explained to Page Six. So hairspray was a major styling product for Diana. 

This intense style was a transition for Diana. In the early '80s, when she was a new mom, Diana wore her hair in a softer, wispier style, with lots of face-framing fringe, as was popular that decade. It was a very flattering style on Diana, but as the decade moved on, she wanted something more secure and ended up with a helmet of hair, hence Bailey's harsh criticism. 

Sarah Ferguson has had a range of hairstyles, and many of her '80s looks were quite cute; she sported the kind of curls and fluffy hair that were popular during the era. Ferguson was also a fan of mall bangs, those huge, round, full bangs that were so iconic during the '80s and '90s. She wore ribbons and bows in her hair and rocked that gorgeous red tone. With so much nostalgia for Gen X and Y2K fashion, we're approaching Ferguson's hair from that era with a great deal of enjoyment and appreciation. It's making us a little nostalgic. 

However, as is the case with so many royal women, Ferguson went through an unfortunate hair transition. In 1988, she and her then-husband, Prince Andrew, toured the United States for eight days; to deliver an example of diplomatic dressing, Ferguson stepped out in some absolutely wild looks. Camp was the name of the game. The most notable of these looks was when Ferguson wore her hair in a tidy chignon but then festooned the back of her head with American and British flag pins. Gone were the days of free, full, curly hair and charming '80s volume. The chignon came off as way too prim for her and looked dated. Ferguson's fussier style — thankfully brief — was a disastrous royal hair transition to which she did not return.

Queen Elizabeth II changed up her hair at a certain point during her reign, and not for the better. Around the 1950s, the queen made the shift. She went from wearing her hair in longer, more relaxed curls to a tighter, rounder style. The new hairstyle, a drastic and less flattering transformation, got roasted in Netflix's "The Crown" by none other than her husband, Prince Philip. The scene is set in 1957, and the two are riding in a train. Philip takes note of the new do and asks, "Why on Earth would you do something like that to your hair?" When the queen defends her new cut as sensible, Philip replies: "It's certainly very practical. Should you ever feel compelled to ride a motorcycle, it could always double as a helmet." Philip then makes mention of the advantages of a more sexually attractive hairstyle. "I'm sure it would provide ample protection against any falling masonry. But if enlarging the family and enticing your husband to procreate is the goal, then you might take a look at Jayne Mansfield or Rita Hayworth," he says. 

While "The Crown" is a fictitious reimagining of the royal family's interactions, the general consensus at the time was that Elizabeth's hair was indeed unflattering. Nonetheless, she continued to wear that rounder style for the rest of her life. As an older woman, the style suited her fine, but in her younger years, the hairdo was an unfortunate change.

Back when she was known as Camilla Parker Bowles, the British woman made an unfortunate hair shift. Prior to, Camilla wore her hair in richer blond tones. The cut has a distinct '70s style to it, with very Farrah Fawcett-like volume and face-framing fringe. While Camilla's never been known as a style icon like some of the other women in the royal family, the haircut was appropriate for the era and suited her more casual style. 

However, in the early '90s, Camilla went for a different look altogether. She grew out her face-framing fringe a little too long, so that her hair hung around her face like a bell. The color wasn't as richly dappled; instead, it was much darker and more drab. It obscured her features and did little for her. As royal writer Ingrid Seward told the Daily Mail: "When [Prince Charles and Camilla] first met, [her hair] was often frizzy, unkempt and windswept from days spent outdoors." Thankfully, this unfortunate era didn't last forever. After Camilla and Charles got married in 2005, Camilla improved her style without making drastic changes. "Camilla is a big fan of the 1970s hairstyle and she has never swayed from it," celebrity stylist Tom Smith told the Daily Mail. "However, there have been subtle changes over the years to bring it up to date." These improvements are what she brought with her in her role as queen consort, and these changes are for the better. 

Princess Charlene of Monaco has often gone for more shocking hair choices, and she's a fan of dramatic hair changes, much more so than most other royal women. When she married Prince Albert II of Monaco in July 2011, she wore her long, blond hair in a low, elegant bun. Later, she opted for other changes. The former Olympian swimmer has donned a sleek bob, a pixie cut, and has even played around with darker tones. But this was brief; she typically wears her hair color somewhere in the light blond range. 

However, Charlene's most drastic change occurred in December 2020. At a Christmas gift festivity during the coronavirus pandemic, Charlene debuted a "half-hawk" hairstyle with one side of her head shaved while the other featured longer strands of blond hair. The new haircut was daring, even for Charlene. It seems like she wasn't a fan of it herself, because she ended up growing it out for a longer pixie cut by 2022. Clearly, she wanted to try the edgy look once, and that was enough. Of all of her bold looks, the "half-hawk" was definitely not the most flattering choice on her. 

Princess Sofia of Sweden became a beloved global figure thanks to her 2015 wedding to Prince Carl Philip. The world got to know her with long, brown hair, a tone and style she favored for several years. She's changed up small styling details — for instance, on her wedding day, she wore her hair parted down the middle and pulled back into a neat bun — but for the most part, Sofia's long brown hair has been a mainstay of Sweden's monarchy. 

However, things changed in April 2019 when Sofia emerged with very blond highlights. She freshened up her cut with face-framing layers, giving the princess a more modern hairdo on many levels. While the highlights themselves were perfectly fine, Sofia's features stood out more with her dark brown hair. Her blue eyes shone more thanks to that rich contrast, and her skin looked more tanned and youthful. The blond highlights threw off her coloring. Her skin looked paler, and her features were less striking. 

Catherine, Princess of Wales, really aged herself when she stepped out with blond hair. On September 4, 2025, Catherine and Prince William visited the gardens at the Natural History Museum, and Catherine accidentally set off all kinds of hair alarms. Catherine's hair was much lighter than she typically wears it; not only that, but she parted her hair down the middle, which isn't her go-to style, and the hair had major volume, looking a little like it sat on the top of her head. Because of all of these factors, people speculated that she was wearing a wig in light of her previous cancer diagnosis. It's worth noting that there is no official confirmation on whether or not she was wearing a wig or any other hairpiece. Frankly, that's also her business and no one else's. 

The blond tones didn't flatter Catherine, though, and the unexpected lighter hair washed her out. There was something about the hairstyle that just didn't seem right on her. Thankfully, for everyone who loves Catherine's signature hair, it seemed like the princess felt the same because she quickly changed it back to her richer, chocolate brown tones. Only two days after her museum visit, when Catherine attended the Women's Rugby World Cup, she had dyed her hair, and it was much darker again. She also reverted back to her signature side part, and people settled down again. That drastic hair transformation didn't last long.