Real reason Prince Harry was allowed to keep his beard but Prince William had to shave his
Prince Harry had to pluck up the courage to ask the late Queen Elizabeth II if he could keep his beard to marry Markle Markle on his wedding day as beards were “forbidden” in the British Army at the time.
King Charles’s youngest son explained that he was initially “stressed” about asking the late Queen’s permission to marry the former TV actress, and then worried about the request that followed.
As documented in the bombshell memoir, Spare, released in January 2023, Harry wrote: “After all the stress of asking Granny for permission to marry Meg, I thought I’d never have the courage to ask her for anything else.
“And yet I now dared to make another ask – Granny, please, may I, for my wedding, keep my beard?”
The Duke of Sussex explained: “Not a small ask either. A beard was thought by some to be a clear violation of protocol and long-standing norms, especially since I was getting married in my Army uniform. Beards were forbidden in the British Army.”
To Harry’s delight, the Queen “understood” Harry’s beard made him feel “calmer”. However, Harry claims his bother was “livid” about the decision and reports William as saying: “You put her in an uncomfortable position, Harold! She had no choice but to say yes.”
Prince Harry also added that William “wouldn’t let it go” and that the argument continued “in person, on the phone, for more than a week”.
According to the Duke of Sussex, William ordered Harry to shave his beard off, with the Duke of Sussex asking “why on earth it mattered?”
“Because I wasn’t allowed to keep my beard”, William reportedly replied. Prince William has never responded to the claims or given his side of the story.
