How Prince William Stole The Spotlight In New Kate Middleton Video

In August 2024, months after the announcement of Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis, the Princess of Wales made a social media appearance alongside William, Prince of Wales ahead of the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. The two royals congratulated the Great Britain sport teams for their performances in the event, with the video also featuring clips from figures like Snoop Dogg, David Beckham, and Kelly Holmes.

"From all of us watching at home, congratulations to Team GB," Kate said, standing next to her husband in an outdoor setting. "Well done on all you've achieved," Prince William added. "You've been an inspiration to us all." While the clip marks a noteworthy glimpse of Kate, who made her first public appearance since her diagnosis at Trooping the Colour 2024, it was Prince William's facial hair that really stole the spotlight.

Both on the list of royals who look completely different with facial hair, Prince Harry is the sibling most known for his beard, with William typically appearing clean-shaven in public. The relaxed appearance is likely related to the couple's summer vacation, as they've both taken a step back from public duties to spend time with their children. While the internet loved the look, we'd be interested to know what Prince Harry thinks.

Though Kate Middleton's absence from the public eye previously worried the internet, her August social media appearance was seemingly less noteworthy than her husband's unexpected beard. Commenters across Instagram and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, remarked that the princess was looking well, but many internet users were too busy complimenting the royal heir.

One Instagram user wrote, "I had to watch that again, just to see William's stubble – wowza!" Another commented, "William with a tan and a beard!!!!" and added a heart-eyes emoji. The response was similarly heated on X, with one commenter writing, "Pardon me ladies.. I need to cool down. Prince William looks so handsome with a bit of facial stubble."

We don't blame the internet for being taken with Prince William's scruffy visage, as the last time the duke appeared in public with facial hair was back in 2008, as seen above. At the time, The Telegraph reported that he grew out his beard for a 10-day expedition with the Navy's Special Boat Service, with the outlet speculating that his facial hair was an attempt to hide his identity during the excursion. The look was short-lived, though, especially since the prince was set to start a Royal Air Force training course the following month, where he'd be prohibited from having any facial hair.

Prince William's scruffy look comes over a year after Prince Harry detailed their contentious sibling relationship in his 2023 memoir "Spare." While not the biggest claim that Harry made about his brother, the Duke of Sussex did state that they shared an argument about facial hair leading up to Harry's nuptials. Apparently the younger brother asked special permission from the late Queen Elizabeth II to keep his beard during his wedding to Meghan Markle.

Harry was set to exchange vows in an armed forces uniform, so he knew that facial hair wouldn't align with the regulations of the British Army. "I didn't want [Meghan] coming down the aisle and seeing a total stranger," Harry reasoned in his book, as he maintained a beard throughout their relationship (via People). While the queen granted the request, Prince William was reportedly unhappy with the idea of Harry not shaving for his wedding, with the brothers arguing about it "in person, on the phone, for more than a week" (via Hello!).

In an interesting twist, the Prince of Wales eventually was forced to shave himself. "Ah — there it was," Prince Harry wrote in "Spare." "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. He hated the idea of me enjoying a perk he'd been denied." So, while Prince William's stubble might be making the internet swoon, the look doesn't come without its share of baggage.