What Kate Middleton really thinks of Prince William's beard

Royal fans are in love with Prince William's new beard, but how does Princess Kate actually feel about her husband's facial hair?

The future king first debuted his beard last summer in a video with Kate, congratulating Team GB athletes. The beard has since become a mainstay of William's look.

Sharing insider Royal anecdotes on a 60 Minutes Australia special, the prince's former communications secretary and close aide Jason Knauf weighed in on the Royal beard. "I love it. I think it's great. But I've talked to him about it or tried to talk to him about it. He's like, 'It's here. I have a beard. No further conversation'," related Jason.

When pressed about the Princess of Wales' take on the matter, Jason speculated: "If she didn't like it, it wouldn't be there. I could tell you that! "

While Kate appears to approve, their daughter Princess Charlotte wasn't immediately keen. Reflecting on his facial hair during a Cape Town trip in November, William shared: "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. I thought, hang on a second and I convinced her it was going to be okay."

When a reporter commented that his new facial hair gave him a more 'relaxed' appearance, Prince William responded with surprise. "It's interesting you say that, because I couldn't be less relaxed this year, so it's very interesting you're all seeing that," he said, reflecting on a challenging year in which both his wife, Princess Kate, and father, King Charles, were diagnosed with cancer, reports the Mirror.

"But it's more a case of just crack on and you've got to keep going," he added.

It comes after Prince Harry once claimed that William was jealous of his beard, and the fact he was allowed to have facial hair at his wedding, whereas William was not.

According to military dress codes at the time, Harry should have been clean-shaven while wearing the frock coat uniform of the Blues and Royals. But he sought special permission from the Queen - something that reportedly infuriated his sibling.

Harry discussed the 'beard-gate' incident in his tell-all memoir, Spare. "And yet I now dared to make another ask – Granny, please, may I, for my wedding, keep my beard? Not a small ask either," he wrote.

"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."

Upon discovering that Harry had been granted permission, William "became livid", according to Harry. He claimed his older brother said: "You put her in an uncomfortable position, Harold! She had no choice but to say yes."

The Duke claimed he responded by saying: "For the love of God, Willy, why does this matter so much to you? 'Because I wasn't allowed to keep my beard.' Ah, there it was. After he'd come back from an assignment with Special Forces, Willy was sporting a full beard, and someone told him to be a good boy, run along and shave it. He hated the idea of me enjoying a perk he'd been denied."