Prince William has updated his stuffy image with a scruffy nine o’clock shadow.
Photographs of the Prince of Wales attending a private exhibition viewing at the Saatchi Gallery in London with stubble worthy of a George Michael impersonator have revived the heir to the throne’s endangered pin-up status. Could this be a scratchy version of his mother Princess Diana’s infamous revenge dress?
In his autobiography, Spare, Prince Harry wrote that his brother stroppily asked him to shave before his wedding to actor Meghan Markle in 2018, despite having received permission from the Queen to sport a beard. But like his mother’s black dress, the grizzly glow-up is working. “Prince William is hot again,” The Cut declared, and pockets of social media lustily agreed.
Prince William is giving stubble a second run.Credit: Getty Images
The stubble first appeared in a video in August alongside Princess Catherine congratulating Team Britain’s performance at the Paris Olympics, and brings William in line with Europe’s other reigning chins. King Frederik of Denmark frequently makes official appearances with salt and pepper scruff, while King Felipe of Spain and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands have graduated to beards since their coronations.
William sported a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it beard in 2008 following a training exercise with the British Royal Navy in Barbados, before returning to the razor. His father, King Charles, also had a brief beard encounter in 1976, following a tour of Alaska and Canada, but stubble requires a different grooming regimen.
British barber Geo. F. Trumper has held a royal warrant since the reign of Queen Victoria with their range of shaving products, but it might be time for William to share the honour with a beard-trimming manufacturer to maintain his stubble.
Stubble maintenance
Crowned chins of Europe: Prince Harry; King Charles in 1976; King Frederik of Denmark; King Felipe of Spain.Credit: Getty, AP
“Stubble is definitely a trend for men, especially with workplaces becoming more casual,” says Gary McKenzie, owner of Melbourne’s Men+Co barbershop and an educator for American Crew products. “It’s a natural look, but it does require serious maintenance. The most important thing to do is invest in equipment.”
McKenzie recommends buying a beard trimmer with an adjustable guard and experimenting with the right length to make stubble look intentional.
Once you have found the correct length, maintain the length so that it doesn’t become unruly or drift into the itch-inducing early beard phase.
“Stubble can also be useful in balancing out facial features, adding definition to jawlines or sculpting round faces to create cheekbones,” McKenzie says.
If William is taking a contouring approach to his facial hair, he should pay close attention to just below his strong Windsor chin.
“When the hair starts to get too low on the chin it can look like a five o’clock shadow,” McKenzie says. “Also, if you have short hair on top, you want to blend the stubble at the sides so that it doesn’t create a noticeable gap with the stubble.
“It can also look strange when it creeps too low with a buttoned-up shirt and tie, which is why you frequently see it with an unbuttoned shirt.”
Laser sculpting
If clipper sculpting is beyond William’s grooming skills, he can always turn to technology. At Sydney salon Face of Man, head dermal therapist Francisca Fernandez has been using lasers to assist with stubble maintenance.
“It’s called beard sculpting,” Fernandez says. “Men can get it on their cheeks, the front and the back of the neck to assist with definition. It can make a huge difference, but most men don’t know about it because they don’t really talk about these things.
“Men come in every two to four weeks for 10 to 12 sessions, and it slows growth right down. It’s a game changer.”
More mundane products are also required to keep stubbly skin looking fresh. McKenzie says that many men think that abandoning shaving means dropping everything below the nose from your skincare regimen.
With William having ditched the razor, his skin is not benefiting from the byproduct of daily exfoliation and the moisturising effects of shaving creams and balms.
“The accumulation of oils and sweat can also cause clogged pores, leading to all manner of breakouts and all manner of bumps,” says Nathan Jancauskas, founder of Noah barbershops in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. “The key is softening – products that hydrate and moisturise without weighing down.”
“We recommend beard oils and balms, rich products deliberately compounded with nourishing fats and pleasing scents. A little goes a long way, especially with short stubble.”
If flaky skin can be seen beneath stubble, throwing on moisturising products won’t treat the problem. Along with a good cleanser, you will need to exfoliate to remove dead skin.
“A bristle beard brush is the quintessential tool which removes dead skin and promotes circulation,” says Jancauskas.
Before splashing out on these products, William should decide whether he’s ready to commit to stubble, and whether Catherine is risking royal pash rash.
“Just keep everything moisturised,” McKenzie warns.
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