William: I shaved off my first beard as it left Charlotte in floods of tears

The Prince of Wales has revealed he had to shave his beard after he first grew it – as it left his daughter in floods of tears.

William managed to talk Princess Charlotte round to the idea of her father having facial hair and now it appears here to stay.

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 beard of the future King, who turned 42 in June, has flecks of grey and appears neatly trimmed whenever William is seen in public.

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.

The duke said the argument went on for more than a week on the phone and in person, adding: “He wouldn’t let it go. At one point he actually ordered me, as the heir speaking to the spare, to shave.”