See Photos of How Prince Harry’s Hair Has Changed Over the Years

Few royal features have been as recognizable as Prince Harry's ginger hair. As per royal recordings that Princess Diana made about her marriage, then-Prince Charles had reacted to Harry’s birth by saying, “Oh God, it's a boy. And he's even got red hair.” It was a remark Diana later recalled finding hurtful. Yet the trait that initially drew so much chatter ended up becoming one of Harry's most defining characteristics. It connected him to the Spencer family and eventually to the next generation of Sussex children.

One of Harry's most noteworthy childhood features while standing next to his elder brother, Prince William, is the contrast in their hair. While William inherited darker colored hair, Harry's strawberry-blonde hair was already developing into the distinctive ginger shade. The image gave an early glimpse of the look that helped make the younger prince stand out throughout his childhood. And it continues.

Harry then underwent a dramatic transformation when he entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005, in terms of his appearance. In keeping with military regulations, he traded his familiar royal hairstyle for a practical buzz cut. The close-cropped look went hand-in-hand with his early military career. It also marked one of the most significant style changes of his young adulthood, as it shed light on the discipline and structure of army life.

Many years later, a military photograph that Meghan Markle later shared on Instagram for Harry's birthday offered another sneak peek into this important chapter. The post showed the prince during his years of service, his hair more unruly, and paired with facial hair. It was during deployments, including his time in Afghanistan, that the beard first started becoming a regular feature. It eventually became one of the most recognizable aspects of his look at the time.

By the time Prince Archie was born in 2019, Harry had fully embraced a more mature look, combining a cropped hairstyle with a fuller beard. Soon, the attention turned to whether Archie had inherited the family's famous hair color. Harry later admitted he was surprised by the outcome. During a 2023 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he revealed, “The Spencer gene is very, very strong.” He added, "I actually really, genuinely thought at the beginning of my relationship [with Meghan] that should this go the distance and we have kids, that there's no way the ginger gene would stand up to my wife's genes, but I was wrong."

The latest chapter in Harry's hair story arrived with Meghan Markle's recent Instagram post. The family was celebrating Princess Lilibet's birthday. Royal enthusiasts got to see, via the photos, one of the clearest recent looks at the Duke. It’s no secret that his hair has started to thin over the years. Surprisingly, Harry has never shied away from discussing it either. In his memoir Spare, he referenced Prince William's hair loss, writing that his brother's baldness was "more advanced than mine." From his childhood ginger strands to the look he sports today, these photos trace Prince Harry's most recognizable feature through the years.