The Prince of Wales took part in the military procession at Trooping the Colour in London. Prince William, who turns 43 next week, donned the full ceremonial uniform of the Welsh Guards as he rode on horseback alongside the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal. But in a royal first, William debuted facial hair at the King's birthday parade. The future King caused a stir when he began growing a beard last summer. Prior to now, the only other time William had been seen with facial hair was on Christmas Day in 2008, but it was reported at the time that his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, had asked him to shave off his beard while he was on a military secondment. Rules around facial hair while training or serving in the military were much stricter and soldiers were not permitted to grow their facial hair while in the British Army. But the guidelines were relaxed last year and now state that beards and moustaches must be neat, properly groomed and will be routinely checked. Charlotte's reaction to William's beard First dubbed his "summer beard," William was first seen with facial hair as he and wife, Kate, congratulated Team GB after the Paris 2024 Olympics last August. Just a couple of weeks later, he was pictured clean-shaven as he attended a church service at Crathie Kirk during his summer break at Balmoral. But as William resumed his royal duties after his summer duties, he had grown his facial hair once again as he visited the Homelessness: Reframed exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Speaking during his visit to Cape Town in South Africa for the Earthshot Prize Awards last November, William recalled his daughter's hilarious reaction to his beard: "Well Charlotte didn’t like it the first time. I got floods of tears the first time I grew a beard, so I had to shave it off. And then I grew it back."