Prince William's Beard Appears to be Back

Facial hair fans, rejoice.

Prince William beard
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Prince William is in his beard era once again.

The Prince of Wales looked ready to get back to work after his summer break at Balmoral on Thursday, Sept. 5, visiting the "Homelessness: Reframed" exhibition at London's Saatchi Gallery — and his fan-favorite beard has made its way back into the fold.

William, 42, went viral when he showed up sporting facial hair in a Paris Olympics Instagram Reel last month, but his beard was nowhere to be seen when the prince was spotted driving to church in Scotland on August 25.

Prince William beard

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Plenty of fans mourned the end of his bearded days at the time, like one who wrote on X, "Catherine saw women on the internet swooning over her husband's beard and decided to make him shave it off."

Luckily for royal facial hair aficionados, the Prince of Wales was rocking some serious stubble when he attended Thursday's engagement, viewing pieces created by formerly unhoused artists.

The exhibition has been curated in conjunction with the prince's Homewards project and aims to use "the the power of art to help improve the nation’s understanding of homelessness and inspire optimism that it can be ended," per the Homewards initiative.

Prince William beard

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Prince of Wales viewed pieces ranging from graffiti artist Opake to spoken word poet Surfing Sofas, with the exhibit created to give "a powerful platform for those directly affected by homelessness to share their stories through art."

Speaking of bearded royals, Prince William recently ran into his brother, Prince Harry, at their uncle Lord Robert Fellowes' funeral last week, but according to attendees, they didn't interact.

“William and Harry were both there but we never saw them speak to each other and they were keeping their distance," a source told The Sun.

As for whether Prince William's beard sticks around for the fall, watch this space.

Kristin Contino
Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

Kristin Contino joined Marie Claire as its Senior Royal and Celebrity editor in 2024. She's covered major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation over the years, placing a particular focus on the British royal family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.”