Kate, the Princess of Wales made the incredible gesture when she was having a drastic cut in 2018 and losing around seven inches of her brunette locks for a shorter style
The Princess of Wales gave up her own hair to be donated into wigs for people going through chemotherapy.
The future queen made the touching gesture during a drastic style change in 2018 – losing around seven inches of her brunette locks for a shorter cut. The idea came to the Princess as her hair was cut at Kensington Palace by hairdresser Joey Wheeler who then worked for Richard Ward Hair in Chelsea.
Kate asked an aide to collect the hair and send them to a charity, thought to be the Little Princess Trust. They make realistic wigs made for children who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment. It is believed she didn’t use her own name. A royal source said: “Four months ago Joey persuaded her it was time to take off some of her hair; he said it was just getting too long. While Joey was snipping away the idea came to her of doing some good with it rather than throwing it away. She mentioned it to Joey, who thought it was a brilliant idea.
“It was sent using someone else’s name, so that the trust didn’t know it was from a royal source – they just thought it was from a female donor in the Kensington area. It’s lovely to think somewhere a little girl is happily wearing a wig made from a real princess’s hair. It’s a very heartwarming thing for Kate to have done, and very thoughtful to use hair that would have otherwise just been thrown away.”
Princess Kate shocked the world on March 22 when Kensington Palace released a video statement in which the royal announced she was being treated for cancer. Since then, she has been absent from the public eye since January following major abdominal surgery and when her hospital stay was announced, Kensington Palace said that she would not return to public royal duties until after Easter.
Speculation has circulated on social media about Kate’s health in recent weeks. It led to a royal spokesperson giving an update saying she “continues to be doing well”. The Palace stated: “Kensington Palace made it clear in January the timelines of the princess’ recovery and we’d only be providing significant updates. That guidance stands. The Princess of Wales continues to be doing well.”
But now Kate has revealed that cancer was found following the operation that was initially considered to be a success. “I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery,” said Kate.
* A version of this story was first published on March 22, 2024.
