William quips he may ditch beard for moustache after meeting troops

The Prince of Wales joked he might shave his beard and leave a moustache after meeting a string of Army officers sporting the on-trend look.

William was given food for thought about his appearance when he visited troops from the Mercian Regiment at their barracks in Wiltshire in his role as their Colonel-in-Chief.

Wearing a camouflage uniform and the regimental beret, the prince met soldiers from the 1st Battalion who returned last December from a six-month deployment to Estonia as part of the UK’s contribution to Nato forces.

William visited Estonia during March last year to meet the Mercian troops and at their UK barracks also chatted to a group of female soldiers, who discussed issues they face in the Army, and watched soldiers, via drone footage, undergoing urban warfare training.

In the officer’s mess at Picton Barracks, Bulford the future king chatted to officers and their families and shared a joke with many of them.

Lieutenant Jack Austin, 23 from south Manchester was sporting a moustache and said he mentioned the subject of his facial hair when chatting to the prince.

He said: “It started in Estonia, a few of us officers grew moustaches and it snowballed from there.

“I brought it up when I was chatting to the prince and he said ‘maybe I should get rid of the beard and just have the moustache’.”

In 2024 the Army officially allowed soldiers and officers to grow full beards, overturning a long-standing rule which helped modernise the service, improve recruiting, and align it with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

William joked with Maxine Debonnaire, 63, from Gillingham, Kent and her son Lieutenant Harris Debonnaire, 26, who served in Estonia.

Mrs Debonnaire said she teased her son in front of William about how much time they spent together when he returned from his deployment in the Baltic state.

“He was out every night when he came back and sometimes during the day,” she joked.

“I’m very proud of him, very proud. I keep telling everyone my son is an officer in the Army.”

The mother and son also quizzed William about his love of sport, asking if he had been watching his beloved Aston Villa football club and which did he prefer, football or rugby, with the prince answering football.

Lt Debonnaire was also sporting a bushy moustache and said he had been the first among the officers deployed to Estonia to grow one, originally for the Movember charity campaign and “it just grew on me”, he joked.

During his conversation with a group of female military personnel, mostly sergeants working in a range of areas from admin to engineering and medicine, William mentioned a new initiative bringing women together for regular chats, and was told it was “welcomed” and useful to those who might not have a female directly in their chain of command.

The group, serving with the Mercian Regiment which has around 40 women out of a total force of 800, also discussed the Army’s zero tolerance policy on unacceptable sexual behaviour (USB), introduced in 2022.

Captain Maria Bell said: “The Army’s moved forward a lot over the past couple of years as regards the USB policy that’s come out and signposting.”

She said education was important, adding: “The USB course is great, it’s there, but more education, more training around that, to chains of command, to within units, not just a tick-box exercise… I think more investment needs to go into the training, education around the subject, what’s inappropriate, what’s not, just so it’s very transparent, no grey areas.”