Rugged royal!
Prince William stepped out with a beard as he returned to work following a summer vacation with his wife, Kate Middleton, and their kids, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
The Prince of Wales, 42, was in London on Sept. 5 to visit the “Homelessness: Reframed” exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery, which was created in collaboration with his Homewards campaign.
He launched it in June 2023 via the Prince and Princess of Wale’s Royal Foundation, with the goal of ending homelessness.
While he was out and about, William showed off his new look — and social media onlookers applauded his style change.
“OMG Prince William’s beard is back!” one excited fan commented on X, formerly Twitter, adding a heart-eyes emoji.
“This is not a drill!! This is not a drill!! The beard is here!” another declared.
“I bet it’s because Princess Catherine loves him with a beard,” another royal watcher said. “Makes Prince William look rugged and regal!”
Another fan remarked, “Well, it seems to suit him either way. Sometimes, he can have one, but I think he looked more handsome without it.”
This was the second time in recent weeks that Prince William has sported a beard, shaking up his usual clean-shaven appearance.
He had a less corporate look when he and Kate congratulated Team Great Britain on their performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics in an Aug. 11 video.
The royals didn’t attend the Olympics, since Kate is still recovering from cancer, but they offered words of support to the team.
“From all of us watching at home, congratulations to Team GB,” the future queen, 42, said in the clip posted to the couple’s X and Instagram accounts.
“Well done on all you’ve achieved. You’ve been an inspiration to us all,” the Prince of Wales added.
At the time, social media went wild over his look in the clip.
“I had to watch that again, just to see William’s stubble – wowza! … and I’m waaaaaay too old to be writing that!” one Instagram user commented on the video.
Another wrote, “Please William keep that beard, we want you like that after the holidays,” while a third royal-watcher joked, “I’ll be honest, didn’t hear anything anyone said after I saw William with beard….”
William would later step out clean shaven on Aug. 25 when he was spotted driving to Crathie Kirk church near Balmoral Castle in Scotland with Kate.
