On September 4, 2025, the Princess of Wales stepped out at the Natural History Museum with a big, puffy blonde wig perched atop her head. I still think about that and giggle to myself. All of the photos from that day were unhinged, not just because of the wig, but because Credible Early Years Expert Kate had no idea what to do when it started pouring rain during her photo-op with some children.
A year later, Kate joined her husband in Liverpool for his launch event for a suicide-prevention kit. The PR around the launch was pretty clear: this is about preventing men’s suicide, and the event was organized around William hanging out with footballers. Instead, Kate joined him. It’s a small mercy that she didn’t debut a brand new blonde wig, but she did get some new highlights, and what looks like some lighter tracks. Predictably, the Daily Mail was full of praise.
The Princess of Wales appears to have debuted caramel-blonde highlights during today’s joint engagement with Prince William. Days after she dropped Prince George off at Eton College in a big milestone for the family, Catherine, 44, made a surprise visit to Everton’s stadium in Liverpool to support the launch of her husband’s suicide prevention toolkit.
Catherine’s hair looked visibly lighter, possibly as a result of a subtle golden balayage when a stylist ‘paints’ the hair directly without using foils. The technique results in a softer, more natural finish that requires less maintenance, with experts previously telling the Daily Mail the look feels like a ‘natural evolution’ of the princess’s caramel highlights from seven years ago.
In September 2019, Catherine ‘experimented with caramel tones that softened her natural tresses’ as she revealed her new hair while taking Prince George and Princess Charlotte to Thomas’s Battersea for their first day of school. While going darker feels like the natural choice for the colder months, the caramel-blonde is actually the ‘perfect transitional shade’ for autumn, according to Tina Farey, Editorial Director at RUSH HAIR.
‘Honey blonde is the perfect way to brighten your hair for the colder months and add a glow to your complexion,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘The placement of lighter pieces has been blended throughout the top of her hair and around her face for a multi-dimensional finish, adding depth and framing her face beautifully,’ Ms Farey continued, adding the loose waves ‘amplify texture and movement’.
While Prince William was due to host the occasion solo, it was later decided that Kate would also attend today’s engagement – marking their first joint royal event since their summer break and the return of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to the UK.
Sometimes, I go through my photo archives, hunting for particular Kate pics, and I’m struck by just how much she has lightened her hair in recent years. Like, even after she had her kids, when she was feeling a bit more experimental, she stuck with rich, dark brown shades. The blonde highlights, wigs and extensions really started after QEII died. I remember soon after QEII’s death, Kate turned up somewhere with noticeably lighter hair and she’s never really stopped. Anyway, her hair looked okay on Thursday. Nowhere near as unhinged as last year’s blonde wig debut.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Catherine, Princess of Wales during the launch of a Suicide Prevention Toolkit on World Suicide Prevention Day at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 10, 2026 in Liverpool, England. The Prince of Wales and The Royal Foundation have launched “On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport”, a guide designed to aid suicide prevention across sporting environments.,Image: 1133160989, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Shirlaine Forrest/Avalon
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- 10/09/2026. The Prince and Princess of Wales Attend this landmark event at the new home of Everton Football Club – Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool. His Royal Highness brought together leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. Developed in partnership with the UK’s national standards body – the British Standards Institution – and mental health charity Chasing the Stigma, the toolkit aims to turn good intentions into everyday action. During the event, major sports organisations including the FA, Premier League and British Cycling announced a wave of commitments around the implementation of the toolkit within their policies, practices and communities.,Image: 1133090129, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner or form whatsoever., Model Release: no , Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace/Avalon
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- 10/09/2026. The Prince and Princess of Wales Attend this landmark event at the new home of Everton Football Club – Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool. His Royal Highness brought together leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. Developed in partnership with the UK’s national standards body – the British Standards Institution – and mental health charity Chasing the Stigma, the toolkit aims to turn good intentions into everyday action. During the event, major sports organisations including the FA, Premier League and British Cycling announced a wave of commitments around the implementation of the toolkit within their policies, practices and communities.,Image: 1133090204, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner or form whatsoever., Model Release: no , Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace/Avalon
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- LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales speak about the stigma surrounding mental health sat on the Gary Speed memorial bench with the late footballer’s mum, Carol, and Sam who has been supported by Everton in the Community during the launch of a Suicide Prevention Toolkit on World Suicide Prevention Day at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 10, 2026 in Liverpool, England. The Prince of Wales and The Royal Foundation have launched “On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport”, a guide designed to aid suicide prevention across sporting environments.,Image: 1133160440, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Shirlaine Forrest/Avalon
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- LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince William, Prince of Wales speak about the stigma surrounding mental health sat on the Gary Speed memorial bench with the late footballer’s mum, Carol, and Sam who has been supported by Everton in the Community during the launch of a Suicide Prevention Toolkit on World Suicide Prevention Day at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 10, 2026 in Liverpool, England. The Prince of Wales and The Royal Foundation have launched “On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport”, a guide designed to aid suicide prevention across sporting environments.,Image: 1133160452, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Shirlaine Forrest/Avalon
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- LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Catherine, Princess of Wales speaks about the stigma surrounding mental health sat on the Gary Speed memorial bench with the late footballer’s mum, Carol, and Sam who has been supported by Everton in the Community during the launch of a Suicide Prevention Toolkit on World Suicide Prevention Day at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 10, 2026 in Liverpool, England. The Prince of Wales and The Royal Foundation have launched “On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport”, a guide designed to aid suicide prevention across sporting environments.,Image: 1133161017, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no , Credit line: Shirlaine Forrest/Avalon
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- 10/09/2026. The Prince and Princess of Wales speak to Gabby Logan as they attend this landmark event at the new home of Everton Football Club – Hill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool. His Royal Highness brought together leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. Developed in partnership with the UK’s national standards body – the British Standards Institution – and mental health charity Chasing the Stigma, the toolkit aims to turn good intentions into everyday action. During the event, major sports organisations including the FA, Premier League and British Cycling announced a wave of commitments around the implementation of the toolkit within their policies, practices and communities.,Image: 1133168956, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: © Kensington Palace. This image may only be used for news or editorial reporting purposes. This image must NOT be used for any commercial or other use, save for news or editorial reporting and cannot be altered or amended in any manner or form whatsoever., Model Release: no , Credit line: Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace/Avalon
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, to meet leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. The Prince and The Royal Foundation are launching On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport – a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to strengthen suicide prevention across sporting environments. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Liverpool, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, to meet leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. The Prince and The Royal Foundation are launching On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport – a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to strengthen suicide prevention across sporting environments. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Liverpool, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, to meet leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. The Prince and The Royal Foundation are launching On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport – a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to strengthen suicide prevention across sporting environments. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales Where: Liverpool, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Princess of Wales during a visit to Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, to meet leading figures from across sport to call on the sector to unite behind a shared goal to prevent suicide, on World Suicide Prevention Day. The Prince and The Royal Foundation are launching On Your Side: A Suicide Prevention Toolkit for People in Sport – a first-of-its-kind toolkit designed to strengthen suicide prevention across sporting environments. Featuring: Catherine, Princess of Wales Where: Liverpool, United Kingdom When: 10 Sep 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
A whole article about keen hair and not much about the charity. She needs a hair trim
She needs a massive make-over. The color does not suit her and she needs to chop off a good 6-8 inches.
Agree! A massive makeover is needed. She also needs new make-up. She lacks vitality.
All of that hair is not even hers! We all know she wears wiglets and extensions!!
And you know what? THAT’S ABSOLUTELY FINE! There’s no shame in using these things. As many have pointed out, other European royal ladies often wear extensions, particularly on formal occasions to create sophisticated updos (which also make for sturdier anchors for tiaras, so they’re not perched lopsided on a nest of sausage curls…). Plenty of normal, everyday women, myself included, wear them just to change things up every once in a while. Provided they’re done well (not just plopped on top of your head or lazily clipped in with no effort towards blending with your real hair), no one cares! But Kate has weirdly decided that her hair is part of her personality (because really, what else does she have?), so here we are, pretending that the Empress’s New Weave looks amazing. 🙄🙄🙄
They’re not blended properly AND her people have always categorically denied that she uses extensions/hair pieces. Like we can’t see.
The “problem” isn’t that she wears hair pieces. There is no shame in wearing hair pieces. The issue is that she categorically denies wearing them when she clearly does. Her denials shame people who wear hair pieces like herself. Keen also choses hair pieces that wear her instead of her wearing them, especially when she bops around in public visibly, er, altered and the hairpieces get visibly wonky on her head. She has wandered around international delegations with her wig askew. She is supposed to represent the best of the best and looks off the wall. She has gotten bad fashion advice (or had her budget slashed) since Charles no longer controls the Wails purse strings and it shows. The lighter color doesn’t suit her. The extreme length doesn’t suit her. The embiggening of this workshy charisma vacuum (and by extension her bully superbrat of a husband) continues….
I’ve always thought Waity looks washed out with the lighter hair the brunette made her eyes pop more which are her only good feature imo, the blonde hides them.
Her natural colour is better. It suits her. She had lovely hair when she was younger.
I may have said this before but the transition to full wigs instead of extensions could mean she is going grey and the wigs cover the roots. There was a time starting 3-4 years ago when observers opined that her budget for clothes and glam services seemed to have been drastically reduced if not eliminated. So a wig would come as a one time purchase and stop the need for frequent touch ups and other services. Lots of women start dying their hair in lighter shade as they get older so the gray as it grows out is less noticeable.
(oops! I didnt see Beaniebean said the same.)
I’ve always liked her look right around Louis’ birth the best – shorter, darker, good colors that went with her skin tone etc. Most of us have had fun experimenting with our hair during our lives – so I think most people would understand her experimentation around colors and hairpieces and styling. If only they were honest… (I see I’m repeating the opinion of others here, oops 😉
she definitely looks better with dark hair. And the ringlets are not flattering. when I look back at her hair over the years, it looked best when it was shorter, she had it blown out smoother (even with some curls or layer to it) and it was a smidge darker. Look at pictures of her from Canada in…..2016, I think? and compare to this.
My guess is she’s trying to hide the grey. A lot of women go lighter when they do this.
“Oh yay! Our English rose had a solid poo today! All is right with our girls digestive system!” The British press about Kate probably 🙄😒
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 But yes, absolutely!
The media is so devoted to perpetuating the myth that all of those hairs are real! I personally think she looked best with her much darker, shorter hairstyle that she had round the time Louis was born.
I see she’s got the Meghan coded necklace now.
Her posture makes it look like the hair is dragging her down.
She is a total brunette – doesn’t have the skin tone to put off lighter hair, it just washes her out. She looked great with her natural darker hair. She would look so much better going back to that in top of a hair cut. I get why she wears wiglets as her hair has always been very fine (look at her sister and mothers) but excessive use of hair extensions can damage hair.
She could have a cooler shade of blonde, like an ash blonde. The warmer hues don’t suit her skin tone because she has cool undertones.
Looking at photos of Kate when she was younger, during her Waity Era, she really was quite pretty with her natural (or at least minimally/subtly color-treated) dark brown locks. Lighter hair just does not suit her. I kinda suspect that she’s doing this in an attempt to fight some emerging greys, but it ironically actually ages her more. And of course, as many of us here so often say, she needs a shorter, more mature style. Didn’t she have shoulder-length hair during/soon after one of her pregnancies? I think I remember that being rather flattering.
“The Mail is full of praise for Princess Kate’s new ‘honey blonde highlights’”
Looking forward to the day when the Fail praises Wiglet for her work ethic.
I don’t tend to watch their videos, but I did look at this one late yesterday. William actually tries to engage, even with the young man who seems to not want to be involved. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not; perhaps Kate had intuited the man wanted to be left alone. But, right or wrong, William does seem involved in events, particularly when he’s on his own. Then I thought about how unhappy she looks. I suspect William is very angry, which we know, and can blow up, scream, shout behind closed doors, and then act as normal out and about at his day job. Kate on the other hand looks exhausted, as if she is incapable of bringing her A Game to an event after being shouted at or hearing shouting all night, probably about Harry. Plus I think it’s occurred to her how much of her younger years she’s given up to a life of constant scrutiny, publicity, vetting and distrust of everyone who comes near her, including possible new friends; she is a woman thrown back on very few, mostly her family. Delivering George to school, knowing his education is totally wasted, given that he will never have a normal career or job, has probably hit home how much royal life has taken away from her. I suspect she wanted to be a princess, not a queen. The reality that being queen is just round the corner, and sooner than hoped, has hit hard. Even more curtailment of freedom. She looks lost and totally cowed. All they can talk about is her hair. What a silly waste of effort.
I’ve often wondered if Kate would ever get to a point where she realized that being a ‘future Queen’ wasn’t worth it. She lives in luxury but so does her sister without having to do the ‘work’ (which obviously isn’t much but she doesn’t enjoy it). William really exudes rage and it must be awful with him behind the scenes. George is now at Eton and we already know Charlotte is likely already boarding and I wonder if Louis starts soon. So she’s rattling around a huge empty house with maybe her mother. It seems grim to me.
William can’t be happy that the press has taken column space to talk about Kate’s hair instead of his new initiative.
She’s probably trying to hide the grays. As a brunette, I never felt the desire to be blonde until I hit my 50s and the grays began to sprout. All of my friends who are natural blondes are not having the same “transition” issues! Of course, waity’s whole hair situation is ridiculous no matter what the color.
She’s been gray for YEARS now. I forget when – right after George was born maybe? there was a picture of her roots and they were at least half gray. I wonder if that’s part of the reason for the wigs – her team decided it was easier to use a wig to hide the gray rather than just keep dyeing it?
I just came to say this: typically as women age, they lighten their hair. I have two friends blending grey into lighter brown hair, adding blonde highlights as well. I have one friend, jarringly, going from dark brunette to blonde as she greys. I myself am going darker vs lighter, I feel it lends more contrast, but the greys are more apparent.
The Fail is saying the quiet part out loud. Kate is a lightweight; she brings nothing to the table but her looks (tjat she tries to hold on to). She’s not good enough to represent the UK at a state funeral for a pope or a king.
I mean, someone here called it, that she was going to show up blonde 😂
I know it’s harder to cover gray as a brunette because it’s harder to match a shade of brown than it is blonde. I always hated my light brown/ash blond hair because I find it boring, but now that I am sprouting grays I recognize that it’s easier to blend them with this hair color, and later, to just go a shade lighter. But Kate never had light brown hair. Her hair was a dark brown and it looked good on her. She must have a good colorist available who can help her find something close to it?
She needs to cut it shorter, minimum. And consider going darker again. That very long, wavy hair doesn’t go well with the kinds of styles she has to wear to events like this. It’s too….excessive. She’s reminding me of Kerri Russell’s character on “The Americans.” Maybe Kate needs to find one of Elizabeth’s shorter wigs.
Kate has cool coloring. She’s a summer which is cool. The warm highlights clash.
Yes, I am a summer too. I can get away with warmer tones when I have a tan, but I tend to avoid the sun and stick to my natural pale color. So it’s best for me to go with cool tones, just like it is for Kate.
I used to love her dark brown hair years ago, when it was shoulder length, she was pregnant I think and extra weight looked good
I think honey low lights could work for her as she’s now middle aged …
But … then she needs to cut her hair shoulder length and she needs a 100% complete makeup makeover.
Cuz that woman is still wearing the exact same makeup look as she did from 20 years ago
I actually really like this color on Kate. I would be surprised if she goes super dark again because I’d bet she is almost totally grey by now. She’s been pretty grey since she had George, so I am assuming the lighter hair is grey blending. If she went dark again, she’d have to be at the salon every other week to cover it up.
She looks really tired.
To be fair, it’s pretty common for people to start lightening their hair around Kate’s age – it’s easier to to blend greys that way. The real issue for her is the length – it looks like her hair is wearing her.
Agree. The fact that she insists on Disney Princess hair at 44 is ridiculous though. She comes across as totally unserious, with such a juvenile-looking hair IMO. She’s infantilizing herself so no one expects anything from her.
Why do her hands look so rough? It’s not like she does any actual labor …
If she’s going to jazz-hands her way through these public engagements, you’d think she’d get a decent manicure and some moisturizer.
So the “honey blond highlights” are a substitute for work? Okay.
I thought she had just swept her hair to one side but it looks like this the actual style. Kind of like a side ponytail. It looks silly. And again with the daytime smokey eyes. Someone needs to throw her smokey eye kit away.
This hairstyle, swept to one side, is Meghan’s signature look. She also wore a “Meghan-style” necklace, and the following day, a pendant almost identical to the one Meghan wore at the Invictus Games.
So, as usual, we are dealing with “CopyKate.”
It is completely empty inside, so they write about blonde highlights—simply because there is nothing else there.
I don’t think Kate going blonde is a terrible thing. Surely there is a shade of blonde that would suit her complexion. I can’t tell that the blonde is not a good shade for her- there is so much variation in hues in photographs and online. I don’t usually go through all the pictures, but I did here, and Kate’s outfit reminds me of the black suit and white top with a chunky gold necklace that Meghan wore to a mental health conference in NY. I think Harry was speaking. It may have been the one where they got an award. I think Meghan had her hair up.
I am Kate’s age and I get highlights to hide/blend my new white hair.
Rose and Jecca have honey highlights…
New wig
I really cannot stand all the fawning over this woman. She has no substance and she does nothing of substance; she’s an awful dresser with no style – not to mention how awful her hair and make-up are. She is the female embodiment of mediocracy and the praise she receives for basically existing is so offensive and ridiculous.
There is more chemistry in photos with William and everyone else than he in any photos he has with his wife. Its very awkward. They’re just not the most photogenic people – at least they used to be but now they need full time staff controlling every photo and airbrushing the hell out of it.
She needs to quit starving herself to be petite like Meghan. Kate is almost 6 foot tall and used to have an athletic build and she looked great. She can starve herself to a 50 pound skeleton and she would still be 6 foot tall with big bones!