Prince William's Rugged Beard Has Inspired Hair Transplants

Prince William laughs, and has a rugged beard, while wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and red tie — (Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

Kate Middleton has long been lauded as a style icon. Whenever the Princess of Wales has worn a clothing item, it has regularly seen a spike in demand from shoppers, which quickly became known as "the Kate effect." Now, it would appear as thought Princess Kate's husband, Prince William, is finally having the same effect on the general public.

Earlier this year, Prince William debuted a beard, which was so popular with royal fans that they actually mourned the dashing look when he shaved. Since then, Prince William's beard has become a regular fixture at official royal engagements. Plus, he's reportedly inspired other men to copy his facial hair, with some individuals going to extreme lengths to achieve the style.

According to the Express, one clinic in Turkey has experienced a huge increase in enquiries regarding beard transplants in recent months.

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Kate Middleton wears a maroon coat and matching hat as Prince William guides her — "They think it looks rugged and masculine."

The cofounder of EsteNove clinic in Istanbul, Murat Alsac, named the burgeoning interest in the procedure as "the Prince William effect." Alsac told the outlet, "The number of transplants we are carrying out has increased by 200 percent." He continued, "People are bringing in pictures of Prince William on their phones and saying, 'Make me look like that.' They think it looks rugged and masculine."

However, not everyone was an instant fan of Prince William's new facial hair. In November, the Prince of Wales revealed his daughter Princess Charlotte's negative reaction to his beard. "Well Charlotte didn't like it the first time," William admitted during a visit to Cape Town (via People). "I got floods of tears, the first one I got tears, so I had to shave it off."

Luckily, William didn't let his daughter's shocked reaction deter him from growing another beard. "Then I grew it back," he explained. "I thought, hang on a second, and I convinced her it was going to be okay."

Prince William wears a suit while sitting on a yellow coach and he has a stubbly beard — "The number of transplants we are carrying out has increased by 200 percent."

Over the weekend, Prince William traveled to Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. The Prince of Wales spent time with world leaders, including Donald Trump, during the visit. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump shared details of the "sad" conversation he had with the "very handsome" Prince.

"I asked him about his wife and he said she's doing well," Trump told the outlet. He continued, "I asked him about his father and his father is fighting very hard, and he loves his father and he loves his wife."

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Amy Mackelden is the weekend editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.