Princess Charlotte's reaction to Prince William's beard has drawn comparisons with an unexpected childhood moment involving her late grandmother, Princess Diana.
The connection has resurfaced following the publication of Charles Spencer's memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which recounts how Diana reacted when their father, John Spencer, returned from a trip to Turkey with facial hair.
'Take That Thing Off'
According to Charles Spencer, John had travelled to Turkey while his family remained at home. Rather than shaving during the trip, he returned with what his son described as a 'reddish beard and moustache'. Young Diana apparently was not impressed by the transformation.
Spencer recalls in the book that Diana pointed at her father's facial hair and said: 'Take that thing off!' The anecdote has now drawn comparisons with Charlotte's reaction when William first decided to grow a beard in 2024.
Charlotte Also Had Strong Feelings About William's Beard
William shared a similar story in November 2024, after returning from a four-day visit to Cape Town, South Africa, for the Earthshot Prize Awards. The Prince of Wales said Charlotte, who was nine at the time, initially reacted with tears when she saw his new look.
'Charlotte didn't like it the first time,' William told reporters. 'I got floods of tears the first time I grew a beard, so I had to shave it off.'
Rather than abandoning the look permanently, William decided to try again. He said he later grew the beard back after convincing his daughter that it was going to be 'okay'.
William first unveiled the beard publicly in August 2024, when he and Catherine, Princess of Wales, appeared in a video congratulating Team GB athletes following the Paris Olympics. He briefly appeared clean-shaven afterwards, before returning to the bearded look.
A Small But Amusing Royal Family Parallel
The story has since become a small but amusing royal family parallel: both Diana and Charlotte apparently had strong reactions when their fathers unexpectedly changed their appearance. The comparison comes from accounts separated by decades and does not suggest that Charlotte inherited a specific dislike of beards from Diana. Charlotte was born in 2015, while Diana died in 1997, so the two never met.
The connection is instead being drawn from two independently documented family anecdotes. Charles Spencer's account provides details about Diana and her father, while William himself provided the account of Charlotte's response to his beard.
Princess Diana's Legacy
William has spoken about making sure his children know about their grandmother. In the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, he said he and Catherine had photographs of Diana around their home and talked about her with George, Charlotte and Louis.
Meanwhile, William's beard has become a familiar part of his public appearance. In March 2026, he even joked during a visit to the Mercian Regiment that he might remove the beard and keep only a moustache after noticing soldiers' facial hair.
Whether Charlotte would approve of that next grooming experiment remains unknown. But the newly resurfaced stories offer a remarkably specific family coincidence: two generations of Spencer women, separated by nearly 30 years, apparently had something to say when their fathers changed their facial hair.
