The Prince of Wales has revealed his daughter was not a fan of his beard when he first grew it – and had to shave it off after it left her “in floods of tears”.
Prince William revealed Princess Charlotte hated his newly grown facial hair at first, but has since come round to the idea of seeing her father with a beard.
The heir to the throne debuted his new look in an online video with his wife, Kate, in August, when they praised the achievements of the nation’s athletes after the Paris Olympics.
Speaking at the end of a four-day visit to Cape Town, he said: “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.”
The King grew a beard for a time when he served in the Royal Navy, which for more than a century has allowed its servicemen to have facial hair.
The Duke of Sussex claimed his brother was jealous of his beard and ordered him to shave it off before he married Meghan in 2018.
Harry wrote in his autobiography, Spare, how William became “livid” and “raised his voice” when the duke said he had already asked permission from their grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, to keep his beard for his wedding.