Picture the Princess of Wales, and you'll likely imagine her signature long, flowing hair.
Since she first stepped onto the royal scene as Prince William's girlfriend in 2004, Princess Catherine has always had beautiful, glossy hair – always long and perfectly styled, tumbling down her back.
The future Queen's hair came under undeserved scrutiny earlier this summer, when royal watchers declared her ultra-long locks 'unprofessional' when it looked longer than ever at a reception for Cancer Research in early June.
© Getty ImagesHELLO! reader Carol commented: "That hair is just so unprofessional," which we vehemently disagreed with in the office. Though Princess Kate does appear to have the longest hair of a British royal in living memory, there's no rulebook that says members of the family have to have a certain length of hair to do their job.
Queen Elizabeth's opinion on Princess Catherine's hair
Though many of the royal ladies (Princess Anne, Duchess Sophie, Queen Camilla and Zara Tindall, for example) do all have shorter hair, Queen Elizabeth was reportedly a fan of Princess Catherine's style of choice.
© Getty ImagesIn fact, Prince Harry wrote in his memoir, Spare, that his grandmother praised Princess Kate's look. Speaking of the first time he introduced Meghan Markle to his father, the Duke of Sussex wrote:
"Her hair was down, because I suggested she wear it that way. Pa likes it when women wear their hair down. Granny too. She often commented on 'Kate's beautiful mane'."
© Getty ImagesIf that's not a seal of approval, we don't know what is!
Prince Harry didn't go on to share if Meghan's hair had pleased King Charles, but during her time as a working royal, the Duchess of Sussex became best known for wearing her dark hair in a messy updo, including on her wedding day.
© Getty ImagesWhile Meghan's hair looked picture perfect for her and Harry's nuptials, it wasn't without drama.
Queen Elizabeth's input on Meghan Markle's wedding hair
Cast your mind back to Meghan and Harry's 2018 wedding and you'll recall the bride wore a dazzling tiara, previously owned by Queen Mary, named the Diamond Bandeau Tiara, borrowed from the late Queen's collection.
Upon choosing the headpiece, Prince Harry said his grandmother told Meghan "quite tenderly" that "tiaras suit you."
© GettyHer Majesty also warned Meghan about the pitfalls of the tiara. "Make sure that you practice putting it on. With your hairdresser. It's tricky and you don't want to be doing it for the first time on the wedding day," Harry said that his grandmother cautioned the Duchess.
He added that Princess Catherine shared similar advice. "We'd spoken to Kate about her own experience, and we'd learned that Granny’s warning was spot on. The placing of the tiara was an intricate, elaborate process. It had to be first sewn to the veil, then Meg’s hairdresser would need to fix it to a small plait in her hair. Complicated, time-consuming – we'd need at least one dress rehearsal."
Thankfully, the tiara looked picture-perfect on the wedding day – and we're sure both Queen Elizabeth and the then Prince Charles approved of Meghan's bridal look.
