Prince William caused a stir back in August when he debuted a new beard in a video message alongside his wife Princess Kate to celebrate Team GB’s performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Since then, the future King has continued to embrace his rugged new look, and royal watchers have also noted a change in his personal style. For his most recent outings, William has opted for a more contemporary wardrobe, opting for slim-fit blazers and crisp white trainers to strike a balance between comfort and style, all the while still looking smart.
Body language expert Judi James believes that William’s evolving style reflects his increasing confidence, with both his choice of footwear – and his facial hair – signifying a shift in attitude.
She told the Daily Mail: “William’s recent change of style and his much less cautious-looking and less formal body language seems to indicate both a growing confidence in terms of his stepping up to the throne and maybe an update in his priorities since Kate’s and his father’s illnesses.”
She further suggested that William’s children, George, Charlotte and Louis, might have influenced his style decisions, too. “William has three children that are getting to the age where they will often make comments or jokes about any out-of-date dad clothing and start to quietly revolutionise his look, especially as he seems to have been spending more time with them recently,” Judi noted.
By his own admission, 2024 has been the “hardest year” of William’s life following both his father and his wife’s cancer diagnoses. Buckingham Palace revealed the King had cancer in February and would begin treatment. Just six weeks later it was announced the Princess of Wales was undergoing chemotherapy after a cancer diagnosis.
The King has since returned to public duties and Kate has finished chemotherapy treatment.
Prince William recently said: “I’m so proud of my wife, I’m proud of my father, for handling the things that they have done. But from a personal family point of view, it’s been brutal.”
The Prince’s new look does seem to symbolise a growing sense of self-assurance in the wake of his ‘annus horribilis’, and suggests what sort of king William hopes to be when the time comes. According to Judi, William’s recent outings reflect the fact that he now feels “more in control of his own destiny” than ever before.
“William has feared being too spontaneous or even ‘giving’ with his body language for most of his life thanks to the way he witnessed his mother’s life become an ongoing soap opera, but he seems more trusting with the press now. He might have seen how he can open up a little without inviting rabid scrutiny and retain an element of privacy for his family to have a more normal life.
“Perhaps the key quality being shown with this more relaxed and open body language then is that slow-learned trust. So many of the barbs in his life have come from within his own closest family group, and perhaps he finally sees, feels and appreciates the strong support and affection he can enjoy from the public.”
